Hiro Toyoda – Fostering links between the UK and Japan – Autumn 2018 issue – Volume 01 issue 01

A chance visit with a friend to his first motor race, some 30 years or more ago, became a baptism for Hiro Toyoda.  It was a moment of epiphany when the glitz and glamour of those high-octane Group C cars held him trance like and fashioned the path of his working career.  Academic qualifications followed by hands on experience led him to America working with GT cars.  His next move saw him return to Japan for a short while before he set of for the UK working with Aussie team owner Alan Docking.  Then, the World Rally Championship beckoned with the RalliArt Mitsubishi Team and success was soon on the cards winning consecutive championships with Tommi Makinen.  Having a passion for sportscar racing, some 30 years after he first saw those Group C beasts thundering around the Fuji Speedway, now Hiro Toyoda found himself working with the Courage Compétition team in the pit-lane at Le Mans.  Today, Hiro Toyoda has set up a company to foster working relationships with companies within the historic motor racing community in the UK, with similar companies in Japan.  The sun is truly rising on the historic scene in Japan, with the 50th Anniversary celebrations at Suzuka being the focal point later this year.  Auto Tradition’s Editor, Mike Jiggle, took time to talk to Toyoda about his life in motorsport.