On Friday, Toyota announced it would compete in the
2020-2021 World Endurance Championship with a “hybrid-powered prototype based
on the GR Super Sport road car.” While the company only released a single rendering of the model,
they’ve now followed up with a video of the GR Super Sports concept undergoing
testing on the track.
Toyota didn’t say much about the clip, but it shows
executives and drivers examining the car and then putting in a few laps. The
video also reveals the model will be equipped with a prominent front splitter,
large air intakes and canards. Moving further back, there’s protruding wheels arches and massive
front fender vents. Elsewhere, we can see a full-width rear wing, a large
diffuser and a tear-drop shaped cockpit with a vertical stabilizer fin.
The compact cabin has exposed carbon fiber and a
minimalist Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel. We can also see a digital
instrument cluster and a complex center stack that features two digital
displays as well as an assortment of color-coded knobs.
The new car will make its WEC debut in the fall of
2020. In order to ensure continued success on the track, Toyota says both the
road and race car are undergoing “intensive development at the company’s
technical centers in Toyota City, Higashi-Fuji and Cologne.” Proper track tests
will begin next year and Toyota said “further details of the GR Super Sport
road car will be issued by Toyota Gazoo Racing in due course.”
The company hasn’t even revealed the car’s name yet,
but the GR Super Sport concept was unveiled at the 2018 Tokyo Auto Salon and
used a number of components sourced from the TS050 Hybrid. In particular, the
concept had a twin-turbo 2.4-liter V6 engine and a hybrid system with multiple
electric motors. This enabled the car to produce a combined output of 986 hp.
