Team Toyota GB plans to enter a GT86 sports coupe (sold as the Toyota 86 in Japan and Scion FR-S in North America) in the UK’s toughest and only round-the-clock race for sports and GT cars, the Britcar 24 Hours, which takes place on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit over the weekend of 22 and 23 September.
The specially prepped GT86 will participate in the Production Class of the Silverstone enduro and will feature a livery echoing that of the double British Touring Car Championship winning AE86 from the mid-1980s.
Work on the racing version of the GT86 has already begun at the Buckinghamshire technical centre of GPRM, which is also responsible for the BTCC Toyota Avensis prototype.
GPRM said that the emphasis is on turning the 2.0-litre sports car into a “competitive track machine” while keeping as much of the standard road model’s specification as possible.
“The new Toyota has all the makings of a great production class racer,” said GPRM’s Gary Blackham. “We are concentrating our efforts on stripping back the chassis, lightening and strengthening it and of course equipping it with a roll cage and all the other safety gear required, as well as quick-refuelling equipment. Other than that, the GT86 will remain essentially in road car form.”
Team Toyota GB will announce the drivers for the 24 hour endurance race within the next few weeks.
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