Toyota Gazoo Racing liveries celebrate 40 years at Le Mans
Toyota’s 40 years of competition in the Le Mans 24 Hours will be celebrated with a special combination of livery designs on its two GR010 Hybrids at this year’s event. One celebrates a celebrate race car of the past, while the other captures its present fighting spirit. Both cars are determined to challenge for victory in the 93rd Le Mans 24 Hours on 14-15 June.
The No7 GR010 Hybrid of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries will carry a red and white livery inspired by the TS020 which participated in 1998 and 1999. This one-off livery is also intended to inspire fans with its connection to endurance racing’s rich history.
The TS020 – also known as the GT-One – captivated spectators with its aerodynamic curves, and helped bring a whole new generation to Le Mans through its starring role in the first edition of the Gran Turismo video game. Its distinctive red and white livery has been reimagined for the 2025-specification No7 GR010 Hybrid. A red base colour is given a dynamic edge by jagged white flashes which speed over the car from front to back, making an unmistakable connection to the TS020.
Toyota Gazoo Racing will aim to honour their illustrious Le Mans heritage by challenging for their sixth victory at La Sarthe this year and, while the No7 GR010 Hybrid reflects the past, the matt black livery of the No8 car – driven by Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa – represents the present. Its familiar design is built around a striking GR logo element that captures the team’s spirit of “Speed” and “Hate to lose”, as well as the “Prototype” concept which reflects the making ever-better motorsports-bred cars and continuous evolution. Both GR010 Hybrids will also carry a new logo highlighting the 40th anniversary of Toyota’s Le Mans debut.
During those four decades, Toyota, its drivers, team members and fans have experienced joy, heartbreak and drama, contributing to the race’s rich history. Since its first official entry at Le Mans in 1985 and prior to this year’s event, 61 Toyota cars have competed at La Sarthe, in 26 editions of the Le Mans 24 Hours, earning five wins, 18 podiums and eight pole positions. Among those entries, 62 drivers from 16 different nationalities have played their part in establishing Toyota’s Le Mans heritage.
That history began in 1985 with the 85C, powered by a road car-derived engine. Toyota’s performance constantly improved on the way to achieving a first podium in 1992. Having participated with prototype cars for its first decade, new regulations prompted Toyota to compete with the legendary Toyota Supra in 1995-96. For its next Le Mans era, Toyota aimed for overall victory in 1998-99, competing with the TS020, which earned its first pole position, in 1999. Toyota’s longest Le Mans exile lasted from 2000 to 2011, until it returned in 2012 to take hybrid development to a new, high-performance level, achieving victory in 2018, the first of three consecutive wins for the TS050 Hybrid. The winning run continued into the current Hypercar era, which brought two more wins, with the GR010 Hybrid in 2021 and 2022, before consecutive runners-up finishes.
Toyota Gazoo Racing looked to the future of Le Mans in 2023 when Akio Toyoda unveiled the GR H2 Racing Concept. With its hydrogen engine, the GR H2 Concept marked an important step in the development of a hydrogen future at Le Mans and showcased how racing contributes to the development of technologies which have the potential to achieve a carbon neutral, sustainable future for motorsports and mobility.
ENDS
