Two years ago, Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports entered a NASCAR stock car in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The popular program was just a one-off—but a similar entry in a future race could bring the same kind of attention to another major domestic racing series.
Back in June, the boss behind the Japanese racing series Super GT suggested to reporters that a car from the category's prototype-like GT500 class could be entered in the race in the future. That plan now has significant backing from a manufacturer that could make it happen: Toyota's global motorsports director Masaya Kaji told Sportscar365 that the brand finds the concept of a Super GT car in the 24-hour classic "very interesting."
If Toyota does enter a Super GT car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it would likely gain an entry via the same Garage 56 program that made way for the Chevrolet stock car. That slot, which is occasionally open to exhibition entries from outside of conventional sports car racing, has also previously been filled by novel cars like the Deltawing and the controversially related Nissan ZEOD RC. A GT500 car, presumably either one of Toyota's current Supra racers or whatever new entry replaces that model in the near future, would be the second racer from another category to get an entry under the program.
Like the NASCAR stock car that ran in 2023, Toyota's Super GT racer would need some development and potential modification to complete a 24-hour race. Unlike the stock car, the Toyota would not need to be made any faster to keep up with the field. In fact, it's more likely that the car would need to be slowed down; the GT500 pole time for this year's Super GT race at Fuji was actually 8/10ths of a second faster than the Hypercar pole time for last season's FIA World Endurance Championship round at the same race.
If Toyota (or another OEM with an approved entry) can make their GT500 car reliable enough and get it into a performance window that the ACO deems necessary, entry into Le Mans makes a lot of sense: Super GT organizers would get to advertise their series by racing one of their wild, one-of-a-kind cars on a world stage; the ACO would get a high-profile entry that doesn't look and sound like anything else on the grid. An actual entry in the near future is far from a sure thing, but the entire racing world should be cheering for the possibility.
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