The car is on track in northern Victoria just two days after it was revealed at a Bathurst 1000 launch event in Sydney.
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The Supra was briefly driven by project architect Neil Crompton at Toyota’s proving ground at Altona in Melbourne’s south-west ahead of the launch.
That came as part of an unveil in front of key Toyota staff that was also attended by personnel from Supercars, WAU and second Toyota team, Brad Jones Racing.
However, today marks the start of full track testing for the Supra, with a major focus on engine durability running.
The car features a 5.2 litre version of Toyota’s quad-cam 2UR-GSE V8 developed specifically for the Gen3 machine.
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WAU-contracted Warren Luff is one of four drivers present on the first of what is expected to be back-to-back days of Winton running.
When the team’s regular drivers Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood – who have been kept at arms-length from the program to date out of respect to Ford – will sample the car is unclear..
Team co-owner Ryan Walkinshaw admitted in Sydney on Monday that the engine program had been more complex than expected and said testing is unlikely to be all smooth sailing.
“It won’t be perfect, because these things aren’t perfect, and that’s why you go to testing,” he said.
“You’re looking to try and see if things are going to fail or things aren’t working, so you can fix them before you go and race them.”
Track running will also allow the team to gather real-world data on the Supra’s aerodynamic package ahead of wind tunnel testing in the United States in December.
A WAU Supra will be joined at the Windshear wind tunnel by a Triple Eight Ford Mustang and a Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro to homologate the three cars for the 2026 season.
Toyota is making a long-awaited entry into Supercars with the A90 model Supra as part of a strategy to promote its Gazoo Racing performance brand.
The Supra will make its first public track appearance at the Bathurst 1000 in October, where fans will also get to see it up-close in a dedicated pit garage.
It’s also expected to feature at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on AFL Grand Final day as part of Toyota’s tie-up with the football code.
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