Toyota Motor Company (TMC) announced today that they will be participating in the upcoming 24-hour Nürburgring endurance race from May 13th to the 16th with their new Lexus LF-A racecar prepared through GAZOO Racing.

The announcement was part of their Press Release (PDF) Outline for Motor-sports Activities for 2010.

Here’s a quick excerpt from their press release:

TMC will enter the Lexus “LFA” in the 24 Hours Nürburgring endurance race for the third time. Competing in this grueling race directly will allow TMC to toughen its vehicles, while the hands-on participation of TMC personnel will also help foster the caliber of personnel needed to create outstanding vehicles.

Here are the pictures of the new GAZOO Racing Lexus LF-A racecar



Shot of the Lexus LF-A powerplant – 4.8 liter V10.

This will be the first time Gazoo Racing will race their LF-A after the car have been officially revealed. The new body work, especially the front end resembles more of the official version than the previous Gazoo LF-A shown above (with Gazoo livery) which raced in the past 2 years.

Track shots..

Andre Lotterer, Hane Armin, Kurunbahha Jochen, Juichi Wakisaka, Kazuya Oshima, Kinoshita Takayuki and Akira Iida are the seven drivers which will be driving the new LF-A racecar in the 38th ADAC endurance race.

President Akio Toyoda is also considering taking part as a member of the Lexus LF-A supercar’s racing team, as he did in May last year where he actually competed in both the qualifiers and final of the Nurburgring race before he assumed the automaker’s presidency on June 23. Although the name of the 53-year-old grandson of Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda was not included in the press release, a Toyota spokesman said that it is possible that the president could be added to the list of the GAZOO Racing team.

source: Gazoo Racing