GR Super Sport makes dynamic public debut at Le Mans

TORONTO, ON – September 21, 2020 – Fittingly for a vehicle based on the two-time Le Mans-winning TS050 HYBRID race car, a special GR Super Sport development model, customized as a convertible and in GR camouflage livery, completed a demonstration lap, before participating in the ceremony to return the Le Mans trophy for this year’s race. The car was driven by Alex Wurz, the former TOYOTA GAZOO Racing driver. Wurz now acts as an advisor to TOYOTA GAZOO Racing and opened the 2020 Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto earlier this year, where the TS050 Hybrid Race Car #8 was exhibited for the first time in Canada.

Soon after the ceremony, this year’s postponed Le Mans 24 Hours began with two TOYOTA GAZOO Racing TS050 HYBRIDs challenging to win the race for the third successive year. The TS050 HYBRID has created history at Le Mans since its debut in 2016, earning TOYOTA’s first victory at La Sarthe as well as setting the fastest-ever lap and the current race lap record. Those performances are the inspiration for the GR Super Sport, a hypercar with race car pedigree and performance.

The GR Super Sport epitomizes TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s commitment to use motorsport to make ever-better road cars for the enjoyment of customers, and it symbolizes the ever-closer relationship between TOYOTA GAZOO Racing race and road car products.

Alex Wurz: “It was an honour to drive this development version of the GR Super Sport for the first time in public, and especially at a circuit like Le Mans which is so closely connected to this car. The GR Super Sport was born at Le Mans, so this felt like a homecoming. This was my first time to drive the car, so a demonstration lap doesn’t allow me to push the limits, but I could already feel that the GR Super Sport has the potential for incredible performance. I could feel the similarities between the GR Super Sport and the TS050 HYBRID in terms of performance, particularly the four-wheel drive and the hybrid system. But the engineers tell me this was only a small taste of the GR Super Sport’s true performance, so I am super excited to drive it again one day in the near future.”

About Toyota Canada Inc.

Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI) is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Toyota has sold over five million vehicles in Canada through a national network of 287 Toyota and Lexus dealerships. Toyota is dedicated to bringing safety, quality, dependability and reliability to the vehicles Canadians drive and the service they receive. TCI’s head office is located in Toronto, with regional offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Halifax, and parts distribution centres in Toronto and Vancouver. Toyota operates two manufacturing facilities in Canada. Having produced more than eight million vehicles, popular Canadian models built at these facilities include Toyota RAV4, Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, Lexus RX 350 and RX 450h hybrid. Recent investments at its facilities in Ontario will allow for increased production of the top-selling Toyota RAV4 and RAV4 Hybrid models.

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