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Hawksworth thrown in at the deep end for Le Mans debut

Vasser Sullivan IMSA racer Jack Hawksworth finds himself in at the deep end this week at Le Mans. The 33-year-old Brit is one of several high-profile drivers in the LMGT3 class making their La Sarthe debut this year; and they all have a lot to …

Vasser Sullivan IMSA racer Jack Hawksworth finds himself in at the deep end this week at Le Mans.

The 33-year-old Brit is one of several high-profile drivers in the LMGT3 class making their La Sarthe debut this year; and they all have a lot to learn. The difference is, Hawksworth wasn’t on the entry list until last week.

After Mike Conway was forced to withdraw from the event on short notice due to an injury sustained in a cycling incident, Toyota Gazoo Racing had to act fast to find a third driver for the No. 7 GR010 HYBRID. It picked a safe pair of hands, recalling longtime team member Jose Maria Lopez back to the Hypercar squad for an unexpected cameo.

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This in turn left AKKODIS ASP with a gap to fill alongside Takeshi Kimura and Esteban Masson. That’s where Jack Hawksworth’s story begins.

“It’s been crazy, fun and mad,” he told RACER. “I was in Mid-Ohio for a GT4 race last week and then on the Friday I was heading to the circuit and got a call to say Mike had fallen off his bike.

“It was all systems go from there, I picked up my helmet and gear, went back to the hotel to grab my bag – which was only packed for three days – and booked the first flight to Detroit from Charles De Gaulle (Paris). And when I landed I went straight from there to scrutineering on Saturday!”

Since moving from full-time IndyCar to IMSA GTD in 2017, the accolades have piled up. In his time with Vasser Sullivan, Hawksworth has racked up wins at key races like the Sebring 12 Hours and the Six Hours at the Glen and earned a GTD Pro title in 2023. But he’s yet to leave his mark on the Le Mans 24 Hours.

He’s been drafted in for the 92nd running by AKKODIS ASP, not because he knows this event, but because he has been racing the RC F GT3 full-time for more than six years. Put simply, with the team in need of a driver that could extract pace from Lexus’ flagship customer car on short notice, there was nobody better to call upon.

Hawksworth is well used to the RC F, albeit in its IMSA form. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Interestingly, the RC F LMGT3 that now competes in the FIA WEC is not identical to the car that Hawksworth campaigns in IMSA. So he will need a little more time to adjust during the practice and qualifying sessions over the next two days.

Unlike IMSA GTD cars, LMGT3 cars in the WEC feature torque sensors, virtual energy tanks and Goodyear tires. To fit into the defined performance window, the RC F LMGT3 has also undergone slight tweaks to its aero.

“It’s hard to compare the IMSA and WEC-spec cars, because we haven’t had many laps, the track is so different to anything I’ve ever raced in America,” he explained. “Last time out in Detroit it was max downforce, first and second gear corners, then here we are doing like 290 kph down the straight with the car trimmed out. The tires are definitely different too, as is the aero package.

“My initial impressions when I drove were pretty positive though, the car seems to suit the circuit quite well. The first few races for AKKODIS seemed like a struggle, but this track seems to suit everything better. We’re not in a bad window, you can’t look into lap time yet, but it looks promising.”

Hawksworth’s first impressions of the 13.6 km La Sarthe circuit came during the Test Day on Sunday, where he and the AKKODIS ASP team at large showed flashes of pace, topping the Morning session.

The French team’s start to life in the WEC has been far from simple this year, with a new ruleset, new car and new circuits to get used to. But green shoots are beginning to appear, with the No. 78 crew scoring the team its first point at Spa last time out. Morale heading into the biggest race of the year, which is also the team’s home race, is high as a result.

“They’re really good guys and they were so successful with Mercedes in the SRO stuff,” Hawksworth said. “And this is not the easiest GT3 car to pick up and run with. You need a good team and to be on top of a lot of things. It’s an older car, but you can see that with time and experience these guys are going to be competitive.

“I’m just super excited to be here, we all area. The experience so far, even though I’m jetlagged, has been so enjoyable. This event is super healthy, there’s really good competition. It’s nice to come here for the first time with Lexus too because I’ve been racing with them for so long.

“We want to do as well as we can, I want to help as much as I can, but at the same time it’s like a mini break from the IMSA season and the championship fight there, which is just flat out.

