Toyota GR launches GR KART entry-level racing kart across Japan

GAZOO Racing (GR) launched the "GR KART," an entry-level racing kart developed to broaden hands-on access to motorsports for children and families, nationwide in Japan on September 10, 2026, at kart tracks and GR Garage locations. GR notes that racing karts offer the thrill of controlling a vehicle hands-on, but that hurdles such as kart costs, transportation, storage and maintenance await those who want to get into karting. By offering a price point and a system that makes competing easier, GR aims to make direct involvement in motorsports possible for more people. While advancing its mission of making ever-better motorsports-bred cars, GR says it is also working to broaden the base of motorsports and cultivate talent.

Toyota Motor Corporation Chairman Akio Toyoda, known as Morizo, has long desired for motorsports to be an activity more people can take up, like baseball or soccer, and the GR KART was born from a desire to make karting more accessible and to create an environment in which anyone can experience firsthand the joy of vehicle control. Each kart is presented as a "carmaker-made kart," carefully crafted with experience and ingenuity honed through Toyota automotive manufacturing. The Gamagori GR KART Workshop in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture, produces the GR KART, and its small scale makes it ideal for tackling challenges and quickly testing innovative ideas and technologies. Guided by Toyota Production System (TPS) principles, the workshop is committed to quality and continuous process improvement, and GR says it is working to reduce costs so newcomers find it easier to start and continue karting.

The GR KART is available for purchase at select kart tracks in Japan and at certain GR Garage locations, with additional sales locations planned. Participating kart tracks number 36 locations as of September 9, 2026, spread across Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu/Okinawa, while seven GR Garage locations were participating as of the same date. The GR app lets users obtain and manage a driver's passport, which serves as proof of eligibility to engage in sports driving with a GR KART at participating kart tracks, so owners do not need a separate kart track license, though participation in SL Kart Meeting GR KART races requires a separate dedicated license. Accessories and spare parts are to be sold through a dedicated store on the Rakuten Ichiba e-commerce website for easy, direct ordering. The GR KART is designed exclusively for closed-course driving and competition such as kart tracks and cannot be driven on public roads, including parking lots, nor registered or issued a license plate.