Autoblog

UPDATE: New high-res shots of race action added to gallery below

click above image to view high-res pics of the hybrid on race day

Toyota Team SARD's specially-prepared Supra HV-R hybrid GT racer has won the Tokachi 24-hour endurance race in Japan. The converted Super GT-spec racing car did so convincingly, too. As the only GT-class car in the field, the Denso SARD Supra HV-R maintained a steady lead of several laps throughout the course of the race, and in the later hours, it essentially dialed things up a notch and ran away from the rest of the field. After starting from the pole position, the Supra completed 616 laps in the ensuing 24 hours -- 19 more than the second-place finisher. The victory marks the first of its type for a hybrid-powered vehicle. The Supra HV-R began life as a retired 480-horsepower Super GT racing car, which then had regenerative braking technology and a trio of hybrid motors added to it for this event. What bearing, if any, the success of the Supra HV-R has on Toyota's plans for production sports hybrid vehicles is unknown. With reports that the FT-HS concept is on its way to production, however, we'll likely be seeing how well a production-spec hybrid sports car fares soon enough.

[Source: SARD]

The Denso SARD Supra HV-R, a former Super GT racer modified to run with a hybrid powertrain, has taken the pole position for today's 2007 Tokachi 24-hour endurance race, which will be well underway by the time you read this. Toyota Team SARD competed with a hybrid in the event last year, a Lexus GS450h that finished 4th in class and 17th overall. The Supra HV-R is a different breed of cat entirely, however, and assuming it doesn't experience any mechanical problems or on-track mishaps, it looks to have a shot at the overall win. A lot can happen in a 24-hour race, however, so we'll just have to peek in during the day to see how things are progressing. With a 480-horsepower V8 augmented by in-wheel electric motors up front and a single electric motor in back, this ain't no grocery-getting Prius. This mean-looking thing's for real, and is the kind of hybrid even the most ardent speed freaks can get into.

UPDATE: After 12 hours of racing, the Supra is in first place overall. As of hour 12, the track is wet and it's raining at Tokachi.

UPDATE 2: After 20 hours of racing, the hybrid Supra remains in the lead, having completed 507 laps. The second place car has completed 492.

UPDATE 3: With 2 hours to go, the Supra HV-R has expanded its lead. it is now 17 laps up on the second- and third-place cars.

[Source: SARD]

Click image to enlarge

Last year, Toyota Team SARD fielded a race-prepped Lexus GS450h in the Tokachi 24-hour enduro. The Lexus went the distance, finishing 4th in its class and 17th overall. The 2007 edition of the contest is set for July 15th, and SARD will be back with another hybrid-powered machine. This year, however, it's going to be decidedly racier -- a Supra, to be exact. It would appear that the SARD folks are looking to possibly win it this time around. The newly-announced Denso SARD Supra HV-R began its life as a Supra GT racing car and will be powered by a hybridized Super GT-spec 3UZ-FE V8 displacing 4,480cc that dishes out 480 horsepower and 376 lb-ft of torque.

The hybrid system for the car will incorporate regenerative braking, a pair of 10kW in-wheel motors up front and a 150kW motor at the rear. It'll weigh in at a little over 2300 pounds. The provisional race livery was revealed in the artwork shown above, and we'll have more whenever SARD rolls out the finished car. Not a bad way to make use of a retired racer, eh? SARD currently runs the Denso Lexus SC430 in Japan's Super GT series, too.

[Source: SARD]