Toyota GR Super Sport Hypercar Allegedly Canceled After Testing
The race car LMH program is still in development. Toyota GR is not oblige to produce and sell a street-legal version.
Toyota took just about everyone by surprise at the beginning of 2018 when it unveiled the GR Super Sport Concept signaling a road-going hypercar to complement its WEC racer. Subsequent news about the electrified flagship sports car have been few and far between, and the future doesn’t look too bright either.
Citing Japanese media outlets, Racer magazine claims a pre-production prototype of the street-legal version was involved in an accident during a recent test at Fuji Speedway. The hybrid hypercar allegedly caught fire and sustained serious damages, prompting Toyota to abort the road car’s development. The new report seemingly confirms the initial rumors from Japan as the GR Super Sport’s fiery crash “may well bring the road car project to a premature end.”
It should be mentioned the road car’s possible demise does not negatively impact the LMH program as Racer points out Toyota is not obliged to sell a street-legal version.
As some of you will recall, Toyota released a video with the GR Super Sport shot at the very same Fuji Speedway in Japan back in June 2019, with the company CEO Akio Toyoda behind the wheel. In September 2020, it made its dynamic public debut by doing a demonstration lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe on the occasion of the 88th 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The road-legal GR Super Sport is supposed to have a twin-turbo 2.4-liter V6 engine as part of a hybrid powertrain with a combined output expected to surpass the 1,000-horsepower mark after taking into account the electric motors. It’s expected to be a coupe, possibly with a canopy section as suggested in a patent filed last year by Toyota with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Challenging to be the first champion of the Hypercar class
The “GR010 HYBRID” is a new racecar that is being entered by TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in the 2021 FIA WEC (World Endurance Championship). With the Hypercar class being designated this season as the pinnacle class of the WEC, the GR010 HYBRID was developed according to the LMH (Le Mans Hypercar) technical regulation. The result has been that, aside from sensors, switches and the like, the GR010 HYBRID is a completely new machine, sharing virtually nothing in common with the LMP1 (Le Mans Prototype) class TS050 HYBRID car in terms of its chassis parts or the hybrid system it mounts.