Good news—the new Toyota Supra is going racing.
Starting in 2020, a GT-spec Supra will compete in Japan’s Super GT championship. Previewed by a suspiciously finished-looking concept at the Tokyo Auto Salon, plan is for the Supra to run in the top-flight GT500 class, which this year was won by Jenson Button and teammate Naoki Yamamoto in their Honda NSX-GT.
For the 2020 season, Super GT is adopting ‘Class One’ rules developed together with DTM, which unifies the two series’ technical regulations. The Supra will therefore use a 2.0-liter, turbocharged engine producing over 600hp, for top speeds of more than 290kph.
The last Supra competed in the All Japan Grand Touring Championship (Super GT’s forerunner—the name changed in 2005) from 1995. It won Toyota four championships, before it was phased out in the mid-2000s in favor of the Lexus SC430. Lexus has represented Toyota in Super GT ever since, most recently with the 2017 championship-winning LC500.
Meanwhile, the roadgoing Supra will finally be revealed at the North American International Auto Show, which starts in a few days’ time. Its spoiler will almost certainly not be this big.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
