'Driving my Dad's scary Group C car' – Nakajima on the fearsome Toyota 85C

Sports Car News

Kazuki Nakajima spoke to Motor Sport about driving his father's Group C Toyota at Le Mans – and admitted it was not for the faint-hearted

Kazukia-Nakajima-with-his-father's-Toyota-85C-Group-C-car-at-the-Le-Mans-Classic-2022-pose

Nakajima shared the car with another Japanese endurance legend, Masanori Sekiya

Toyota

If you were to take your Dad’s everyday runaround from your childhood for a spin, what car comes to mind? A Ford Mondeo? Maybe Vauxhall Cavalier? Even the old Volvo 850 estate?

If you happen to be Japanese racing royalty the options are a little different – hence the Group C monster which three-time La Sarthe winner Kazuki Nakajima was asked to drive at this year’s Le Mans Classic winner, the Dome-built Toyota 85C.

The car has huge historic importance in terms of the marque’s racing history as its first Le Mans prototype, and also on a personal level to Nakajima – his father Satoru was one of the drivers in the No36 entry which finished that debut ’85 race in 12th, just months before his son was born, and it was run by TOMS, the team with which Kazuki won two Super Formula titles with.

Just to add to the provenance, the former F1 driver shared his car at the Classic with Masanori Sekiya, team-mate of his father in ’85 and also the first ever Japanese competitor to win at Le Mans, part of the McLaren F1 GTR team which claimed the famous ’95 victory.

Speaking to Motor Sport prior to racing it at this year’s event, Nakajima described the 500bhp turbocharged car as “a bit scary” when compared to the smooth-running LMP1 cars he’s used to, as well as appreciating the history in which he was sharing when getting behind the wheel.

However, even though admitting to nerves on the starting grid after taking pole, the Japanese driver showed composure with his 72-year-old driving partner to take the win in their C1b sub-class.

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The Japanese driver also demonstrated the car before this years Le Mans, delivering the winners’ trophy to the starting grid – yet even that was a daunting task for a race driver who has nearly seen it all.

“Basically the only chance to drive the car before was at our factory, when I had a little bit of shakedown outside, not on a race track!” he says.

“My biggest concern or pressure was to not stall the car in front of 250,000 people! But otherwise it was a really nice moment.”

As Nakajima highlighted prior to his historic race appearance, his father had pointed out the inherent difficulties in driving the 85C. Though it paved the way for more successful prototypes like the TS010 which Sekiya came second with in ’92, it’s not a car without its flaws. Amongst other worries highlighted by Nakajima is the fact the car is built from steel, not carbon fibre.

“Back in those days there were no chicanes, so they were flat out from Tertre Rouge until the Mulsanne corner,” he says. “The bodywork used to shake at high speed, and he was suffering from a lot of vibrations just from going in a straight line!

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All smiles, but Nakajima admits to the 85C being an intimidating driving experience

Toyota

“There is also a small kink after the second chicane, which is basically nothing for us now, but back then they were doing about 350kph [220mph] or more through that section – ot was a big, big challenge in those cars.

“I’m not sure if it was because of the lights on the car or the seating position, but my Dad struggled to see on the straight. The headlights on the cars and lighting round the track were not as good as they are now. Imagine the kind of accident you could have – I feel like I’m a little bit lucky to race in this era.”

Much in contrast to the smooth paddle shifts driver use now, Satoru and his team-mates had to make do with a no-nonsense five-speed Hewland gearbox and H-pad shifter, only increasing his son’s respect for his father’s achievement.

36 SEKIYA Masanori (jpn), NAKAJIMA Kazuki (jpn), Toyota TOM's 85C, action during the Le Mans Classic 2022 from June 30 to July 3, 2022 on the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, in Le Mans, France - Photo Damien Saulnier / DPPI

Nakajima and Sekiya would put in a consummate performances to win their class

DPPI

“Back then, I believe it was more challenging than it is now because the driver had to nurse the car a lot more,” he explains.

“It was so much easier to make a single mistake for the gear shift which could damage the gearbox, which doesn’t happen with a semi-automatic sequential.

“The pressure is there for me not break it, but luckily I started my career with this kind of gearbox so I kind of know how to deal with it! It’s long time ago, so I need to remind myself though that I need to be careful.”

In contrasting the new with old, Nakajima says he couldn’t help but be slightly intimidated by the beast he was getting behind the wheel of.

“I think myself, growing up with loads of data on the cars and things like that, this kind of [Group C] era is not normal for me, so it makes me a little bit scared,” he admits.

“However I believe if I was racing back then, I would have still loved to drive these cars, I would have still pushed flat out.

“But if you look at the technique it’s very, very different to what we have now, it makes me have a lot of respect for the drivers from back then.

“I think the feeling of the whole event for the driver was an even bigger challenge these days.”

Since retiring from a highly successful racing career at the end of last season, Nakajima has moved seamlessly into a new role as vice chairman of Toyota Racing Europe.

36 SEKIYA Masanori (jpn), NAKAJIMA Kazuki (jpn), Toyota TOM's 85C, action during the Le Mans Classic 2022 from June 30 to July 3, 2022 on the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, in Le Mans, France - Photo Damien Saulnier / DPPI

Nakajima hopes to get back in more historic appearances in the future

DPPI

Ever the company man, he sees an opportunity to possibly show off more of Toyota’s heritage department in the future as a way of promoting the brand – with himself behind the wheel, of course.

“Yeah why not?” he says. “I’m happy to drive whatever the car, given the opportunity. At Toyota we have a lot of historic cars and we have lots of history in motorsports. We can utilise these cars to communicate our history. We havn’t done it that much before, but I think we can build it up.”