- A new version of the Toyota GR010 Hybrid appeared on official teasers.
- The revised hypercar will be tested at the Circuit Paul Ricard next week.
- Toyota hopes to return to WEC victories after Ferrari’s recent dominance.
Toyota is gearing up for a comeback at Le Mans with an updated GR010 Hybrid, set to arrive in 2026. The endurance racing machine has been teased online with a sharper aerodynamics package that gives it a noticeably more menacing stance.
Between 2018 and 2022, Toyota dominated endurance racing, clinching five consecutive Le Mans victories. That streak came to an end when Ferrari triumphed in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Determined to strike back, Toyota Gazoo Racing is readying its new racing machine, aiming to remain competitive in an increasingly crowded field.
Lighting the Way Forward
The shadowy teaser reveals an ultra-aggressive redesign. At the front, the revised GR010 features horizontally arranged LED headlights that echo the hammerhead look of Toyota’s road cars, complete with integrated vents. At the rear, we can see a full-width LED strip similar to the GR Yaris, and a reshaped wing.
More: Toyota’s Wild GR Hypercar Racing Concept Just Crashed The Le Mans Party
Toyota’s GR010 Hybrid first debuted in 2021 as the successor to the TS050 Hybrid. Like all WEC Hypercars, it’s homologated under strict rules, with only five “joker” development opportunities permitted during its life cycle. Some of these were already used in a 2023 update, and the rest will likely be deployed for this latest redesign.
What isn’t clear yet is whether the hybrid system itself will see any changes. The current setup combines a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 with a front-mounted electric motor, producing a capped total of 671 hp (500 kW / 680 PS) in line with series regulations.
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Toyota confirmed it is working on an upgraded racing car during the 6 Hours of Fuji that didn’t go well for the Gazoo Racing team. As reported by Autohebdo, Kazuki Nakajima, Vice-chairman of Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe explained:
“We are working on introducing an evolution for next year. At the beginning of October, we will test the car equipped with this new aerodynamic package for the first time. As a team, we are working together and continuing our preparations with the firm intention of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans next year. To be honest, we’ve been considering this development since last year, and we even thought about launching it this year, but partly because of the change in the homologation wind tunnel location, we decided to postpone it for a year.”
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Testing of the revised hypercar is expected to take place at Circuit Paul Ricard in France on October 8 and 9, which could finally give us a clearer look at the updated design.
Toyota GR rivals in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) include Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Peugeot in the LMH category, and BMW, Porsche, Cadillac, and Alpine in the LMDh. Starting in 2027, the grid will also include LDMh entries from Genesis, McLaren and Ford.
