GAZOO Racing put its upcoming GR GT and GR GT3 sports cars through high-speed runs on the Goodwood hill climb, while the Lexus LFA Concept made a surprise dynamic world debut. Toyota says more than 200,000 fans watched over the festival’s four days, with rally and endurance machinery rounding out the display.

GAZOO Racing used the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed to show off the road-going and track sides of its next generation of sports cars, sending the GR GT and GR GT3 up the event’s famous hill climb. The pair were joined by the Lexus LFA Concept, which the company kept back as a surprise before giving it an unannounced dynamic world premiere on the climb.

Camouflage off in the Supercar Paddock

A year after both GR cars appeared under heavy disguise, Toyota presented them undisguised in the Supercar Paddock, parked next to the Lexus LFA Concept so visitors could study the detailing up close. According to Toyota, the three cars trace their design lineage back to earlier icons such as the Toyota 2000GT and the original Lexus LFA, and were developed with feedback from some of the world’s toughest circuits.

The company frames the trio as a snapshot of its multipath powertrain strategy, spanning hybrid systems tuned for both road and track through to high-performance battery-electric technology.

What each car brings

The GR GT is described as a track-inspired road car, powered by a new 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo engine paired with a single-motor hybrid system. Toyota says development centred on a low centre of gravity, low weight combined with high rigidity, and strong aerodynamics, alongside the power the setup delivers.

The GR GT3 shares that car’s core hardware but is built as a track-focused racer, aimed at being competitive while keeping performance accessible. The Lexus LFA Concept, meanwhile, is billed as Lexus’s take on a next-generation electric sports car, sharing technology with the two GR models while nodding to the V10-powered LFA that came before it. All three cars at Goodwood were prototype or development vehicles.

Drivers and motorsport hardware

A broad line-up of drivers handled the demonstration runs, among them TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team’s Elfyn Evans, TOYOTA RACING Vice-Chairman Kazuki Nakajima, development driver Hiroaki Ishiura, four-time Super GT champion Sho Tsuboi, Super GT racer Yuichi Nakayama and Nürburgring specialist Uwe Kleen.

GAZOO Racing’s competition programmes were well represented too. The GR Yaris Rally1 that has led this year’s World Rally Championship ran on both the hill climb and the rally stage, driven by Evans, Takamoto Katsuta and Oliver Solberg. The GR DKR Hilux from the World Rally-Raid Championship appeared with four-time South African champion Henk Lategan at the wheel, while the winning #7 TR010 HYBRID marked TOYOTA RACING’s 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours victory and its lead in the World Endurance Championship.

Road-car debuts

Goodwood’s First Glance category hosted two new road models: the GR Yaris Aero Performance, the latest evolution of the performance hatchback, and the RAV4 GR Sport, a plug-in hybrid SUV with GR styling details and a sports-tuned chassis. The all-electric Hilux BEV pick-up also featured, serving as an official support vehicle and tackling the rally stage with Lategan driving.

Facts: Toyota GR GT

  • Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbo with single-motor hybrid system
  • Positioning: track-inspired road car
  • Related models: GR GT3 (track race car), Lexus LFA Concept (electric)
  • Status: prototype/development vehicle

Toyota has not confirmed production timing or performance figures for the GR GT, GR GT3 or Lexus LFA Concept.

Source: newsroom.toyota.eu