Toyota FT-86 Completes Nürburgring Endurance Race without a Hitch

Endurance races are quite a spectacle if you are a motorsports fan. Even more so if they take place at the Mecca of tracks, the (in)famous Nürburgring circuit.

It’s the only place where you can see an Opel Manta or a Mercedes-Benz 190E finishing ahead of a Porsche 911 or a Lexus LFA. That’s because a lot of things can happen in endurance races and to cross the finish line of the Nordschleife is in itself, quite an achievement.

As we reported, Toyota decided to pull an LFA-like stunt and enter its new rear-wheel drive FT-86 coupe before launching the production version, in this past Saturday's race at the track Jackie Stewart christened “the Green Hell”.

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Our Spies get Up, Close and Personal with the Toyota FT-86 by Gazoo Racing

We are still a couple of months away from the world premiere of the series production Toyota FT-86 at the Tokyo Motor Show in December, but on Saturday, October 15, the rear-wheel drive coupe will make its racing debut at the VLN endurance racing championship on the Nürburgring track.

The race-prepped FT-86 has been developed by Toyota's motorsports partner Gazoo Racing and it is based on the actual production model that goes on sale next year.

After the first crop of pictures that we showed you on Thursday, our crafty spies were able to get very close to the racecar during testing at the pits and on the track, and even shot some photos if the FT-86's interior.

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SCOOP: Toyota FT-86 by Gazoo Racing Snagged Testing, will Debut this Saturday on the 'Ring!

In a move that sounds very similar to what Lexus did with the LF-A some two years ago, Toyota and its motorsports partner Gazoo Racing are preparing a specially modified version of the upcoming FT-86 rear-wheel drive coupe that will make its racing debut before the official presentation of the production model at the Tokyo Motor Show in early December.

Our man with the long lens not only caught the FT-86 by Gazoo Racing, but he also told us that it will break cover this Saturday, October 15, at the VLN endurance racing championship at the Nürburgring.

We checked the entries and can confirm that the FT-86 has been officially listed with Masahiko Kagayama and Minoru Takaki taking the driver's seat.

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