2021 Subaru BRZ GT300 race car revealed for Japan’s Super GT series
The recently-revealed 2022 Subaru BRZ will go racing.
Subaru's motorsport division has unveiled the BRZ GT300, a track-honed, high-downforce version of the second-generation sports car, designed to compete in the lower-rung GT300 class of Japan's Super GT sports car racing series.
Debuted via social media, the BRZ GT300 wears a far more aggressive aerodynamics package compared to its road-going equivalent, contributing to an overall appearance that's noticeably lower and wider than its street-legal counterpart.
Up front, yellow-tinted headlights sit between bold 'bonnet' vents and a deep lower splitter, and lead into wide, 'box' wheel arches hiding centre-locking BBS alloy wheels wrapped in slick racing tyres.
Taking centre stage at the rear is a large, 'swan-neck' rear wing, sitting above an aggressive rear diffuser with hidden exhaust outlets (instead likely integrated into the diffuser to increase downforce).
While powertrain specifications for the new BRZ GT300 racer have yet to be confirmed, the outgoing version – debuted in 2012, and based on the first-generation BRZ – featured a derivative of the 2.0-litre 'EJ20' turbocharged four-cylinder 'boxer' engine used in a variety of 2000s-era Subaru Impreza WRX models, now tuned to produce around 257kW in mid-engined race trim.
By contrast, the road-going, model-year-2022 Subaru BRZ seeks power from a new 2.4-litre naturally-aspirated 'boxer' four-cylinder, sending 170kW of power and 249Nm of torque to the rear wheels through a choice of six-speed manual or automatic transmissions.
The Subaru BRZ GT300 racer will make its on-track debut in April, when the 2021 Super GT series is scheduled to kick off at Okayama International Circuit in Okayama, Japan.
Racing alongside the two-door Subaru in the GT300 class is expected to be a full grid of established machinery based on high-performance road cars such as the Mercedes-AMG GT, Lotus Evora, Nissan GT-R Nismo, Honda NSX, Porsche 911 GT3, and even a race-honed version of the Toyota Prius hybrid hatchback.