Toyota to enter Supercars Championship in 2026 with GR Supra

Toyota Australia has announced it will join the Supercars Racing Championship in 2026 with its GR Sport Supra coupe.

Currently just General Motors and Ford compete in the championship with their V8 Camaro and Mustang coupes respectively, and while the road-going GR Supra is powered by a BMW-sourced six-cylinder engine, the Supercars version will in fact get a V8 powerplant – and a Toyota V8 at that!

Toyota Australia has teamed up with Walkinshaw Andretti United (WAU) to develop its supercar program, and part of that work will be adapting Toyota’s 2UR-GSE, quad-cam V8 to power the Supra racer. The 2UR-GSE is the petrol 4.6-litre V8 that we saw used in the LandCruiser 200 Series and Lexus LX wagons for some time before it was dropped from the line-ups, but it has been used in overseas markets for many years since.

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In motorsport it formed the basis of the engine that powered the 2019 Dakar-winning HiLux before they switched the turbocharged V6 engines for the current cross-country race vehicles. It is expected the engine will be about 5.0-litre capacity in the Supercars trim, where it will need to be tested and tuned for parity with the competing Ford and GM powerplants.

Under the skin the modern supercar racers use identical chassis, suspension and transaxle transmission which, with the parity-tuned engines, are designed to provide close competition. As the homologation partner with Toyota, WAU’s job will be to adapt the Supra’s swoopy body over the Supercars chassis and roll cage and develop the aerodynamics package to again be on par with the GM and Ford entries.

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Toyota had a scale model of its Supercars Supra at its announcement but will unveil a full-size version at the Bathurst 1000 race in October this year. Toyota will enter Supercars competition in 2026 with four vehicles; two with WAU and another pair with a team yet to be announced.

In announcing its Supercars entry Toyota Australia Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations, Sean Hanley, detailed Toyota’s long history in Australian motorsport and went on to say, “At Toyota, we have been toying with the idea of competing in Supercars for more than 20 years, and now with the right car, the right team, and a very strong partnership with the Repco Supercars Championship, the time is definitely right.”

WAU Director Ryan Walkinshaw said, “To announce our future with Toyota Australia as it enters the Supercars Championship from 2026, is a fantastic honour and privilege for everyone at Walkinshaw Andretti United.

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“We have developed a fantastic relationship with Toyota Australia through the Walkinshaw Group, and we are delighted to extend that partnership into Walkinshaw Andretti United – we can’t wait to share success together in 2026 and beyond.”

That relationship pertains to Walkinshaw being Toyota’s partner in re-engineering the Toyota Tundra full-size pick-up for Australia with development cars already in the hands of owners, and an announcement on the program is expected soon.

WAU currently campaigns Ford Mustangs in the Supercars Championship and will continue to do so for the remainder of 2024 and the 2025 season, before making the switch in 2026.