“It won’t last long though, as I’ve already booked my flight from Paris to Charlotte for next week, and then it’s Watkins Glen!”

DTM vet Schmid set for LMGT3 debut at Spa

DTM racer Clemens Schmid is set to make an FIA WEC debut this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, after an unexpected late call-up to AKKODIS ASP Team’s LMGT3 effort to stand in for Timur Boguslavskiy. Boguslavskiy is unable to take part in this weekend’s …

DTM racer Clemens Schmid is set to make an FIA WEC debut this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, after an unexpected late call-up to AKKODIS ASP Team’s LMGT3 effort to stand in for Timur Boguslavskiy.

Boguslavskiy is unable to take part in this weekend’s race after falling ill, prompting AKKODIS to sign up the Austrian on short notice to partner up with Arnold Robin and Mitomo Miyata in the No. 78 Lexus RC F LMGT3.

While Schmid is new to the FIA WEC, he has plenty of relevant GT3 experience to draw from. He currently competes in DTM with Dörr Motorsport and is the reigning World Challenge Europe Endurance Silver Cup champion.

However, this switch means Robin will be racing with two new teammates this weekend as Ritomo Miyata is competing in the seat usually filled by Kelvin van der Linde. This is because the South African has been called up to stand in for Peugeot Hypercar driver Nico Muller in the Formula E race this weekend in Berlin with ABT Cupra.

“Timur is OK but he didn’t feel good and isn’t capable of doing a double stint, for instance,” Robin explained to RACER. “So he admitted he was unable to compete in this race. It’s not good news for us before Le Mans — it makes it difficult. But he will be back at Le Mans.”

“It’s going to be a challenge. Ritomo knows the car well and has been so successful in his career, he’s a perfect teammate, while Clemens is someone I don’t know. Obviously he has good experience in GT3 and currently races in DTM with McLaren. But this is a very late change — we only found out this morning. But I trust Jerome (Policand, ASP’s team owner) and Toyota. He was on the shortlist and it was their choice.”

So far AKKODIS ASP has found hard going in the FIA WEC, getting up to speed with new drivers and a new manufacturer following a lengthy association with Mercedes-AMG. And with new drivers in the fold, Robin has the added challenge of helping his new teammates get acclimated in the highly competitive LMGT3 class, with no prior testing or experience working together as a unit.

“Last time at Imola was tricky,” Robin noted. “My stint was good and we were in P5, then we got a penalty for track limits and changed to wets later in the race when it rained, we lost so much time to that.

“I don’t know what to think about this one. Our expectations this weekend are similar to Imola. On lap time it will be difficult, but we know that if we don’t make errors, don’t suffer penalties and don’t hit anyone we could get a strong result. Maybe P5 to P10. But in qualifying I don’t expect too much.

“I do feel that the Lexus should be better suited to Spa than Imola too, as there are more high-speed corners.”

Ace tire strategy gives CGR Cadillac IMSA win at Long Beach

Drivers and teams seemed to be in universal agreement that it couldn’t be done – that nobody could go the full race on a single set of tires as Porsche Penske Motorsports did last year to win in Long Beach. The No. 01 Cadillac Racing crew was of a …

Aided by three full-course cautions in the 1h40m IMSA SportsCar Grand Prix of Long Beach, the No. 01 crew only added fuel when Sebastien Bourdais handed the Cadillac V-Series.R over to Renger van der Zande with an hour left in the race. Through a pair of restarts and a pileup in the hairpin, van der Zande held off Jack Aitken in the Whelen Cadillac Racing No. 31 V-Series.R to win the third round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It was the 66th IMSA victory for Chip Ganassi Racing, the 20th for van der Zande and 12th for Bourdais.

The No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus led the entire race from pole to claim the GT Daytona victory.

Polesitter Pipo Derani got the holeshot at the start as Bourdais slotted into second from his inside-second-row starting spot. Derani controlled the race at the front for the first half, and through the first full-course caution brought out when Brendan Iribe put the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 into the wall exiting Turn 5 and rebounded into the path of Adam Adelson’s Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, taking both cars out of the race.

Most of the GTP runners pitted around 30m into the race, giving them sufficient energy to make it to the end. Bourdais was the last of the bunch, after all the other cars had taken either four tires or left-side tires. Electing not to take tires as Bourdais exited and van der Zande entered moved the No. 01 out in front of the No. 31, a track position they would never relinquish.

