This is really cool. To make racing more budget friendly the Toyota GR86 Cup Car has just been unveiled. At the same time a Subaru BRZ version has been shown, which is unsurprising. The two models are virtually identical, save for a few badges, and will compete in a five race season that will kick off on July 16, 2022, at Fuji Speedway.

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High performance

The Toyota GT86 Cup Car is based on the company’s recently introduced GR86 (read more here). The second generation of Toyota’s small, rear-wheel-drive coupe picks up where the GT86 left off. Gazoo Racing (GR), as you may already know, is the name of the Japanese automaker’s in-house performance arm. GR is responsible for the creation of recent products such as the highly lauded GR Yaris and the GR Supra. It is also the banner under which all racing activities are conducted.

Watch a drift-ready Supra autonomously drift its way around a racetrack in this video.

Race-ready

The Toyota GT86 Cup Car and its BRZ counterpart will both participate in one-make series on Toyota’s home soil. We’ve been trying to convince Toyota SA for years to run a similar series locally and perhaps the introduction of the Cup version will finally make that a reality.

Click here to check out five other wildly popular one-make racing series.

Power and torque from the 2,4-litre engine remains at 173 kW/250 N.m. Both cars have modifications to make them safer and improve reliability for racetrack duties. An engine oil cooler and additional cooling fins on the differential cover help keep vitals temps down. While a six-point roll cage with added extra side protection has been bolted in. Steel wheels, as pictured, are standard presumably to allow teams to choose their own designs within the specified size on their own racecars

Do you think a one-make GR86 race series will be popular in SA? Let us know on our Facebook page. You can see the Toyota GT86 Cup Car on track in the video below.