Earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show, Toyota
Gazoo Racing showed the world the Supra GT4 Concept, a preview of its GT4 race
car. Now it’s time to see the real thing as Toyota’s racing division has
announced it will enter two cars in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring Endurance Race:
a GR Supra and a Lexus LC.
For obvious reasons, we’ll focus our attention on
the Supra race car which will run its first Nürburgring 24 Hours from June 20
to June 23. Toyota released two photos of the car which seems to feature an
identical aero package with the Supra GT4 Concept.
The grueling endurance race won’t be the Supra’s
first race on the “Green Hell”, however. The car also competed in shorter races
from the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring last autumn even before the
road car launched — which is why it featured a full camouflage livery at the
time.
However, there’s no need for camouflage
anymore. That doesn’t mean the racing Supra no longer has secrets, quite the
contrary. Toyota says both the Supra and the Lexus LC that will compete in the
24-hour race “will incorporate and refine parts and advanced technologies
intended for future road cars.” That sounds exciting, doesn’t it? The Supra will carry number 90
and will compete in the SP8T class which allows body modifications and is for
cars featuring engines with up to 4.0-liters of displacement with forced
induction. The racing Supra packs a turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six closely
related to the production car.
Toyota’s goal for the Nürburgring 24 Hours this year
is to complete the race. The Supra will be driven by a team of four drivers
consisting of Masahiro Sasaki, Uwe Kleen, Herwig Daenens, and Hisashi Yabuki.
The Lexus LC competing in the SP-PRO Class with number 56 will feature an
all-Japanese crew including Takeshi Tsuchiya, Naoya Gamo, Takamitsu Matsui, and
Yuichi Nakayama.