“When we woke up this morning, it was quite cold,” explained van der Zande. “And the sun came out at one point and it started to warm up, so we really left it until the last minute to decide. I think that’s the best you can do in racing. If you plan a start or where to go at the start, it never turns out the same way. So in this case, as well, and with tires it’s something to make the decision right at the spot. They made the right choice for sure.”

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Of course, that meant that at the end of the race, van der Zande had much older tires under him than Aitken did since the No. 31 took left-side tires. Aitken said he could see van der Zande struggling, but Long Beach is a tough place to pass under any circumstances, and the difference in grip wasn’t great enough.

“It was a handful – especially easy to look up the fronts, which at a street track I think is the end of the race most of the time. So taking it easy. When I got in the car I knew I had to keep the tires alive. So keeping control of the race and just don’t over push it, don’t over drive those tires so I have some some rubber left at the end of the race, was the key for me to how I managed the tires and it worked out that way. And traffic got really hairy at one point because the Lamborghini and the Aston Martin were fighting into … I think it was Turn 8, and we almost wrecked right there. I think those yellows always help for tire degradation, so that was nice,” van der Zande added.

BMW M Team RLL had high hopes for a good finish after Nick Yelloly qualified the No. 25 M Hybrid V8 in second, only 0.009s off Derani’s pole. But it was one misfortune after another for Yelloly and De Phillippi, starting with getting passed by Nick Tandy in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 10 minutes into the race for third position. It went downhill from there. The No. 25 hadn’t pitted as the second caution came out when Lous Deletraz put the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura into the wall in Turn 1, and ended up losing another position in the pit stop.

Chasing Nasr, De Phillippi tagged him in the back heading into Turn 9. The No. 25 suffered further damage to the nose in a pileup at the hairpin, started by Loris Spinelli in the No. 78 Forte Racing by USRT Lamborghini Huracan making contact with Mathieu Jaminet’s No. 6 PPM 963 and spinning the Porsche. After a nose change, De Phillippi buried the car into the tires at at Turn 6, bringing out the race’s third and final full-course caution with 16 minutes to go.

The No. 25 BMW’s troubles, along with the assisted spin for Jaminet, elevated the No. 7 PPM 963, giving third to Nasr and Dane Cameron. As a result, Cameron and Nasr took sole position of the points lead they had shared with the No. 40 WTRAndretti squad with 1082 points. Bourdais and van der Zande moved into second at 974, and Aitken and Derani are third, ahead of Jordan Taylor and Delétraz, with 955 points.

Jaminet and Tandy’s No. 6 Porsche was fourth, followed the No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche 963 of Mike Rockenfeller and Gianmaria Bruni.

Vasser Sullivan Lexus came to Long Beach with another ace up their sleeve — a second GTD entry. Jake Galstad/Lumen

With GTD PRO sitting this one out in favor of Detroit next month, Vasser Sullivan Racing took the opportunity to do as it has in the past and run a second car in GTD. Splitting the two regular drivers in the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3, Frankie Montecalvo and Parker Thompson, and pairing them with the GTD PRO drivers, Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat, respectively, the team doubled its chances. They locked out the front row, Thompson claiming his second pole of the season.

The No. 12 of Montecalvo and Hawksworth had a miserable race, with Montecalvo receiving a drive-through penalty for changing lanes at the start. Later, Hawksworth had contact with the wall, breaking the suspension and retiring the car. For the No. 89, though, it was smooth sailing, and Thompson took his second victory in the WeatherTech Championship (the first came as the endurance addition in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen in 2023), and Barnicoat a second consecutive Long Beach win after he and Hawksworth won GTD PRO last year.

“It’s tough when you know execution is the only thing between you and winning the race,” said Thompson. “There was a lot of pros that qualified, so I was up against a pretty tough field at the start but controlled the race from the start, got a good jump, got into Turn 1, handled a couple of restarts and just saved our Lexus RC F to make sure that Mr. Platinum himself beside me can bring it home. So it was good. It’s really cool that 89 … the message behind that is 1989 was the first time that Lexus came stateside to the U.S., so it’s awesome to honor them, get the win for them. Back to back at Long Beach is fantastic.”

Several of the would-be frontrunners in GTD struck trouble, such as Spencer Pumpelly in his Heart of Racing debut getting tagged and spun out of fourth place by Anders Fjordbach in Turn 6. The No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage Evo Pumpelly shared with Roman De Angelis had been having a good run to that point.

