Toyota has given its liquid-hydrogen-fuelled TR LH2 Racing Prototype its first public dynamic demonstration. The car completed laps of the Circuit de la Sarthe ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with three-time Le Mans winner Kazuki Nakajima at the wheel.
TR LH2 uses the same basic chassis as Toyota's TR010 HYBRID Hypercar, but it is not presented as a car homologated to the current WEC regulations. Toyota is using it as a development platform for a hydrogen combustion engine, fuel storage and the infrastructure required to operate such a powertrain in motorsport.
The key distinction from Toyota's earlier hydrogen projects is the state in which the fuel is stored. The company began racing a gaseous-hydrogen car in Japan's Super Taikyu series in 2021. It moved to liquid hydrogen in competition from 2023, a route that can increase the amount of fuel carried in the vehicle but also introduces the challenge of keeping hydrogen at extremely low temperatures.
The programme has also been demonstrated outside Japan. A GR Yaris H2 appeared at Ypres Rally in 2022, and later hydrogen prototypes ran at other WRC events. Toyota showed the GR H2 Racing Concept at Le Mans in 2023, followed by the liquid-hydrogen GR LH2 Racing Concept in 2025. The TR LH2 takes that line of development into a more advanced running racing prototype.
The importance of the Le Mans demonstration is not its lap time. Toyota did not present the run as a record attempt or announce a completed race programme for the prototype. Instead, the laps put the technology on the circuit in public while development continues around hydrogen powertrains and supporting infrastructure.
Whether liquid-hydrogen combustion becomes part of top-level endurance racing will depend on future regulations and practical refuelling systems. For now, TR LH2 is a test vehicle that connects several years of Toyota's experimental hydrogen competition work with the environment of Le Mans.