Toyota GT-One

The Toyota GT-One, model code TS020, was a racing car that Toyota Team Europe built for the 1998 and 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was developed for the Group GT1 rules and later adapted into a closed-cockpit LMGTP prototype. Toyota skipped the 1997 race to build it, and Toyota Team Europe and Dallara designed it in Cologne with an in-house carbon fibre chassis and a heavily upgraded version of the twin-turbocharged 3.6 litre R36V V8 from the earlier Group C cars. Only two road cars were built to meet the homologation rules, both painted red with a basic interior. In 1998 the best car finished ninth, 25 laps behind the winning Porsche 911 GT1. In 1999 the cars took first, second and eighth on the grid and the surviving car finished second overall, one lap behind the winning BMW, winning the GTP class. The programme ended after 1999 so that Toyota could turn its European team into its Formula One squad.