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The No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 had been having a solid race as well in the hands of Albert Costa Balboa, which continued with Manny Franco, but both drivers had minor incidents of contact that left the car struggling at the end. And winner of the first two races, Winward Racing, lost any hope at victory when they were issued a drive through for too many crew members over the wall.

At the end, it was a three-way battle between cars that had started well back in the field for second. The No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 emerged in good position after the round of pit stops, and Robby Foley kept the car started by Patrick Gallagher in second.

Korthoff/Preston Motorsports had a rough start to their weekend, Mikael Grenier plastering the No. 32 Mercedes AMG into the wall in the first practice session and thus missing the second. With little practice, Grenier qualified the car in sixth and kept the car clean before handing over to Mike Skeen in fourth. Skeen benefitted from Pumpelly’s problems to get to third and proceeded to hound Foley, but could never get by.

The drive of the race, though, would likely go to the drivers that finished fourth. The No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 skipped qualifying to change an engine and started at the back. Sheena Monk moved up a few positions to 11th. After pit stops, Stevan McAleer, in his first stint as full-time partner to Monk, moved the car from 12th to fourth, and was on Skeen’s tail at the checker.

The No. 55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 of Giammarco Levorato and Corey Lewis finished fifth, followed by Orey Fidany and Matthew Bell in the No. 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Russell Ward and Philip Ellis retain the GTD points lead for Winward despite a seventh-place finish with 987 points. Gallagher and Foley moved into second with 802 and Thompson is third in the points at 792 as the series heads next to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 10-12.

RESULTS

Vasser Sullivan, Winward claim Sebring GTD PRO, GTD victories

Vasser Sullivan Racing took the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac pole position and victory in GTD PRO, but it wasn’t quite that straightforward. On the final restart, and in less than a lap, Jack Hawksworth battled from third to the lead in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 he shared with Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood, a nice recovery from a disastrous Rolex 24 that saw them out of the race early.

The defending champion had to get by Daniel Juncadella in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R and then Daniel Serra in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 within several corners — a run to a 0.121s margin of victory that had Barnicoat and Kirkwood both averting their eyes and screaming with delight.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” said Hawksworth. “These long races, you have to do everything perfectly. Everyone has to do their job absolutely perfectly just to be there to even have a chance at the end. Then you just hope that the cards fall your way. We had a tough day. But the team, we made good steps over the off-season. We wanted to come and show what we could do, right? This has been a proper bounceback.

“Today everyone was perfect. We had the one drive-through early in the race, a wobble there [a crewmember was bumped by the car as it started to leave the pits]. Other than that it was rock solid all day. The guys on pit lane were unbelievable all day. Ben and Kyle were absolutely monsters out there. Yeah, we ended up in the fight there at the end. Come out on top. I couldn’t be prouder of everybody.”

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The victory was the first for the team since Watkins Glen last July, and the second endurance racing victory for Lexus. And the final half-hour had the pit box on the edge of their seats.

“It was insane,” said Kirkwood. “I’ve never screamed so much in my life over any instance in racing, other than probably today. It’s a different feeling being a part of a car when you’re not in it and you’re relying on someone else to go do it. For us, we’re screaming like, ‘C’mon, Jack!’ Yeah, that was a cool moment for the team, right? Of course, the win was great. Everyone was hooting and hollering then. During that last bit, we knew that he needed to get it done right there to hang on to the lead. That was probably the moment that would have won us or lost us the race.”

Serra, Davide Rigon and James Calado finished second. A late-race battle between Juncadella and Laurin Heinrich in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R sent Juncadella off track and out of the race, while Heinrich received a drive-through penalty, handing third to the Iron Lynx Lamborghini squad of Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper and Frank Perera.

The winning ways continue for Winward Racing and its Mercedes AMG GT3 in GTD. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Winward Racing ran a near-flawless race to come from the back of the grid to the lead, controlling most of the race to take its second consecutive win in GTD, and its third in four races going back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway last season.

Philip Ellis had qualified the No. 57 Mercedes AMG on pole, but the car was moved to the back due to unapproved sensors on the car. Nevertheless, the team was at the front by the end of the second hour, and Ellis, Russell Ward and Indy Dontje controlled the race from there.

