Gazoo Racing has announced that its Le Mans Hypercar will be unveiled on January 15. Toyota has been working on the vehicle for some time now and in September, brought along a prototype to the Le Mans 24 Hours. The vehicle is based on Toyota’s successful TS050 LMP1 prototype and is currently known as the GR Super Sport, although it remains to be seen if that name will be retained for the finished item.
Gazoo Racing’s Twitter post confirms that
the vehicle will pump out 680 PS in racing guise, the limit of all
vehicles competing in the Le Mans Hypercar class. It is believed this
powertrain will consist of a mid-mounted 2.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 that
operates alongside an electric motor.
Unlike Peugeot, which has decided against
launching a road-going version of its racer, Toyota will build a minimum of 20
examples for the street. It’s difficult to know how different the road car will
be from the race car but given the fact that it doesn’t need to meet racing
regulations, it’s conceivable that the production model could be more powerful
than the race car, potentially delivering the same 986 hp as the GR Super Sport
concept from a few years ago.
Rumors have circulated online that the
road car may feature three electric motors alongside its twin-turbo V6 and
could pump out as much as 1,400 hp, a figure that would easily eclipse the
Aston Martin Valkyrie and Mercedes-AMG One.
