Akio Toyoda (Toyota): “The idea of ​​kaizen was missing”

Lors de sa venue au Mans l’an passé, Akio Toyoda, président de Toyota, avait été spectateur d’une nouvelle défaite de ses troupes sur le double tour d’horloge, mais avait ensuite poussé l’écurie Gazoo Racing à poursuivre ses efforts afin d’atteindre ce Graal derrière lequel Toyota courait depuis plus de 30 ans.

On his 20th attempt, and thanks to the trio Kazuki Nakajima, Sébastien Buemi and Fernando Alonso, the Japanese firm has finally conquered its demons and tamed the 24 Hours of Le Mans, achieving the double with the second TS050 Hybrid of Kamui Kobayashi - Mike conway – Jose Maria Lopez.

A long-awaited success which can only delight Akio Toyoda, who sent a message from Japan. “In our history we had never won Le Mans, just looked at the backs of our rivals' [cars], so we dedicated ourselves to developing new technologies, believing that if we made a car faster than theirs , we could win.

However, we were unable to win our 19th race last year. After the race I told the team: "We can't win Le Mans if we only care about making a fast car, what we don't have is strength, we're not not a strong team. »

They worked internally and ultimately concluded that what was missing was the idea of ​​kaizen, or continuous improvement. There are so many specific procedures for building and driving a car, and each person must consider how to prevent mistakes.

Ils ont passé l’année à travailler sur l’amélioration, essayant d’acquérir la « force ». Porsche, que nous n’avons pas battu, avait peut-être déjà une telle force. Nous ne nous sommes pas affrontés à nouveau cette année, mais nous aimerions encore saisir cette occasion pour leur montrer notre sincère reconnaissance. »

Discover the full report and analysis of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, produced by our special correspondents in Sarthe, in issue 2170 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version and from this Wednesday on newsstands.