To make ever better, cleaner cars, Toyota raced and broke this hydrogen-powered Corolla for 24 hours

Before this, we shared with you how Toyota was to take a hydrogen-powered Corolla Sport to participate in a 24-hour endurance race program. Now, said hydrogen-powered Corolla Sport has completed the aforementioned 24-hour endurance race, at precisely 3:00 pm on May 22, 2021.

Also read: Listen to this hydrogen-burning engine driven Toyota Corolla race car vroom by

Over the 24 hours, Toyota's entrant clocked in 358 laps on the Fuji Speedway, an equivalent of 1,634 km. The 358 laps were completed in 11 hours and 54 minutes. Of the remaining time, 8 were spent conducting repairs and safety checks, while refuelling the hydrogen took up 4 hours cumulatively.

While the 358 laps were far shorter than the overall winner's distance (763 laps, more than double the mileage), Toyota's President and Master Driver, Akio Toyoda was pleased with the progress that was made.

Said Toyoda - who obviously participated as a driver for this race - , "We faced many problems, but thanks to everyone’s hard effort, we completed the race with a car almost at a shakedown (reliability testing) stage."

Thanks to the findings, we now know what the issues are, and this 24-hour race has become a milestone for us to prepare and go further." 

Also read: Toyota wants to use hydrogen save the internal combustion engine, when everyone else is giving up

So, despite the race team spending a third of the 24 hours dealing with mechanical issues, Toyoda believes the lessons gleaned from this experience will be a valuable asset in the company's goal to pursue carbon neutrality through not just electricity, but hydrogen as well. 

Toyoda continued, "We decided to challenge this 24-hour race to expand the path toward carbon neutrality. I believe that it is not through regulation or goals, but rather purposeful passion and action that will create the future."

How can you not love the man? He is the very embodiment of 'genchi genbutsu'. Is there a more hands-on leader at any carmaker at the moment? Short answer, no.