Toyota’s next-gen GT3 race car spawning road car, targeting 2026 WEC debut

Toyota’s next-generation GT3 race car will make its competition debut in 2026 in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), timed with the unveiling of a road-car counterpart, according to Motorsport.com.

The race car, based on the Toyota GR GT3 concept shown at the 2022 Tokyo auto salon, was originally scheduled to begin racing in 2025, according to the report, which cites comments from Toyota WEC team director Rob Leupen. But delays for the road car that will be based on the race car meant that had to be pushed back.

Toyota GR GT3 concept

The Lexus RC F is currently homologated for the GT3 category, but the GR GT3 concept provided a strong hint that Japan’s largest automaker was planning to re-up in GT3. Patent drawings that surfaced a few months after the concept’s debut were a further hint that Toyota was moving ahead with production of the GR GT3.

The GT3 class requires to be based on road-going versions, so a it was inevitable that the GR GT3, which isn’t based on any current Toyota model, would spawn a road car as well. That road car could be badged as a Lexus, allowing the GR GT3 to take over for the aging RC F. Lexus has also shown an electric supercar concept with proportions very similar to those of the GR GT3.

Toyota GR GT3 concept

As for why the GR GT3 isn’t based on one of the automaker’s existing platforms, Toyota previously said it allowed engineers test out new technologies for potential use in other road-car and racing programs.

Toyota already offers a Supra GT4 customer race car, as well as Supra-badged race cars for Japan’s Super GT touring car series. It still competes in the WEC’s LeMans Hypercar (LMH) prototype class as well. So the new GT3 race car will fill in the gap between the lower-level GT4 and touring-car classes and the prototypes, giving Toyota an entry at nearly every level of sports-car racing.