Toyota unveils "GR H2 Racing Concept" at 24 Hours of Le Mans as preview of hydrogen race car

At a press conference of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) at Circuit de la Sarthe in western France on June 9, Toyota Motor Corporation Chairman Akio Toyoda revealed for the first time the hydrogen engine vehicle prototype "GR H2 Racing Concept".

Developed with future competition in its sights, the prototype's unveiling was spurred by a recent announcement by the ACO, the organizer of Le Mans 24 Hours, that it would allow hydrogen-engine vehicles to compete―in addition to fuel cell electric vehicles―in the race's hydrogen category.

Speaking at the press conference, Toyoda congratulated the ACO on the centenary of the Le Mans 24 Hours (Le Mans) endurance race and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to hone cars through the race.

Toyota has been competing using a hydrogen-engine Corolla in the Super Taikyu Series since Round 3 of the 2021 season and raced the same car in the IDEMITSU 1500 SUPER ENDURANCE 2022 at Thailand's Chang International Circuit in December 2022. By doing so, it has been honing its technologies in the harsh environment of motorsports and, with like-minded partners in and outside the automotive industry, accelerating its efforts for producing, transporting, and using hydrogen toward the realization of a carbon-neutral society. Toyota intends to further advance such efforts for making ever-better motorsports-bred cars and realizing a carbon-neutral society and it looks forward to taking on the challenge of a new generation of Le Mans 24 races.

The automaker doesn’t release technical specifications for the hydrogen engine prototype, only saying it is 5,100 mm long and 2,050 mm wide. This makes it slightly longer and wider than Toyota’s LMP1-H Le Mans Prototype, which is 4,650 mm long and 1,900 mm wide. The Japanese firm also confirms powering the race car concept is a mix between a hydrogen engine and a hybrid system, but this is literally everything we know about what’s happening under the skin.

Toyota has been using a hydrogen-engine Corolla in the Super Taikyu Series since the third round of the 2021 season. The GR H2 Racing Concept, in turn, will be developed into a full-blown Le Mans race car in cooperation between Toyota’s research facility in Higashi Fuji and Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe in Cologne. The latter is the outfit that runs the team's current race cars.

The "GR H2 Racing Concept" will be on display at ACO's "H2 Village" at the venue of Le Mans during the race. (Exhibition period: Friday, June 9, from 9:30 a.m. local time to Sunday, June 11)

Source: Toyota