Toyota GR Super Sport Confirmed In Road And Racing Car Forms

Hours on from Aston Martin revealing its plans to field a Valkyrie in the FIA World Endurance Championship, we have similar news coming from Toyota.

The Japanese manufacturer has announced that it too will be competing in the new ‘hypercar class’, which is replacing LMP1 from the 2020/2021 season onwards. Its competitor to the race-spec Valkyrie will be based on the GR Super Sport.

Before you ask, yes, this means the GR Super Sport is definitely going into production as a road car, with Toyota promising to release further data about the street-legal version “in due course”. Technical details for both cars are still unknown, save for the fact the racer will be a hybrid.

The concept (above), which was revealed last year, is in essence Toyota’s current TS050 LMP1 car wearing new clothes. It’s powered by a 2.4-litre twin-turbo V6 supported by several electric motors, giving a total output of 986bhp.

Commenting on Toyota’s new entry, Gazoo Racing boss Shigeki Tomoyama said:

“I am pleased to confirm that 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.”

Toyota’s new WEC challenger will start testing in 2020.