This weekend saw the 24 hour Nurburgring race and 4 GT86 cars were entered; 2 with the Gazoo Racing Team and another 2 from Swiss Toyota Racing Team. (See further details on the teams on our previous blog post here)
There was a lot of anticipation in the build-up to the race, as the award-winning GT86 is Toyota’s first racing car for years. The GT86 isn’t even launched in the UK (it will be in July) yet has already caught worldwide attention for its looks, handling and performance!
A quick summary of the results:
The Gazoo Racing Team’s GT86 cars were numbers #165 and #166.
#165 came 1st place in its class, the SP3 and came 46th overall!
#166 came 6th place in the same class (nearly two podium positions for the team!) and 65th overall.
The Swiss Toyota Racing Team’s GT86 cars were numbers #200 and #201.
#200 came 1st place in its class, the V3 and came 68th overall (and it was a production-car!)
#201 sadly didn’t finish the race – they were hit from behind by a Porsche GT3 and is beyond repair. Thankfully the driver is ok, but understandably shaken.
The Nurburgring 24 hours Race is considered among racing drivers to be “the toughest race in the world” because of the intense strain put on both car and driver. In-fact, it’s often referred to as “The Green Hell”! Steep hills, 170 bends and over 15.5miles long, the Nurburgring tests drivers and cars to their limits.
Below you can see a GT86 car from each team; the Gazoo and Swiss Toyota Racing teams:
The cars with the teams / drivers:
During the 24 hours the weather changed from dry and hot to pouring rain, increasing the difficulty for the teams. Many cars fail to even complete the Nurburgring 24hr race due to mechanical failures or crashes, so it is a reward in itself to complete it, especially when the weather can be so variable over the course.
Further photographs of the event, (sourced from Toyota Europe, Lexus Europe and Danny Chen):
The two class wins have reminded the world that Toyota is a force to be reckoned with on-track; especially with the production-car GT86 taking a win! The teams must be incredibly proud of their results and it’s a fantastic lead-up to the GT86 UK launch in approx 6 weeks!
To finish off this post, play the video below to have a listen to the growling sound of the GT86 as it pulls out of the pits!
Our GT 86 is due to arrive in our show room on Friday 20th July 2012 – wouldn’t it be great to be the very first person in Staffordshire to take it for a test drive?! Or the first to own one?! Email us on GT86@pinkstones.toyota.co.uk or call 01782 608 579 to book your test drive!
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