Lexus RCF GT3 race car

 

 

 

 

 

The latest Lexus sports car racing hardware was display at the Lexus USA booth at the 2017 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas.

The Lexus RCF GT3, derived from the RCF passenger car competed in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class of the 12-race 2017 IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

 

 

 

 

The GTD class cars are enhanced versions of production models which comply with the global Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) GT3 specifications, in essence making GTD a “spec series.”  GT3 class machines consist of entries from manufacturers that include the Acura NSX, AMG-Mercedes, Aston Martin Vantage, Audi R8, BMW M6, Ferrari 488, Lamborghini Huracan, Porsche 911 and the Lexus RCF. Worldwide, GT3 cars race in the FIA GT3 World Cup, the International GT championship and in national series which include the Italian, Spanish, Australian, and British GT series and the WeatherTech series.

 

 

 

 

In IMSA WeatherTech GTD racing, all the cars in the class utilize steel tube frames with integral roll cage, front and rear independent coil spring suspension and rid on the specified Continental tires, with the use of traction control and ABS (anti-skid) braking permitted.

 

 

 

 

The Lexus RCF race car is 4 inches longer than the $65,755 MSRP (manufacturer's suggested retail price) production car and is 5 inches lower overall but shares the same 107 ½ inch wheelbase. The race car weighs just over 2800 pounds whereas the production car weights nearly two tons. 

Both the production and race car are powered by the 2UR-GSE engine, a direct injected all-alloy four-camshaft 32-valve V-8. The production car's engine displaces 303 cubic inches, while for GTD competition it is bored out to 330 cubic inches to produce over 500 horsepower on the specified VP E-10 racing fuel.

For 2017 Lexus fielded a two-car team in GTD run by 3GT Racing, formerly known as F Performance Racing owned by 5-time SCCA Trans-Am champion Paul Gentilozzi.   The #14 car was driven by Scott Pruett and Sage Karam, with the #15 car piloted by Jack Hawksworth and Robert Alon.  

 

Scott Pruett

 

 

Pruett, considered the preeminent active American sports car racer, won the Rolex Daytona 24-hour race seven times, along with three SCCA Trans-Am championships and four Grand American (the forerunner to IMSA) championships. Pruett who left Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of 2016 has a long relationship with Lexus dating back to 2004 when he won the Grand American championship in a Lexus-powered prototype. 

 

 

Sage Karam

 

Pruett’s teammate in the #14 car, Pennsylvania native Sage Karam served as the Lexus team's test development driver  during 2016 before competing full-time in the 2017 WeatherTech series. Karam took time out to race in the 2017 Indianapolis 500-mile race where he finished 28th after a battery failure in his  Dreyer & Reinbold Racing entry. 

 

Jack Hawksworth

 

Hawksworth from Britain raced from 2014 to 2016 full-time in the IndyCar series first for Bryan Herta Racing and then for AJ Foyt Enterprises, with a best series finish of third in his rookie year at the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston on the Reliant Park temporary race course.  

 

Robert Alon

 

Hawksworth's teammate in the #15 car, Robert Alon from Santa Monica California rose quickly from kart racing to the Prototype category in 2014 mid-season finished third in the class championship in his first full season of 2015 and then finished second in 2016 with three class wins.

 

For 2017 the 3GT Racing Lexus team cars carried sponsorship from Mark Levinson luxury audio, the manufacturer of high-end home audio equipment and car audio systems which are exclusively designed and offered as a premium sound system for every Lexus model (a $2550 option on the RCF).

Mark Levinson Premium Surround Sound systems take advantage of amplifiers driven by DSP Software for advanced signal processing to deliver what the manufacturer claims is the widest range and highest quality of car audio sound on the market.

Unfortunately the 2017 WeatherTech Sports Car season was a series of disappointments for the two Lexus 3GT Racing  teams, as the cars were fast in qualifying but failed to finish on the podium in 12 races.


At the season-opening  Rolex 24 hours of Daytona, the series’ premier event, Pruett crashed out in the #14 car before the end of the race's second hour, and the #15 car finished 14th in the GTD class, 53 laps behind the winning Porsche 911. At the historic Mobil Sebring 12-hour endurance race, the Lexus cars struggled home to finish 13th and 18th in class.

The #15 car scored its 2017 season's best a fifth place finish in class at the 6-hour Watkins Glen race, which the #14 team matched at the WeatherTech series’ next race at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport).

In the final WeatherTech driver championship points, Alon led the team in 12th followed by Hawksworth in 14th, Karam in 15th and Pruett in 16th. Lexus ranked eighth the final WeatherTech GTD manufacturers rankings, won by the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 piloted by GTD class driver champion Alessandro Balazan.

For additional information please check out these websites

http://www.marklevinson.com/

http://www.lexus.com/models/RCF

https://3gt-racing.com/

 

Race car photos by the author - passenger car photos courtesy of Lexus USA - driver photos courtesy of 3GT Racing