Nobody could accuse Toyota of lacking commitment when it comes to using hydrogen to power cars. The Mirai is one of very, very few commercially available fuel cell electric vehicles, and the manufacturer has also shown what’s possible using hydrogen as a fuel for conventional engines. Since 2021 it has been racing a Corolla in Super Taikyu that’s hydrogen fuelled, and that car finished the Fuji 24 Hours earlier this year. Additionally, it’s taken the time to show that both the GR Yaris triple and Lexus 5.0 V8 can run on H2. So when the ACO said that hydrogen racers - either fuelled by it, or powering a fuel cell - could enter from 2026, you knew Toyota would be first out of the blocks with a preview.
This is the GR H2 Racing Concept which, well, looks a lot like a Toyota prototype racer. It’s low, long and sleek, the driver sits in a canopy and aero is clearly the name of the game. All sounds very obvious, of course, but then very little has actually been said so far about the GR. Toyota has confirmed the hydrogen engine and hybrid system, that it’s 5.1m long and 2.05m wide and, er, that’s it. The press release doesn’t even have anything interesting from Akio Toyoda, often so dependable when it comes to useful insight or enthusiasm. On the centenary of Le Mans, he expressed ‘his gratitude’ to the ACO ‘for the opportunity to hone cars through the race’. Yawn.
We’ve really got to look to the future, then. Following the introduction of a hydrogen class in 2026, the ACO expects all racers to be using it as fuel by 2030. The manufacturers will be encouraged to do so before then through - you’ve guessed it - Balance of Performance, which would mean that an H2 car could win outright before the decade is out. So no wonder Toyota is keen to show what it can do. Having enjoyed so much success in the hybrid era - a TS050 won Le Mans in 2018, 2019 and 2020, a GR010 in ’21 and ’22 - Toyota will understandably want to repeat those triumphs as the sportscar formula evolves further. And if it can bolster the hydrogen road car cause, then all the better.
Because that’s the end game, really. Toyota has been vocal in its multi-faceted approach to a carbon-neutral world (or as close to it as is possible), with hydrogen one of the avenues it’s pursuing to reduce emissions. A successful motorsport campaign could help convince the wider world of hydrogen’s viability going forward; prove it can fuel an exciting racing car and be replenished without too much kerfuffle and half the battle is won, surely. Or at least it suggests a. viable alternative to the battery-electric alternative. And if nothing else, the GR H2 Racing Concept, along with everything else Toyota is doing in motorsport, demonstrates that a top-tier hydrogen competition car isn’t far away. Given Toyota’s recent form in racing, that’s a prospect to be very excited about.
1 / 4