The big news from Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2022, which opens today at the Makuhari Messe, is the GRMN Yaris, a GR Yaris that has been further tuned. Limited to just 500 units for Japan, the GRMN Yaris is lighter, hotter and ships with branded goodies from Recaro, Bilstien and BBS.
Here’s its more mysterious fellow debutant. The GR GT3 Concept is described as a racing-dedicated concept car that incorporates the knowledge and tech TGR has gained in motorsports (Toyota fields factory teams in WRC rallying and World Endurance Championship, WEC). It’s a bespoke GT3-class race car that might be commercialised rather than the other way round – adapting a road car to be a race car.
“TGR is committed to further accelerating customer motorsports activities to make the world of motorsports sustainable. Promoting ‘driver first’ car development and with a desire to provide attractive cars that customers participating in GT3, which is the pinnacle of customer motorsports, would choose, TGR has unveiled the GR GT3 Concept,” TGR said.
TGR says that by commercialising motorsports cars over merely adapting production vehicles for use in motorsports, it intends to “use feedback and technologies refined through participation in various motorsports activities to develop both GT3 and mass-production cars and further promote making ever-better motorsports-bred cars,” citing the acclaimed GR Yaris as an example.
Future super sports car to sit on top of the GR range? What do you think of the GR GT3 Concept? The long hood and pushed back cab shape reminds me of the AMG GT. What’s a GT3-class race car like? Check out the 992 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, BMW M4 GT3, Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II, Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 and the Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Now you see why Toyota, which is led by a petrolhead and is committed to racing and drivers cars, must have one of its own. When this comes to life, expect to see it in Japan’s Super GT as well.
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this neeeds to be the next supra
Toyota has problems on keeping historical nameplates relevant.
For example, putting corolla nameplate on SUV (the corolla cross) while downplaying it on a proper sedan (the Altis should be properly called the Corolla).
The latest corolla cross should be called the RAV4 (which was historically and originally a CR-V rival), while the latest RAV4 should be called a land cruiser something instead.
They should have kept TRD as its apex motorsports division name, rather than creating the Gazoo mambo jumbo.
Should this GT3 be a Supra? Or have a new name like the LF-A? Or to resurrect the historical 2000GT name?
You sir, speak the truth and the whole truth.
Sure it looks cool because it abides by racing safety regulations n its a race focused machine, its alot more difficult to convert it to a globally accepted road legal sports car with all safety features and creature comforts