Toyota brought along a prototype of its upcoming GR Super Sport to the Le Mans 24 Hours over the weekend. The Japanese car manufacturer has been developing the vehicle for a number of years now and is getting it ready for the FIA’s Le Mans Hypercar class. It is based on the Toyota TS050 Hybrid race car that won Le Mans in 2018 and 2019, while also taking victory on the weekend.
During the race weekend, the GR Super
Sport completed a demonstration lap of the circuit while being driven by former
Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Alex Wurz. It is unclear if the GR Super Sport
pictured is the race-ready version or a prototype for the road-legal model
that’s required to meet homologation requirements. Whatever the case may be, it
is interesting to see the vehicle without a roof in place. As other prototypes
have had roofs, it is possible the GR Super Sport will feature a removable hard
top.
Powering the road-going model will be a
mid-mounted 2.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine that uses hybrid assistance
and churns out a claimed 986 hp. A minimum of 20 examples will be given the
go-ahead for production, although details such as pricing remain uncertain.
Regardless of pricing and availability,
the Toyota GR Super Sport will be one of the most remarkable vehicles on sale
and act as the perfect rival to cars including the Aston Martin Valkyrie and
Mercedes-AMG One.
