Akio Toyoda in the Lexus LFA

Akio Toyoda, incoming president of Toyota and grandson of the company’s founder, has been confirmed as one of the drivers in the upcoming 24h Nürburgring race:

The grandson of Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda is one of four drivers on a Toyota team entering the May 21-24 Nurburgring 24-hour endurance race in Germany, company spokesman Paul Nolasco said Friday.

The race is an opportunity to test the reliability of products in development, and Toyoda will be racing in the Lexus LF-A, which also entered the same race last year, he said.

“It’s designed to be a sporty car. We put our prototype to a test,” said Nolasco.

Last year, the Lexus LF-A finished seventh in its class, and was 121st among 150 cars that finished from 216 vehicles that started.

Toyoda is widely considered to be the driving force behind the LFA’s push towards production, and just recently won a race at Nürburgring in the supercar prototype, so his participation was expected. Still, how many car company presidents enter into races driving an still-under-development supercar? Wild.

[Source: Forbes]