“We knew we had the car for it,” said Ward. “We just wanted to keep our heads clean. We started off the season in such a great form winning Daytona. Our goal really was just to get the maximum amount of points that we could out of this race. This track really suits this race car well. The Mercedes-AMG gives you a ton of confidence here. You need it at Sebring — a dangerous racetrack. A lot of chances to make a mistake. The crew performed flawlessly. No mistakes on their part. Few mistakes on the drivers’ part. Came out on the top.”

Winward is on quite a role after a rough start to last season, and full-timers Ward and Ellis are eager to keep it going.

“I think all of us have the speed to go to where we want to be,” declared Ellis. “We just have to have clean races, not take too much risk like sometimes we did last year, unfortunately. I think we all learned from the mistakes, not only as drivers, but the team as well. It just matured into a more successful team. I think as long as everybody pulls in the same direction, we’ll be up there again.”

The No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Roberto Lacorte, Antonio Fuoco and Giorgio Sernagiotto languished in the middle of the race, but it came to them after sunset. In the closing stages, Fuoco had to get past Elliot Skeer in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R to claim second and pursue Ellis, but came 0.646s short of following up Cetilar’s 2022 victory in the race.

After starting 13th in GTD, Skeer, Adam Adelson and Jan Heylen had the Wright Motorsports Porsche in contention for most of the race, bouncing in and out of the front as the team’s off-sequence pit stops moved them to the middle of the field and back. In the end a third place was a solid reward for the day’s work.

RESULTS

Conway, Miyata complete Vasser Sullivan Lexus Daytona lineup

Vasser Sullivan Lexus Racing is pulling in some big guns from Toyata Gazoo Racing to complete its driver lineups for the Rolex 24 At Daytona next month. Mike Conway and Ritomo Miyata will be the fourth drivers for the Nos. 12 and No. 14 Lexus RC F …

Conway again joins 2023 IMSA GTD Pro champions Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood driving the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3. The trio took third in class this year at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and earned a third-place podium finish. The Briton has been driving for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the FIA WEC since 2015, winning a pair of championships.

“I’m really looking forward to being back with Vasser Sullivan in the Lexus again for the Rolex 24. Jack and Ben had a really solid year, winning the championship, so it will be good to be back with those guys again,” Conway said. “I’m looking forward to having Kyle in the car with us as well. It will be good to have another crack at Daytona. We came up short last year, but hopefully we’ll have things stronger for us. I can’t wait to get back on track in January at the Roar. Looking forward to working with everyone again.”

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Miyata, the reigning 2023 Super Formula and Super GT500 champion, will join full-season drivers Parker Thompson and Frankie Montecalvo, along with Aaron Telitz, in the No. 12 Lexus GTD entry. In 2024, the 24-year-old is also set to compete in Formula 2, the European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 class, and will be the reserve driver for the TGR WEC Hypercar team.

“First, I want to say thank you to the Vasser Sullivan team, Lexus, TRD and Gazoo Racing for giving me this opportunity,” said Miyata, who tested with the team last week at Daytona during IMSA’s homologation test. “The Rolex 24 At Daytona will be the first time I’ve competed internationally outside of Japanese motorsports, so I’m very excited and looking forward to working with the team.”

AKKODIS ASP adds van der Linde for WEC Lexus GT3

South African racer Kelvin van der Linde has signed with AKKODIS ASP Team for its 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship LMGT3 campaign with Lexus. The 27-year-old will serve as a pro driver in one of the French team’s two factory-supported RC F GT3s …

The opportunity, van der Linde told RACER, took him by surprise, in the form of a phone call to ask if he was available for a two-day test in the Jerome Policand-owned team’s RC F GT3 at Barcelona earlier this week. He was signed for the 2024 campaign within two days of taking the call.

“Ritomo Miyata was planned for this, but he had clashes so they said they needed a Platinum driver to lead the lineup and they were interested because I was manufacturer-neutral,” he explained. “At that point I wasn’t looking for anything — I was on holiday in South Africa preparing for next season.

“I spoke to my manager, I spoke to them, and the whole contract was sorted in two days. It’s the quickest deal I’ve ever done in my life! I am very thankful.

“I guess our association comes back to ASP vs WRT and that rivalry, as we were always competing together for wins in GT World Challenge. We have been aware of each other, and each other’s strengths, so maybe that’s the reason I’m here?”

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The deal for van der Linde adds to his 2024 commitments in DTM with ABT and his Formula E reserve driver role, and will see him compete in the FIA WEC and at the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time.

