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Toyota will enter the Thailand 10-hour endurance with a series of carbon-neutral racers

Including a Prius HEV that we have yet to see

ORC Rookie GR86 CNF concept. PHOTO FROM TOYOTA

Toyota has been big on pushing its “Beyond Zero” initiative on many fronts—from its vehicles, manufacturing, and various projects such as a hydrogen-powered city. But, of course, who could forget the exciting side of its vehicles, which includes motorsports?

It’s not new to racing carbon-neutral vehicles in various disciplines. Heck, it’s building a new hydrogen-powered Le Mans race car and fielding a couple of hydrogen-powered race cars in the Super Taikyu series.

Now, it plans to enter the Thailand 10-hour Endurance Race (or the Idemitsu Super Endurance Southeast Asia Trophy) at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand, this coming December 22 to 23.

ORC Rookie GR Corolla H2 concept. PHOTO FROM TOYOTA

Three vehicles will be entered under the Rookie Racing team, with a list of notable drivers including Morizo (Akio Toyoda), Masahiro Sasaki, and Daisuke Toyoda (Akio’s son).

The first two are the ORC Rookie GR86 CNF concept and the ORC Rookie GR Corolla H2 concept. As their names imply, the former runs on carbon-neutral fuels, while the latter runs on hydrogen fuel.

For reference, this Prius entered in Super GT was merely just a shell that sat on top of a chassis with a V8 engine underneath. PHOTOS FROM TOYOTA

The third vehicle is the most interesting (but has no photos at the moment), which is the CP Rookie Prius CNF-HEV GR concept, which marks the first time Toyota will compete with a production Prius hybrid, as other Prii entered in other disciplines were highly modified or just shells made to resemble one.

Additionally, Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Thailand will run a Corolla, a GR86, and a Yaris on carbon-neutral fuel to show just how serious the company’s multi-pathway approach to carbon neutrality is.



Sam Surla

Sam is the youngest member of our editorial team. And he is our managing editor (believe it or not). He specializes in photography and videography, but he also happens to like writing about cars a lot.



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