It's Looking Like the Lexus LFR Won't Be Ready to Race in 2026

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Stop me if you've already heard, but Toyota/Lexus/Gazoo Racing is working on a new halo car -- a supercar everyone's calling the LFR, that will attempt to fill the shoes of the mighty LFA while also racing in GT categories around the world. It hasn't exactly been a secret, either, after multiple concepts, spy shots, and a rolling demonstration of camouflaged race and road machines at the Goodwood Festival of Speed over the summer. This thing's indeed been a long time coming, but a potential delay on the motorsport side has us wondering when we'll see its racing debut -- and what that could mean for the road version's ETA as well.

Sportscar365 reports that Toyota's GT3 challenger is "unlikely to race" in the World Endurance Championship in 2026, and that absence could potentially expand to other global GT series, like the IMSA SportsCar Championship. The concern stems from the point that if the LFR was indeed going to contend, say, the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, it would've presumably been unveiled by now. The outlet says a Toyota spokesperson "declined to comment" when asked about the situation.

If we don't see this officially nameless GT3 car take on the likes of Le Mans and Sebring next year, it could still pop up elsewhere; Toyota often likes to trial experimental sports cars in Japan's Super Taikyu series, where cars are not homologated in the same manner as in WEC and IMSA. A full campaign would then begin in 2027, which is quite a ways away, at least compared to when we were supposed to see this thing hit the track. Back in 2023, Motorsport.com reported that "delays to the planned release of the GR GT3 road car" pushed the schedule from 2025 to 2026. And now, even that ETA seems shaky.

In a sense, this is sort of history repeating itself. While the LFA did not have a true homologated GT counterpart, Lexus took a very long time bringing it to fruition. We saw the first show car teasing what would become the LFA in 2005, and by then, the supercar had already been in the works for five years. Engineers switched from aluminum construction to a carbon-fiber tub midway through development, so it wasn't until 2008 that functional prototypes actually debuted at Nürburgring VLN endurance events. The production LFA eventually premiered in October 2009.

For now, it seems we may have to hold out for yet more spy shots and rumors. The LFR is expected to be powered by a turbocharged V8 with hybrid assistance. A report from Japanese media back in August suggested that the car's tardiness has exacerbated its sliding timeline, because now it's subject to new emissions regulations that it might've been able to dodge, had it been released earlier. Here's hoping the LFR finally hits the road soon, whatever it takes.