For Road & Track: Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda Doesn't Plan to Quit Racing Anytime Soon

You’re never too old for anything, the saying goes. For Toyota’s new chairman and former president Akio Toyoda, that means keeping his title as the company’s “Master Driver” and going back to race at the Nürburgring soon because he’s still nearly as fast as the company’s top test drivers.

At a roundtable with a small group of international media outlets, including Road & Track, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans earlier this month, Toyoda, 67, promised a return to the Green Hell; the place where he first honed his skills as a driver before becoming the company’s president and where its Gazoo Racing organization was effectively born.

“I’d love to,” Toyoda said through an interpreter. “My starting point as a driver was the Nürburgring. Actually, for my debut, I didn’t really have any driving skills yet. I was so afraid of driving there, and that’s the only memory I have.”

Toyoda added, “But now, after building up my driving experience in Japan and Asia, I think I’ve trained myself quite a lot. And I hope my skill has gone up since that time… I hope to have an opportunity to drive at the Nürburgring again and have a conversation with the roads there.”

[Read the rest at Road & Track]