Toyota has placed its first street-legal hypercar on the back burner, according to a recent report, after a fire destroyed a prototype during testing. But the race variant isn’t in danger.

Although official details about the Japanese carmaker’s hypercar program are few and far between, Racer learned the street-legal version of the GR010 (pictured) unveiled earlier in 2021 was canceled because of what’s described as a “serious incident” that took place on the Fuji Speedway. One of the pre-production cars Toyota was testing was badly damaged by a fire, according to the publication. The source of the blaze remains unknown outside of Toyota.

If the report is accurate, it means Toyota has chosen to consign about three years of research and development to the automotive attic; the issue must have been a seriously alarming one. Details about the hypercar haven’t been released yet, so all we know is that it should have been closely related to the Le Mans-bound race car and that it would have been built in strictly limited numbers. For context, the track version of the GR010 uses a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain rated at 938 horsepower, though race regulations cap its total output at 670 horses.

Some feared the incident would put an end to Toyota’s involvement in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), but anonymous sources told Racer that’s not the case. The firm doesn’t need to build a pre-determined number of road cars for homologation purposes; it can if it wants to, and that was the plan until recently, but it’s not required.

While those saving up for a GR010 will be disappointed, Toyota might have a consolation prize. It’s allegedly considering entering the GR010 in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2023. Racing in two similar yet fundamentally different series isn’t as expensive as it sounds because the  Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), and the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) aligned their technical regulations to let manufacturers compete in events on both sides of the pond without going through the resource-sapping process of developing a specific car for each series. Dodge is considering taking advantage of the new rules as well; it would race its own version of Peugeot’s Le Mans car.

We’ve reached out to Toyota for additional details about the GR010, and we’ll update this story if we learn more.