The Toyota GR Super Sport concept is on the way to the road and the race track. The company intends to give the hypercar a snappier name for the production version. The racing version makes its competition debut in fall 2020, but track testing begins early next year, which should provide a better idea about the machine's design.
Gallery: Toyota GR Super Sport concept
The GR Super Sport is the brand's entry complying with the new regulations for the FIA World Endurance Championship. The updated rules require automakers to produce at least 20 road-going versions within two years of the start of the competition. This setup means that automakers can more easily market their halo products on the track. In addition to Toyota, Aston Martin is the only other company with a confirmed entry in the series.
"For Toyota Gazoo Racing, this new era of competition is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate our credentials not only as a race team against some of the best in the business but also as a sports car manufacturer," Shigeki Tomoyama, Gazoo Racing Company President, said in the new announcement.
Check Out The Concept's Debut:
In racing form, the vehicles must have a max output of 750 horsepower. Hybrid power is allowed, though not mandatory, and the system may not make more than 270 hp. To encourage teams using a hybrid, the electrification can power the front axle, giving these entries all-wheel drive.
As a concept, the GR Super Sport uses a hybrid-assisted, mid-mounted 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6 making a claimed 986 horsepower (735 kilowatts). The design looks more like something for the track than a road car due to elements like no rear window and a vertical fin bisecting the rear deck. Pricing is reportedly at the level of a hypercar, suggesting a figure well into the six figures and possibly even topping $1 million.
Source: Toyota
Posted on 14 June 2019
TOYOTA GAZOO RACING COMMITS TO ENDURANCE RACING
Toyota Gazoo Racing will continue its participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) beyond 2020 following the confirmation of new technical regulations.
The team already announced its participation in the 2019-2020 season, the final campaign with the current-specification LMP1 regulations, and today confirms it will be present on the grid when the new generation of top-class endurance race cars make their WEC debut in autumn 2020.
Earlier today in Le Mans, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest revealed final details of the new technical regulations following detailed discussions with several stakeholders, including newly-crowned World Champions Toyota Gazoo Racing.
As a result, Toyota Gazoo Racing is delighted to confirm it will participate in the 2020-2021 season with a hybrid-powered prototype based on the GR Super Sport road car. Both road and race car are undergoing design and intensive development at the company’s technical centres in Toyota City, Higashi-Fuji and Cologne.
Toyota Gazoo Racing enthusiastically welcomes the future challenge of competing against other sportscar manufacturers in the new top category of WEC and the Le Mans 24 Hours and is confident in an exciting, successful period for endurance racing.
Track testing of the new race car, the name of which will be revealed at a later date, will begin next year prior to the start of the 2020-2021 season while further details of the GR Super Sport road car will be issued by Toyota Gazoo Racing in due course.
Shigeki Tomoyama, GAZOO Racing Company President: “I am pleased to confirm that Toyota Gazoo Racing will continue its challenge in endurance racing beyond the current regulations. Thank you to the ACO and FIA for their hard work in finalising these regulations, which we hope will bring about a new golden age of endurance racing, with several manufacturers fighting for Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship. For Toyota Gazoo Racing, this new era of competition is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate our credentials not only as a race team against some of the best in the business, but also as a sportscar manufacturer. I am sure I join fans and competitors in welcoming the new regulations and looking forward to an exciting era of competition in WEC and at Le Mans.”
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