Toyota GR Super Sport Hypercar Makes Public Debut at Le Mans
After being teased for years, the Toyota GR Super Sport hypercar has finally made its first public appearance. Fittingly, the reveal took place at Le Mans, where the car is set to compete next year in the new Le Mans Hypercar class.
According to the automaker, the car it showed off isn’t the final product. It was a model based in part on the three-time Le Mans-winning TS050 Hybrid LMP1 car and on a GR Super Sport development model customized as a convertible. It was wrapped in the usual Gazoo Racing camouflage livery and showed up as part of its ongoing development process.
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The GR Super Sport hypercar, which was first teased in 2018, is expected to feature many of the same internal parts as the TS050 Hybrid, including a mid-mounted, twin-turbocharged 2.4-liter direct-injection V6 engine working with an electric motor to produce 986 horsepower.
On Saturday, former Gazoo Racing driver Alex Wurz got behind the wheel to do a demonstration lap around Le Mans. “It was an honor to drive this development version of the GR Super Sport for the first time in public, and especially at a circuit like Le Mans which is so closely connected to this car,” he said. “The GR Super Sport was born at Le Mans so this felt like a homecoming.”
“This was my first time to drive the car, so a demonstration lap doesn’t allow me to push the limits but I could already feel that the GR Super Sport has the potential for incredible performance. I could feel the similarities between the GR Super Sport and the TS050 Hybrid in terms of performance, particularly the four-wheel drive and the hybrid system. But the engineers tell me this was only a small taste of the GR Super Sport’s true performance so I am super excited to drive it again one day in the near future.”
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The Toyota GR Super Sport hypercar will compete in the new LMH class, which replaces the current LMP1 class. LMH cars are limited to 670 horsepower and must weigh no less than 2271 pounds. They must also have an electric motor producing no more than 268 horsepower, which can power the front axle for all-wheel drive.
Because these hypercars must also be based on road-legal models, and because the GR Super Sport Concept makes 986 horsepower, it’s quite possible that the road car will end up much more powerful than its racing counterpart.
So far, Toyota is one of four manufacturers confirmed to be competing in LMH, alongside Alpine, Glickenhaus, ByKolles and Peugeot. Aston Martin was meant to join in 2021 with its Valkyrie project as well, but has postponed, perhaps because of its new commitment to Formula 1.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.