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| From left to right: Toyota TS010, TS030 Hybrid and GT-One |
One year ago, the Goodwood Festival of Speed marked the UK launch of the Toyota GT86. This year the sports coupe is back, having gathered a host of awards and popular plaudits around the world since its debut.
This year’s Toyota display will present a wealth of different versions of the car, designed and engineered for both road and track. And as part of the Moving Motor Show next Thursday (11 July), some lucky festival-goers will have the chance to drive the GT86 for themselves.
The GT86 presentation on the Toyota stand will include the track-focused CS V3 model and, breaking cover for the first time in the UK, the TRD Griffon. A star of this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, the TRD Griffon is a race-prepared car with carbon fibre bodywork, a strengthened chassis and a wealth of TRD performance parts.
The FT86 Open concept – a working design study for a GT86 convertible – will also be on view in the UK for the first time, while Toyota’s rich sports car heritage will be represented by an original and rare 2000GT from the 1960s and a replica of the Team Toyota GB Corolla AE86 that claimed back-to-back British Touring Car Championships for Chris Hodgetts in the 1980s.
The GT86 will be in action on the hill course, too, including runs for the new GT86 TRD – a special version of the coupe that’s the first official UK Toyota to be sold with a package of genuine TRD styling and performance accessories.
The centrepiece of Toyota’s motorsport celebration will be a rare chance to all three of its works Le Mans sportscars together in one place. The trio of the TS010 and GT-One from the 1990s and the current TS030 Hybrid will all be in action on Goodwood’s hill course, piloted by a equally impressive line-up of international star drivers.
Toyota Racing team-mates Anthony Davidson and Alex Wurz will be reunited with the TS030 Hybrid, the car which claimed second and fourth places at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. Likewise, Martin Brundle and Emanuel Collard will be back at the wheel of the GT-One they raced at Le Mans in 1998 and 1999. Collard and Wurz will share driving duties in the TS010, which took on the 24-hour challenge in 1992 and 1993.
There will be an equally rich display of Toyota’s classic WRC cars taking to the festival’s rally stage, including a quartet of its finest Celica models. The Three versions of the GT4 (ST165, ST185 and ST205) will be joined by the mighty Group B TA64, driven by rallying legend Björn Waldegård. Also due to appear are the Corolla WRC – the last works-entered Toyota world rally car – and John Midgley’s classic Corolla AE86.
The rally stage will also host Giniel de Villiers in his mighty Team Imperial Toyota Hilux from South Africa, driven by Giniel de Villiers to an impressive second place overall in this year’s Dakar Rally, one of the world’s most gruelling motorsports events.
Rod Millen has proved one of the most popular personalities at Goodwood in the past. This year the veteran driver is returning with the Toyota Motorsport’s EV P002, fresh from its attempt to set a new electric vehicle record at the Pikes Peak hill climb. Although wet weather frustrated the bid at the end of June, Goodwood crowds can look forward to one of the most storming drives of the day from Millen in the specially designed machine, powered by twin electric motors producing 400kW for a 142mph top speed.
Lexus
Lexus will be officially represented at the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the first time and it will use the occasion to mark the launch of the all-new IS. The new sports saloon, available for the first time with Lexus hybrid power technology, will be one of the newest cars to take the start on the hill climb.
The festival will also give supercar fans a rare glimpse of the LFA. One of just 500 examples that were built will be speeding up the course, making it one of the most exclusive contemporary road cars to be taking part in the spectacle.
Visitors will be able to obtain full details about the new IS and other models in the current Lexus range at four Lexus information points at key locations around the festival exhibition area. The static display will also offer a first view of a new IS presented with a full TRD body styling elements and accessories.
Moving Motor Show
Both Toyota and Lexus will be taking part in the Moving Motor Show (11 July), the curtain-raiser to the festival that gives people the chance to have a close up look at some of the latest models on the market and take test drives on a route around the Goodwood estate.
Toyota has lined up 100 driving opportunities with its GT86 coupe – divided between the highly acclaimed road-going model and the motorsport-prepared CS V3 version.
For Lexus, the event will provide an early opportunity to view and experience the all-new IS sports saloon, including the new IS 300h Hybrid.
