

The 2019 season saw TOYOTA GAZOO Racing SA join the fray in the Global Touring Car championship, or GTC for short. While Toyota had taken part in track racing with great success in the past, this was a new foray for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing SA, who enlisted Michael van Rooyen to campaign a brand-new Toyota Corolla in the local series.
During his first year with the team, Van Rooyen took the championship all the way to the wire, barely losing out on the title during the final round of the year. Had he won the championship, he would have joined Toyota legends such as Charl Wilken and Mark Cronje, who were the last works drivers to campaign a Toyota on tarmac.
The start of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the championship in 2020, with now title awarded. The battle continues in 2021, as Van Rooyen and teammate Mandla Mdakane take on the competition.