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Toyota Confirms Super Sports Car Development (1015)

Toyota has confirmed it has started development of a road-going super sports car that uses the same hybrid drivetrain technology as that honed in its Le Mans-winning Toyota GAZOO Racing TS050 Hybrid race car.

The announcement coincided with the Japanese carmaker's historic first ever win in the iconic 24 hours of Le Mans World Endurance Championship race in France.

Shigeki Tomoyama, President of GAZOO Racing Company, said that competing in the World Endurance Championship - one of the most demanding motorsports series - and racing at Le Mans had helped Toyota advance the development of its hybrid technology.

"We started this project because we believe that creating a super sports car that delivers the same appeal as the TS050 Hybrid greatly adds to Toyota's involvement in WEC. And at some point in the near future, customers will have a chance to get behind the wheel of this incredible machine and experience its astonishing power and driving performance," said Tomoyama.

To further whet fans' appetites, Toyota displayed the GR Super Sport Concept at the Toyota GAZOO Racing "Fan Village" during the Le Mans race.

The GR Super Sport Concept was unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January and features the same 735kW (1000hp) twin-turbo V6 Toyota Hybrid System - Racing (THS-R) drivetrain as the TS050 race car.

Beneath the sleek white bodywork, the GR Super Sport Concept shares many of its components with the TS050 race car reflecting Toyota GAZOO Racing's aim to ensure that technologies and know-how acquired in motorsport are fed back into new production vehicles.

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