Toyota is thinking big for the 100thousand anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The most famous endurance race in the world, which will take place on June 10 and 11, will allow the Japanese brand to shine both during the competition and in the paddocks.
On the occasion, in fact, The Toyota Gazoo Racing team will present a completely new concept which has just been announced as the first image.
A hydrogen sports car?
At this point, we don’t know much about this prototype. The image shows only a bumper with two LED optics on both sides, a large radiator grille and aerodynamic elements located on the sides.
The presence of a license plate indicates that this is a serial model that already exists or will appear in the next few months. Since the Yaris, Corolla and Supra (as well as the GR86) already have GR versions, it could be the new turn of the Prius to take center stage.
Its characteristics? The same, we don’t know yet. Toyota is just pointing out the concept “will be equipped with a series of technologies developed during various motorsport championships around the world”.
However, there is a small hint. Indeed, in addition to the shape of the shield, very close to the new Prius, the presentation of the prototype is part of a series of events created by Toyota to celebrate carbon neutrality in Japan and which will take place during the race weekend. Autodrome de la Sarte.
Dead end concept?
Thus, this hypothetical GR Prius concept could be based on a “clean” powertrain, may run on hydrogenone of the technologies Toyota is working on.
The Japanese manufacturer has long used hydrogen as a fuel for the heat engines of some racing cars, such as the GR Corolla and GR Yaris. The latter also competed in Rallye Belgium 2022 with none other than Akio Toyoda behind the wheel, a former Toyota executive and grand master of the GR series today.
Although the brand is moving more and more towards electricity, it is also very likely that it wants to focus on this type of engine as well, even if there is no specific application on a production car currently planned.
Source: Auto Plus
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