TOYOTA GAZOO Racing South Africa, together with SVR, today proudly unveiled their all-new motorsport operations base: the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Motorsport Hub, located in Kyalami, Gauteng. This marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the team, setting a new benchmark in South African and international motorsport facilities.
Construction on the 12,500 m² facility began in October 2024, with the express goal of creating a world-class hub dedicated to high-performance motorsport engineering, manufacturing, and development. The Rally-Raid Hub will serve as the new home of TGRSA, housing the team’s race vehicles and technical departments under one expansive, multi-level roof—with room to grow in future.
Designed to meet the increasing demands of international competition and continuous innovation, the facility has been purpose-built to support every aspect of modern rally-raid racing. It includes a dedicated engine room, damper laboratory, in-house dyno, and an extensively upgraded fabrication division. The machine shop has also been significantly enhanced, now featuring a full suite of 3-, 4-, and 5-axis CNC machinery, ensuring precision component production at the highest global standards.
The new building dramatically improves capacity, with space to prepare up to 20 race cars, compared to just six at the team’s previous base. Every workshop and support area has been designed to optimise efficiency, workflow, and quality control. This includes a state-of-the-art parts store, complete with a custom-built software system to manage inventory and logistics—servicing not just TGRSA, but multiple teams around the world.
To further streamline operations, a number of processes previously outsourced have now been brought in-house. This strategic decision has enabled the team to improve efficiency, reduce turnaround times, and most importantly, continue to elevate the performance, durability, and reliability of the GR Hilux EVO platform.
Shameer Variawa, Team Principal of TGRSA, explained: “Toyota and SVR had the vision to open a world-class hub for motorsport fabrication, which would showcase our collective ability and excellence. Using the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing slogan of ‘Pushing the Limits for Better’ as inspiration, we sat down and sketched what we wanted the new SVR hub to become. I’m incredibly proud of the product that stands before us today—from conceptual dream to a place my team can now call ‘home’. We place tremendous value in our partnership with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing and the race results that are to come.”
The construction phase was not without its challenges. Under normal conditions, a build of this scale would require upwards of 18 months. Due to the demands of the race calendar, the team halved the construction timeline, working multiple crews around the clock. Even midway through the project, a significant redesign was initiated by Variawa—requiring architectural changes in line with Toyota’s Kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement.
All of this unfolded in parallel with preparations for the 2025 Dakar Rally, where the team fielded four all-new GR Hilux EVOs and achieved commendable results—highlighting the team’s capability to execute simultaneously across engineering, racing, and infrastructure development.
Glenn Crompton, Vice President of Marketing at Toyota South Africa Motors, commented: “The opening of the new SVR Motorsport Hub represents the third chapter for Toyota’s motorsport exploits and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing South Africa. Shameer, with support from the entire SVR team, has transitioned from privateer driver to team principal to world-class Rally-Raid facility operator. It is the undeniable passion for the sport that drives them to strive for excellence in everything they do. From a TGRSA perspective, we couldn’t have asked for a better partner. This is the beginning of an exciting journey for us all, and I’m confident together we’ll reach even greater heights.”
Internally, the facility has become affectionately known as the team’s “Man-cave”—a term coined by Variawa to reflect not only the technical excellence on display, but also the personal pride and camaraderie fostered within its walls.
A special word of thanks, from Shameer Variawa and the entire SVR team, is extended to Toyota South Africa Motors—especially Andrew Kirby, Leon Theron, and Glenn Crompton—for the trust they placed in the SVR organisation to represent the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing brand. That trust made the creation of this new home for rally-raid excellence possible, and the team is determined to repay it through performance on the global stage.