“Le Mans is one of the last endurance races I haven’t done,” he said. “I’ve done Bathurst, Nurburgring, Spa and Daytona — it was missing from my bucket list. It wasn’t on the cards at the beginning of the year but things happen. But when Jerome called and said there would be good support from a manufacturer, I knew it was interesting.

“Toyota knows how to succeed in Hypercar, so if that translates into Lexus we will be competitive.”

Signing a factory contract with Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe for WEC feels like the start of a new chapter for van der Linde, whose eight-year stint as an Audi works driver came to an end earlier this year. During that time there were many highlights, including a pair of victories at the Nurburgring 24 Hours.

Reflecting on his departure from Audi, van der Linde describes it as “frustrating” and “sad,” particularly as he was initially signed up to form part of its ill-fated LMDh WEC program.

“The whole Audi situation from the outside looks like a bit of a shambles,” he said. “It’s a massive shame. I remember early on in the LMDh project I was involved in the simulator stuff. We were a week away from the first rollout of the car when they pulled the plug on the project.

“Everyone was so shocked, including myself. I put in so much effort for eight years at Audi, and in the last 12 to 20 months the brand hasn’t been able to make a decision on anything. They’ve lost a lot of their top drivers to other manufacturers. It’s a massive shame for a brand with such history.

“I love the brand — they put me on the map and gave me the opportunity to showcase what I can do in a race car, but at the moment it’s doom and gloom and disappointing. At some point you need to look elsewhere — you can’t hang around and wait. I carried on with ABT, which has run with Audi this year and at the Nurburgring with Lamborghini, but I have no link to Audi, so they’ve been happy for me to go ahead with this project.”

At the moment, the contract for van der Linde is for a single season and he is unsure where it will lead beyond 2024. However, he clearly sees this as an opportunity to break into the FIA WEC in the long term.

“As a driver, you have a five-year horizon. DTM was where I wanted to be to present myself as a driver, as the sprint format is something I enjoy. But naturally, I am looking for a long-term perspective and Toyota and Lexus are giving good signals,” he noted.

“Hypercar also interests me, if there’s the potential to move there full time it’s something I would look at. There are a lot of options and I regard myself as very privileged.”

At Barcelona, van der Linde shared the Lexus RC F GT3 with fellow 2024 AKKODIS ASP driver Jose Maria Lopez, where the team completed plenty of mileage in what was the team’s second outing with the car.

While there is still plenty of work to be done as Policand’s outfit is still so new to the RC F GT3, van der Linde told RACER that his first two days spent behind the wheel of the Lexus were encouraging.

“I feel the dedication and passion for motorsport with Lexus,” he said. “I feel like a lot of European manufacturers are struggling to make their intentions clear for the future — the Japanese brands are a step ahead.”

Akkodis ASP planning Lexus WEC effort

Akkodis ASP Team has formally confirmed its plans to compete in the FIA WEC in 2024 with a pair of Lexus RC F GT3s. If its entries are accepted for next season, the new effort, which was previously teased by RACER, would coincide with the French …

Akkodis ASP Team has formally confirmed its plans to compete in the FIA WEC in 2024 with a pair of Lexus RC F GT3s.

If its entries are accepted for next season, the new effort, which was previously teased by RACER, would coincide with the French team’s 25th anniversary season.

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During the past quarter century, Jerome Policand’s team has claimed more than fifty championship titles and intends to step up to a world championship for the first time. In recent years Akkodis ASP has been a key Mercedes-AMG customer team, competing across Europe with the AMG GT3 platform.

Lexus becomes just the fourth brand that the team has worked with over the last 25 years, the other four being Renault, Porsche, Ferrari, and Mercedes.

The news comes as ASP begins tire testing with Goodyear at a two-day test in Portimao, along with seven other prospective LMGT3 manufacturers.

At the test, the team has a single car and is being supported by Toyota Gazoo Racing and TRD staff, with newly-crowned IMSA GTD Pro champion Jack Hawksworth and current Toyota Hypercar driver Jose Maria Lopez.

ASP becomes the fifth team formally nominated by a manufacturer for a two-car FIA WEC LMGT3 bid, along with Proton Competition (Ford), TF Sport (Corvette), United Autosports (McLaren) and Manthey (Porsche).

Next season RACER expects the FIA WEC to hand two-car entries to nine GT3 manufacturers as part of a 36-car full-season grid. It will give priority to manufacturers that compete in the Hypercar class and teams that have shown previous loyalty to the championship.

