Showing themselves to be once again the marketing geniuses that created the successful Prius, Toyota released several photographs of the hybrid racer due to compete at Le Mans in June.

The “sharkfin” behind the driver cockpit is clearly labeled “HYBRID,” and the normally-aspirated 3.4 liter V8 will connect to a capacitor storage system to recover energy that would normally be lost.  The complicated set of rules that hybrid vehicles must adhere to mean that design partner Nisshinbo is testing the racer extensively before then.  It’s even possible that the hybrid’s debut will not be in Le Mans, but rather one of the other FIA Endurance races that build up to the June race.

Toyota also has plans to race a Prius-based car in the Super GT race series in Japan this year.  But don’t go getting your hopes up for any high-performance Prius deals in the near future.  About the only thing the Prius GT300 shares with its street legal cousin is the name though:  the racing version has a whopping 300 horsepower and features a paint job covered in sponsor decals.  Members of the Prius cult got their first chance to see the sexy new version of their favorite hybrid last week at the 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon.