Toyota's outrageous GR Super Sport hybrid hypercar takes to the track
Hybrid hypercar will race at Le Mans in 2021
TOYOTA is set to apply its hybrid know-how to perhaps its most ambitious project to date: a road-legal hypercar to take on the finest from brands like Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin.
Camouflaged prototypes of the GR Super Sport filmed on track for the first time offer the clearest look yet at the mighty range-topping model that Toyota has in the pipelines.
Bar any dramatic last-minute redesigns, it looks like the finished article will very closely resemble the concept car of the same name that wowed crowds at the 2018 Tokyo Motor Show.
We can actually see two versions — one with a roof-mounted air intake and one without, suggesting one is a road-going version and the other is track-only and destined to compete in the 2020/2021 LMP1-replacing hypercar class at Le Mans.
Performance details are to be confirmed, though the concept car’s Le Mans-winning Toyota TS050-derived 2.4-litre twin-turbo V6 hybrid powertrain was said to produce a substantial 1000ps (986bhp). That will have to be turned down to 750bhp for the Le Mans racer, of which the hybrid element must not exceed 270bhp, but the road-going model won’t be bound by such limitations.
Sadly we can’t hear either car at full chat in the video because Toyota has chosen to use a music soundtrack.
The Toyota will have stiff competition in the top flight Hyper Sport class at Le Mans, though. Aston Martin will field a pair of race-ready Valkyries (above), and other car manufacturers are expected to announce their own top-tier WEC hypercar programmes in the coming months.
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