Toyota Gazoo Racing introduces new Le Mans Hypercar and confirms 2021 line-up - Speedway Digest

Toyota Gazoo Racing has revealed its all-new GR010 Hybrid Le Mans Hypercar, which will compete in the 2021 FIA World Endurance Championship.

The reigning World Champions and three-time Le Mans winners will retain the same driver line-up which brought Le Mans and World Championship glory to the team in its 2019-2020 FIA WEC campaign.

Newly-crowned World Champions Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López will drive the No. 7 GR010 Hybrid while Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima and Brendon Hartley will race with the No. 8 sister car. Nyck de Vries remains in his role as test and reserve driver.

The GR010 Hybrid is a prototype racer developed over the last 18 months in partnership by engineers at the team’s headquarters in Cologne, Germany and the electric hybrid powertrain experts at Higashi-Fuji in Japan. It incorporates a powerful four-wheel drive racing hybrid powertrain, with a 3.5litre V6 twin turbo engine.

The striking new look of the racing prototype reflects the appearance of its inspiration, the GR Super Sport Hypercar which made its public debut during a demonstration run and ceremonial trophy return at last year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans and is currently in development. To mark this new era for Toyota Gazoo Racing, a new livery includes the iconic GR lettering to indicate the strong link between race and road cars.

Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest: “Given the brand’s success in LMP1, it shows a commitment to endurance racing and their competitive spirit. Winners in LMP1, they are now going back to the drawing board with a different set of specifications and targets. It’s a whole new challenge. Having Toyota – an internationally renowned carmaker – in the field is a source of pride for the ACO. It means that as an event organiser we’re ticking the right boxes. To manufacturers like Toyota, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and endurance in general is a way of demonstrating their flagship products to the public.”

Richard Mille, President of the FIA Endurance Commission: “The Le Mans Hypercar has been in the works for quite some time now and the public unveiling of the first car built to this set of regulations, the Toyota GR010 Hybrid, is an important milestone not only for the manufacturer itself, but also for the FIA as the rule maker, the ACO, the promoter as well the community of the FIA World Endurance Championship fans worldwide. I’m very much looking to seeing the car competing this season as well as beyond it, following the development of this new era of endurance racing, as other competitors are set to join the fray in due course.”

Frédéric Lequien, CEO of the WEC: “First and foremost, we are delighted to see Toyota Gazoo Racing enter its ninth season in the WEC – they have been a tremendous support to the championship over the years and congratulations to everyone from Higashi-Fuji and Cologne for creating a truly magnificent machine. This is the start of an exciting new era for endurance racing and for hybrid technology as a whole, of which Toyota will remain an integral part. We wish the team every success in the remainder of its testing programme and look forward to seeing the new Toyota GR010 Hybrid make its race debut soon.”

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.