Toyota celebrates 40 years at Le Mans with throwback liveries

The Citizen

21-05-2025

Toyota is marking its 40th anniversary at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year, and to celebrate this momentous occasion, it will be donning each of its GR010 Hybrids with a special one-off throwback livery!
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Toyota has an impressive lineage of motorsport history to brag about. Across multiple disciplines, the Japanese automaker has seen some impressive success. The 2025 edition of the Le Mans will have a small dollop of nostalgia, as both competing LM Hypercars will feature some throwback liveries that not only nod to the past, but are intended to remind that Toyota is moving into the future with its technological prowess.
The #7 car, driven by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Nyck de Vries, wears a reimagined version of the iconic TS020 GT-One livery from the late 90s. If you were a motorsport fan in that era — or a PlayStation 1 kid hooked on Gran Turismo — you'll likely remember the GT One's dramatic silhouette and sweeping red and white paint job. It never clinched victory at Le Mans, but it earned pole position in 1999 and showed what Toyota was capable of at this top flight of motorsport. The new design isn't a copy-paste job; instead, jagged white stripes slash across the GR010's red base, a modern nod to a car that defined Toyota's first serious push for an outright win.
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The #8 car, meanwhile, takes a different approach. Driven by Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa, it's finished in matte black with a prominent GR logo. It's a cleaner, more corporate look, but one that reflects Toyota's current mission in top-tier endurance racing: Relentless evolution and a refusal to back down. There's even a new 40th anniversary emblem on both cars to remind fans just how long Toyota has been chasing glory at La Sarthe. And it has been a chase. Toyota first entered Le Mans in 1985 with the 85C, a car powered by a modified road-car engine. Since then, the company has started the race 26 times, fielding 61 cars and putting 62 drivers — ranging from F1 stars to endurance regulars — on the grid.
The breakthrough came late, with the brand finally taking its first win in 2018. It followed that with victories in 2019 and 2020 using the TS050 HYBRID, then kept the streak alive in the new Hypercar era with wins in 2021 and 2022. Still, the past two years have ended in runner-up finishes. Beyond the liveries and stats, Toyota is also using this year's race to shine a spotlight on its hydrogen tech. While that's still in early development, it signals where the brand—and perhaps endurance racing—is headed.
The 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans will be held between June 14 and 15 and marks the 93rd edition of the iconic endurance race at the Circuit de la Sarthe. This year's event will see the return of Aston Martin to the top-tier Hypercar class with their Valkyrie AMR-LMH, their first appearance since 2011. Things are a bit different for 2025, with the introduction of a revamped qualifying format. The new two-day Hyperpole sessions, held on June 11 and 12, will feature elimination rounds across all classes, culminating in a 15-minute shoot-out to determine pole positions.
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