GR86

Make
Toyota
Segment
Coupe

What good is a new sportscar if you can't take it racing? That seems to be exactly what Toyota and Subaru are thinking. Both companies have a strong history in motorsports, and neither is keen to miss a chance to take its jointly-developed GT-86/FR-S/BRZ to the track and beyond. Toyota has already campaigned a racing version of the GT-86 at the Nurburgring 24, where it was fielded by the company's in-house Gazoo Racing team. This new racing model, however, is reviving the name and livery of the Toyota Team GB.

The outfit dominated the British Touring Car Championship in the late 1980s with the Corolla AE86 - a rear-drive hatchback that served as the inspiration for the new GT-86. The new car will be fielded in the Britcar 24-hour race at Silverstone by GPRM, the team that fields the Avensis in the BTCC, and wear the iconic red-striped white livery of the original. The Subaru BRZ "Zero Car" pictured here, however, takes a different approach. Following the GT300 version fielded in the Japan's own Super GT series, this example is being prepared by Subaru as a customer rally car for privateer teams to buy and race independently.

Subaru has yet to release official specifications for the rally-spec BRZ, but from the picture we can see it has been equipped with a set of white alloys, front splitter and small rear wing. Subaru is expected to unveil the Zero Car (racing-speak for "see what we can do") at the next stage of the Japanese Rally Championship.