The GR010's design is inspired by the Toyota GR Super Sport Concept presented at the 2018 Tokyo Auto Salon. Its engine is a 3.5 L twin-turbocharged petrol V6 with a hybrid system, which uses lithium-ion batteries. Toyota filed the trademark "GR010" in September 2020. The car's first rollout took place at Paul Ricard in October 2020, with a second test at Portimao in December 2020.
The GR010 Hybrid underwent an update in 2023 focusing on efficiency, reliability, and thermal cooling. This update included slight aerodynamic changes, such as new dive planes and smaller rear wing end plates, and new headlights for improved night visibility. As of 2025, the GR010 Hybrid remains the most-successful Toyota-built sports prototype race car ever to date.
Following the 2025 6 Hours of Fuji, Toyota confirmed plans for testing an update to the GR010 Hybrid at Circuit Paul Ricard. On 7 January 2026, Toyota formally unveiled the updated car under the name TR010 Hybrid, in line with the team's rebrand to Toyota Racing.
For the GR010 Hybrid's debut season, Toyota maintained their driver lineup from the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship. This included Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway, and José María López in car #7, and Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, and Brendon Hartley in car #8. Nyck de Vries remained as test driver, joined by Ryō Hirakawa for development duties. The 2021 WEC season was a complete success for Toyota and the GR010 Hybrid, with the car winning all 6 races and securing pole position and fastest lap at 5 of them. At the 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans, Toyota secured their fourth straight overall win, and the first for the #7 crew.
Toyota repeated their success from 2021 in the 2022 WEC season with the GR010 Hybrid. The #7 car maintained its lineup, while Ryō Hirakawa joined Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley in the #8 car. Both Toyota cars podiumed in every race, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 6 Hours of Fuji, and 8 Hours of Bahrain, where they finished both first and second. This led to them winning the 2022 Hypercar World Endurance Constructors Championship.
The GR010 Hybrid continued to carry Toyota to success in 2023, with the same drivers as the previous year. Toyota started the season by finishing the 1000 Miles of Sebring in first and second place. The team convincingly won the 2023 Hypercar World Endurance Constructors Championship with 217 points. The crew of the #8 car once again won the Hypercar World Endurance Driver Championship.
The GR010 returned to defend both titles in 2024. The lineup for the #8 car remained the same, while Nyck de Vries joined the #7 lineup, replacing López. The car sported a new matte black livery. At the season-opening Qatar 1812 km, Toyota missed the podium for the first time since the 2018 6 Hours of Silverstone. The team took three wins that year, in Imola, São Paulo, and the title-deciding finale in Bahrain.
Toyota returned for another season in 2025 as the defending Manufacturers' champions. Toyota spent the first half of the season in the midfield, with a best finish of 4th in Spa-Francorchamps. At Le Mans, the GR010 was among the slowest cars in the speed trap. Toyota returned to form in the Bahrain season finale, finishing 1st and 2nd overall. The GR010's four-year run of consecutive titles ended in 2025, losing to eventual champions Ferrari.
Toyota would implement a significant update to the GR010 Hybrid in 2026, with the car racing as the TR010 Hybrid following the team's rebrand to Toyota Racing.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
Gallery · 4 related images
