24 Hours of Le Mans 2018 winner Toyota (we’ve waited very long to be able to say this!) showed off the GR Super Sport Concept at the Circuit de la Sarthe before the racing started, while confirming that “the development of Toyota’s next generation of super sports car has started.” Yes, it won’t just be the new Supra that’s coming, but a super sports car to sit above that sports car.
You race on Sunday to sell on Monday, and Toyota says that its upcoming hypercar will incorporate hybrid electric technology and “fuel economy technology” honed through the carmaker’s six-year participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
First revealed at the 2018 Tokyo Auto Salon in January, the GR Super Sport Concept is powered by a 2.4 litre twin-turbo V6 engine and the Toyota Hybrid System-Racing (THS-R), delivering a combined output of 1,000 hp, which it shares with the TS050 Hybrid LMP1 race car.
“Competing in the WEC, one of the most demanding motorsports series, and racing at Le Mans – one of the most iconic races – helps us to advance the development of our world-leading hybrid electric technology and enables us to transfer the knowledge we gain into our production cars,” said Shigeki Tomoyama, president of Gazoo Racing.
“As the automotive industry is approaching an era of big changes, we will continue our passion for making cars that are truly exciting. No matter how electronics and digital technology will continue to transform vehicles, we will make sure that our cars will not become just another commodity,” he added.
“We started this project because we believe that creating a super sports car that delivers the same appeal as the TS050 Hybrid greatly adds to Toyota’s involvement in WEC. And at some point in the near future, customers will have a chance to get behind the wheel of this incredible machine and experience its astonishing power and driving performance,” Tomoyama concluded.
Yes, yes and yes. We like how this sounds. The GR boss also said in January that if the e-Palette concept from CES 2018 is the next generation of the horse-drawn carriage, the GR Super Sport Concept would be the next-generation racehorse.
“It is an unchanging fact that people want to travel freely, access distant places, and to get there quicker than everyone else in attractive vehicles. The feelings that one has for a car that can do all this are rich and heart-pounding,” Tomoyama said then.
Unlike any other hypercar out there today, this would be a Le Mans race car for the road. What do you think?
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- GR Supersport Concept TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. Le Mans 24 Hours Race, 11th to 17th June 2018 Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France.
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- Shigeki Tomoyama (JPN) TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. Le Mans 24 Hours Race, 11th to 17th June 2018 Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France.
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- TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. Le Mans 24 Hours Race, 11th to 17th June 2018 Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France.
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Who cares if Toyota can put a Le Mans race car for M’sain bcos it’s plain damn too expensive for us.
I’m more interested in – When will all the technologies made available for the masses at reasonable price??
I think Alonso is in the RIGHT TEAM with that photo.. forget about racing for McLaren anymore.. this one feels so right!