Toyota SARD entering Supra HV-R hybrid racer in Tokachi 24 hours

Last year, Toyota Team SARD fielded a race-prepped Lexus GS450h in the Tokachi 24-hour enduro. The Lexus went the distance, finishing 4th in its class and 17th overall. The 2007 edition of the contest is set for July 15th, and SARD will be back with another hybrid-powered machine. This year, however, it's going to be decidedly racier -- a Supra, to be exact. It would appear that the SARD folks are looking to possibly win it this time around. The newly-announced Denso SARD Supra HV-R began its life as a Supra GT racing car and will be powered by a hybridized Super GT-spec 3UZ-FE V8 displacing 4,480cc that dishes out 480 horsepower and 376 lb-ft of torque.

The hybrid system for the car will incorporate regenerative braking, a pair of 10kW in-wheel motors up front and a 150kW motor at the rear. It'll weigh in at a little over 2300 pounds. The provisional race livery was revealed in the artwork shown above, and we'll have more whenever SARD rolls out the finished car. Not a bad way to make use of a retired racer, eh? SARD currently runs the Denso Lexus SC430 in Japan's Super GT series, too.