In Japanese, Waku Doki means ‘excitement, fun and joy’, which is the new global philosophy of Toyota. Very recently TKM (Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd.) introduced its concept cars of the EMR (Etios Motor Racing) Series in Cochin at the Nippon Toyota. There are some motorsport activities brought together for the enthusiasts at the venue. These EMR Series concept cars were unveiled in the International Auto Expo 2012 of New Delhi where the fresh sports avatar of the Etios had been showcased to the visitors. This is also an attempt of the firm to reach out to the new consumer group that is younger and biggerthan the present customer base through the brand of Etios. This is a very genuine attempt on the part of the Toyota to bring motorsports closer to its consumers and to the young generation of the nation, who could be the future buyers of Toyota products.
Other that the showcasing of the EMR concept cars, there has been a lot of activities which were based on motorsport for all age groups who were visiting this particular dealership in Cochin. The race tracks had remote controlled cars and simulators for racing were making the motorsports enthusiasts excitedly involved into the activities. Provision of a crash course to make the children aware of automobiles was also organised by the dealership. These children got to know a lot about the automobile technology’s basic things in a special zone that was called ‘Children’s Automotive Learning Area.’ The firm representative said that this year would be completely dedicated to promote the brand of EMR. Other than the dealerships activation of 24 dealerships in 14 cities there shall be road shows, exhibition races and a bunch full of activities happening at a row before the race series commence next year.
Managing Coordinator-Marketing, Mr. Hitoshi Fukui of Toyota Kirloskar Motor said, “Toyota is dedicated to make its customer pleased by giving them the practical experience of ‘Waku-Doki’, in Japanese this means ‘excitement, fun and joy.’ And for that the firm is constantly renovating itself for a sustainable growth of its brand. In India, I am glad that Toyota Kirloskar Motor has finally decided to commence the motorsports in the same worldwide manner it does anywhere else.”
We have to also understand the actual idea behind the EMR. The EMR is an act of continuance of the firm’s worldwide legacy in motorsports. This tournament will be backed by the Toyota Racing Development (TRD), which is one of the acclaimed and accomplished engineering firms in the history of motorsports. It is also a corporate brand from the affiliate of Toyota that is called Toyota Tenchnocraft Co. Ltd. The EMR Trophy series that is supposed to be held in the second half of next year will be completely based on the platform of one-make racing championship. FIA will qualify the racing cars while TRD will supply the racing parts and their expertise on technology will be used throughout this series. Red Rooster Racing (International) Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore will be working as the partner of Toyota in this series so the latter would understand the sport in India in a better and quick manner.
The pioneer firm of motor racing in India as well as one of the prime tire manufacturing firms in the country, MRF plays an important part in this series. DENS,O which is a Toyota affiliate and makes auto components is on board the EMR in 2012 with MRF. The Toyota Etios racing event will help the talented young racers to enhance their race car driving skills and further train them to get an edge that’s competitive for their bright future in the motorsports. These chosen few will be mentored by the experts of this field, on the practice tracks as well as throughout the main events. They will also get to compete against the best of the drivers in the nation. This series will highlight and showcase the technological adroitness of the producer as well as the level of hardship the Etios can bear while flash the aspect of ‘fun to drive’ of the vehicle.
Amidst all this excitement, it is equally important to know how the race car drivers are being selected for this upcoming series, where new champions will emerge to take over the old ones. The whole selection and scrutiny procedure were done through three stages of strict rules and training sessions. The fit candidates are supposed to go further to hit the target in the coming series.
- First an online application was invited by the interested candidates.This portal was open for more than a month. There was a record response of 3303 registration online.
- The first EMR camp is in progress right now. The rounds in Delhi and Pune have already been done, while Bangalore and Kolkata will be held in the coming two weeks.
- The May-June period will see the commencement of the second and third camp that will let the selection team to come up with the final 25 race car drivers.
The applicants who were selected in the first two camps underwent a go-kart selection round. Only those candidates got to drive the EMR cars that got selected for their third camp. Here they received an in-depth lecture from the experts as an integral part of the training procedure. All of this training will be done by the professional instructors and drives from the local racing scenarios and Toyota. Interestingly, the study material for these candidates will bear a combination of whatever is utilised in Japan, while it is required by the FMSCI to make sure that the drivers be trained to international standards.
With this series due next year, the Indian motorsport aficionados will have another thing to boast about their favourite sport.
