Toyota Reveals Liquid Hydrogen-Powered GR LH2 Prototype

Toyota has taken the covers off the liquid hydrogen-powered GR LH2 Racing Concept, the latest manifestation of its desire to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and FIA World Endurance Championship with hydrogen power in future.

The Japanese manufacturer took the covers off the new machine on Wednesday morning in the Hydrogen Village at the Circuit de la Sarthe, where Toyota Gazoo Racing team principal Kamui Kobayashi and Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe vice-chairman Kazuki Nakajima were in attendance together with with ACO President Pierre Fillon.

It is essentially an evolution of the GR H2 Racing Concept that was presented by Toyota at Le Mans in 2023, based upon the chassis of the existing GR010 Hypercar.

Unlike the car revealed two years ago, which was a clay model, it is a functioning prototype intended for future demonstration runs, although Toyota has not put a timeline on when the car can be expected to hit the track.

Toyota has not revealed details about the internal combustion engine itself.

Nakajima told reporters: “Our intent is for sure is to test this car and learn a lot about hydrogen, not only with the combustion engine but also with the infrastructure and the fueling system, because liquid hydrogen is different to what we are used to.

“Our main target right now is to expand the possibilities of hydrogen combustion engine technology. There is more to come, and to get to the right level, we believe we need to improve the technology further and there is more we have to do.

“This is the first step to learn what are the challenges.”

Nakajima added that the car is “not that far” from running but refused to put a timeline on when the car can be expected to hit the track.

Toyota has pioneered the use of internal combustion technology with its GR Corolla program in Japan’s Super Taikyu series, with the car taking part in the Fuji 24 Hours for the fifth time last month and for the third time with liquid hydrogen.

The presentation is intended to represent the ‘future’ of Toyota’s motorsport activities, with the split liveries for this week’s Le Mans representing ‘past’ and ‘present’.

Toyota’s No. 7 car is sporting a retro livery inspired by the GT-One of the late 1990s, while the sister No. 8 car remains in its regular matte black FIA World Endurance Championship livery.

While there has been no confirmation yet, it is expected that the introduction of a hydrogen class at Le Mans in the WEC will be delayed beyond the current target date of 2028 in the annual ACO press conference on Friday.

The FIA confirmed with Tuesday’s meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Macau that it has approved a framework of regulations governing hydrogen safety, considered the first step towards the creation of a concrete set of technical rules for the class.