Toyota has revealed a new track-only racing version of its GR86 sports car for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia (TGRA) 86 Series, which will debut at the start of the 2024 season.
Priced at $89,990, this turn-key racing package is based on the road-going Toyota GR86, but is double the price.
The racer has been developed and will be built and sold by Neal Bates Motorsport to ensure there’s parity across the paddock.
It’s available for competitors to order now and there will be approximately 35 produced for the 2024 TGR 86 Series.
This GR86 racer is fully stripped-out and features a full roll cage, a single racing seat with six-point harness, as well as a “motorsport spec” steering wheel, electronic control unit (ECU) and instruments.
There are also control wheels and Dunlop tyres, plus upgraded suspension, brakes, exhaust, oiler cooler and clutch.
Toyota claims that maximum engine power and torque will be approximately 10 per cent more than the road-going GR86, which produces 174kW of power and 250Nm of torque from its 2.4-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder boxer engine.
The company says that other performance specifications will be confirmed once final testing and validation is completed later in the year.
As previously reported, the TGRA 86 Series has been extended until at least the end of 2026, and it’ll also gain a new feeder “Scholarship” series in 2023.
Category administrator Neil Crompton told media in April his focus remains on nurturing talent in an affordable, approachable environment.
It currently costs $1500 per round to enter a car, and the administrators told media it’s possible to compete for less than $5000 per race weekend.
Teams are only allowed to use one set of tyres per race weekend, and the control Dunlop rubber is expected to do the job in both wet and dry conditions.
Sitting below the flagship TGRA 86 Series will be a new Scholarship category, which will not only provide a home for the previous-generation racers, it will act as a feeder into the flagship GR Series; itself a feeder into categories such as Supercars.
The fastest drivers after a five-race championship will be put through their paces, with a seat behind the wheel of a GR86 Series car during a race weekend up for grabs.
The 86 Series has supplied three of the four 888 Racing drivers for Supercars in 2022.
As for why Toyota supports the GR 86 Series? It’s all about building interest in the burgeoning Gazoo Racing brand, which has now been applied to everything from the Yaris hatchback to the LandCruiser 300 off-roader.
Road-going GR86
“You need to be where the fans are, hence this kind of activity,” Toyota Australia chief marketing officer Vin Naidoo told CarExpert in April this year.
“Establishing a brand takes a lot of effort, and it has to be done in multiple disciplines. You’ll see us across a number of disciplines, and it won’t be one size fits all.”
Toyota Australia only launched the new-generation GR86 coupe in September this year and has secured around 1100 units for the first 12 months of sales – which is unlikely to come close to matching demand if history is any kind of guide.
There’s also a GR86 10th Anniversary Edition arriving locally in late 2022, limited to just 86 examples. It has a new orange exterior paint colour that’s matched with a two-tone black and orange interior, as well as orange embroidery on the door trims.
MORE: Everything Toyota GR86
