Toyota's next-generation GT3 racing car will create a road car and make its WEC debut in 2026.

According to Motorsport.com, Toyota's next-generation GT3 racing car will debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2026.

The report quotes Toyota WEC team director Rob Ruppen as saying that the race car, based on the Toyota GR GT3 concept shown at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon, was originally scheduled to begin racing in 2025. However, due to delays in the development of a road car based on this racing car, the team was forced to postpone the project.

The Lexus RC F is currently homologated in the GT3 category, and the GR GT3 concept was a strong indication that Japan's largest automaker was planning to re-enter GT3. Patent drawings released a few months after the concept's debut further suggested that Toyota was working on a production version of the GR GT3.

Since the GT3 class is required to be based on a road-going version, it was inevitable that the GR GT3, which was not based on a current Toyota model, would yield a road car. That road car would carry the Lexus badge, allowing the GR GT3 to take over for the aging RC F. Lexus has also unveiled an electric supercar concept very similar in proportions to the GR GT3.

As for why the GR GT3 is not based on Lexus' existing platform, Toyota previously stated that engineers are testing new technologies that may be used in other road cars and racing programs.

Toyota already offers a Supra GT4 customer race car, and has also entered a Supra-badged race car in Japan's SUPER GT touring car series. It also competes in the WEC's Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) prototype class. In other words, the new GT3 racing car will fill the gap between the lower GT4 and touring car classes and the prototypes, giving Toyota entry into almost every level of sports car racing.