The Toyota GR Super Sport Concept is already warming up for the World Endurance Championship

Last Friday, Toyota announced it would take part in the 2020-2021 World Endurance Championship with a “hybrid prototype based on the GR Super Sport racing car”. Although the company only released a rendering of the model, we have now been left wanting more with a video of the Toyota GR Super Sport Concept being put through its paces on the track.

Toyota has not said much about the clip, but it shows executives and drivers examining the car and then going around the circuit. The video also reveals that the model will be equipped with a large diffuser and large air intakes. In addition, the cabin is teardrop-shaped with a vertical stabiliser fin.

The wheel arches protrude alongside the huge openings of the front fender. A full-width rear wing can also be seen. The compact cabin features exposed carbon fibre and a minimalist steering wheel wrapped in Alcantara. A digital instrument cluster and a complex central console with two digital screens can also be seen, as well as a variety of colour-coded controls.

The new Toyota GR Super Sport Concept will make its debut in the WEC in autumn 2020. To ensure continued success on the track, Toyota says that both the racing car and the driver are undergoing “intensive development at the company’s technical centres in Toyota Vity, Higashi-Fuji and Cologne. Proper track testing will begin next year”. Toyota has noted that “the remaining details about the racing car; the Toyota GR Super Sport Concept, will be announced by Toyota Gazoo Racing in due course”.

Toyota GR Super Sport Concept, ready for 2020

The Japanese brand has not revealed the model’s future name, but the Toyota GR Super Sport Concept was presented in 2018 at the Tokyo Motor Show. This model uses several components from the TSo50 Hybrid. In particular, the concept showcased was equipped with a 2.4-litre twin-turbo V6 engine and a hybrid system with multiple electric motors. This allowed the car to produce a combined power output of around 1,000 CV.

Almost at the same time that Toyota was on its way to winning the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans, the manufacturer released the video testing the future Toyota GR Super Sport Concept. Akio Toyoda, CEO of Toyota, shared track time with Kamui Kobayashi. Both drove the prototype through the corners of the Japanese Fuji circuit. The exhaust soundtrack has been replaced with a rock soundtrack, so it is not known how the competition hybrid will sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3s3cR2Jm2k

Everything points to there being two prototypes, one with a roof and one without. To take part in the WEC the cars cannot weigh more than 1,100 kilograms and the hybrid engine cannot deliver more than 280 CV. In addition, to compete in this championship, Toyota must build 20 road-going units based on the racing car within two years of the start of the competition. This means that a Toyota GR Super Sport could reach the market in 2022. The Aston Martin Valkyrie or the Mercedes-AMG One would be some of its rivals. Will it be able to beat them?