2020 Toyota Supra heads to the Nurburgring 24 Hours race

Though announced a few months ago, we’re now getting our first look at the 2020 Toyota Supra that will be part of Gazoo Racing’s two-car assault (the other is a Lexus LC race car) on the Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race held by the VLN series that races exclusively at the German race track. It appears virtually identical to the Toyota Supra GT4 concept shown in March. The bodywork is mostly stock except for the front and side splitters and the giant rear wing. And if it’s based on the GT4 concept, which was built for the SRO’s GT4 class, that means it surely has a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six closely related to the production car.

The car will be racing in the SP8T class, which is a relatively open class permitting body modifications such as what we see on this GT4-style Supra. SP8T is specifically for cars up to 4.0 liters of displacement with forced induction. This will be the third VLN race in which the Supra has competed. Of the two previous races, the Supra has finished only one.

We’re all naturally curious to see how the new Supra fares in its first 24-hour endurance race at the Nürburgring, but there are other reasons we’re following the race car. In Toyota’s press release, it said that «the cars competing at the race will incorporate and refine parts and advanced technologies intended for future road cars.» That makes us think we may see a special track-oriented iteration in the future with parts developed for the race car, or at least maybe some interesting aftermarket parts. If you want to follow the car during the race, it runs June 20-23.