Toyota City, Japan, Jul 11, 2023 – (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) – TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) will celebrate the unprecedented achievement of winning three World Championship titles in 2022, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Dakar Rally in a single season when it returns to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this summer.
The cars that helped secure success in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the World Rally Championship (WRC) and the World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) will be on display and in action in the unique motorsports celebration in the grounds of historic Goodwood House in the South of England.
TGR’s participation will also highlight its multi-technology path for motorsport to progress towards a sustainable, zero carbon future while maintaining the excitement and spectacle enjoyed by fans around the world. This includes the use of sustainable, carbon-neutral e-fuel in its current competition cars and demonstrations of how the potential of hydrogen might be realised in the future.
This year the festival is honouring Nasser Al-Attiyah with the addition of a new “Nasser’s Jump” feature in the off-road arena. Al-Attiyah, who in January this year won his third Dakar Rally for TGR with co-driver Mathieu Baumel, has helped design the leap which will add to the spectacular action when he takes to the course in his GR DKR Hilux T1+.
The Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID will lead a trio of GR Yaris competition cars that will be in action at Goodwood. The model which claimed a clean sweep of the 2022 WRC titles will be joined by the new GR Yaris Rally2 Concept, built for the championship’s second tier, and the hydrogen-powered GR Yaris H2, making their first festival appearances.
The GR Yaris Rally2 Concept, unveiled in concept form at Rally Japan at the end of the 2022 season, is set to be offered by TGR as a customer car that will be eligible for many national regional championships worldwide.
The GR Yaris H2 meanwhile, will demonstrate the carbon neutral hydrogen combustion engine technology Toyota is developing with the aim of maintaining the speed, sound and feel of high-performance motorsports for drivers and spectators alike. Featured drivers showcasing the TGR line-up include, TGR World Rally Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala, championship contenders Elfyn Evans and eight times WRC championship winner Seb Ogier, and on Sunday four times WRC Championship winner, Finnish rally legend Juha Kankkunen. Toyota are currently leading the manufacturer and driver standings in all three disciplines of motorsport, WRC, WEC and W2RC.
The hydrogen theme will also be showcased in the Goodwood debut of the GR H2 Racing Concept. Unveiled by Toyota Motor Corporation Chairman Akio Toyoda at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, this hydrogen-engine prototype has been developed with future competition in its sights, notably a future top H2 category at the legendary endurance race. It will be on static display at the festival, together with the GR010 HYBRID. This car has been a dominant force in the FIA World Endurance Championship since the introduction of the Le Mans Hypercar category in 2021, securing two successive manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles and Le Mans 24 Hours victories in 2021 and 2022.
The latest GR Supra GT4 EVO race car will be shown in the festival’s First Glance paddock for new models and will be in action on the hillclimb course, driven by TGR Europe Vice Chairman and three-time Le Mans winner Kazuki Nakajima. It will showcase another example of how Toyota aims to preserve the stirring sound and sensory excitement of motorsport in a carbon-neutral era, running on a synthetic e-fuel. The potential of this e-fuel technology was demonstrated on the racetrack earlier this year when it was used for the first time in one of the GR Supra GT4 models entered in the gruelling Nurburgring 24 Hours.
The GR Supra GT4 EVO was launched this year as the latest development of the racing coupe that has secured numerous race wins worldwide since its first full season in 2020. It benefits from upgrades to its turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine, braking system and handling performance.
Demonstrating how Toyota’s involvement in top-level motorsport directly supports its mission to create ever-better cars for the road, the First Glance paddock will also host the public debut of the new GR Supra 100th Edition Tribute. This special version of the 3.0-litre GR Supra Lightweight has been produced to celebrate TGR racing the landmark of completing 100 GR Supra GT4 race cars for customers. Just 100 examples will be available in Europe, distinguished by an exclusive Plasma Orange paint finish, matt black 19-inch lightweight alloy wheels and carbon fibre dashboard inserts. Customers will be able to specify an optional rear spoiler, evoking the look of the GT4 competition car.
Goodwood will also welcome the European debut of the Toyota Mirai Sport Concept, a concept study for a sports version of the pioneering hydrogen fuel cell electric sedan. Previously revealed at the Fuji 24 Hours race in Japan, it features powerful new front styling with a deep diffuser, gloss-black exterior details, lowered suspension and 21-inch alloy wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport S tyres.
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