Vasser Sullivan Lexus, Paul Miller BMW nab IMSA poles at VIR

The current points leaders in both GTD PRO and GTD demonstrated a good part of the reason they’re at the front by taking the Motul Pole Awards for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway. In high temperatures that produced different track conditions than the drivers had seen so far this weekend, Jack Hawksworth took the GTD PRO and overall pole for the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus squad, bringing his total pole count to 10. He would have tied Madison Snow in that statistic, but Snow added another to his total by putting the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 on the GTD pole, qualifying fourth overall.

Hawksworth’s best lap of 1m44.780s — 112.35mph around the 3.27-mile, 17-turn circuit — didn’t match the quick times from Saturday morning’s session and were well off the 1m43.356s record held by Ross Gunn, thanks to the hot weather. It was enough, though, to snatch the pole by 0.096s from Daniel Juncadella in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG.

“Can’t get better than pole, right? So that was good,” declared Hawksworth. “Mega weekend so far. It’s been brilliant and the boys have been fantastic and the car has been working really well. Heads down for tomorrow now, but very happy with it.

“The temperature outside is absurd. The track grip was a lot different than we had in practice two. It was greasy and I just tried to put a clean lap together. The guys obviously gave me a really fast car; the Lexus was working really well. Just tried not to make any mistakes. It was easy to overdrive, I think.”

For Juncadella, who was quickest in the morning session after the No. 79 suffered a fire yesterday, the results were a disappointment.

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“First, great job by the crew to get the WeatherTech Mercedes-AMG GT3 back together after what happened yesterday,” Juncadella said. “I didn’t have the smoothest qualifying session. I think Road America was better. It was so close to pole that it hurts. Third time this year I have just missed out on pole. I made a small mistake, then on the last lap I was able to get close. It’s a shame to miss out on pole by such a small margin.”

Antonio Garcia was third in the No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R with a 1m45.133, the last PRO car before six GTD cars. Patrick Pilet (No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R) and Gunn (No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3) were 10th and 11th overall, respectively.

Snow’s 11th pole position, and second of 2023 – the only GTD driver to have more than one so far this season – came courtesy of a 1m45.225s lap to best Aaron Telitz in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 by 0.153s. Telitz’s second attempt at a flyer was hurt by running wide at the exit of Oak Tree. Loris Spinelli qualified the No. 78 Forte Racing Powered by USRT Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 third with a 1m45.416s lap.

“The track was definitely slippery out there,” Snow explained. “I had two mock qually runs in the first practice, so I definitely went into qualifying knowing exactly where my brake points were and what I needed to do. [At] he beginning of qualifying, I went out on my first good lap and immediately went wide in [Turn] 1 and realized, ‘OK, I’m going to need to reevaluate what I’m doing out here.’ Just accept the track for what it was, and it was slippery. Super hot, but that is what it is. It was about not making mistakes and just putting a lap together.”

Mike Skeen (No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3) and Patrick Gallagher (No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3) completed the top five in GTD. Gallagher had been near the top of the time sheets in the two previous practice sessions, but an off-course excursion during qualifying likely scuttled his chances for pole.

Up Next: A 20 minute warmup at 8:15 a.m. ET ahead of a 2:10 p.m. race start.

RESULTS

Vasser Sullivan Lexus sets early pace in IMSA GT Challenge at VIR

Vasser Sullivan Lexus, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTD PRO points leaders, asserted their intent to extend that lead by posting fast times in the first practice session for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway. This weekend’s round features the GTD PRO and GTD classes only, with Ben Barnicoat claiming the top time overall with a 1m45.201s lap in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3, an average of 111.9mph around the 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course.

Barnicoat’s teammate Jack Hawksworth had held the top time in GTD PRO in the No. 14 before Barnicoat, in his second race weekend at the track, bettered his co-driver’s time. It was a clear step forward for the team after they struggled at VIR last season.

“I’m not going to lie and say it was a good track for me last year because it wasn’t,” Barnicoat said before the start of the weekend’s activities. “I knew that and we’ve been working hard away from the track. We’ve got great simulators and tools…to work with and use to help us improve. We’ve done a lot of simulator running, probably moreso for this event than we have any other event this year, along with our offline tools, and we feel like we’ve made really good gains there to help push us forward. I feel like going back to the track for a second time should should help me a lot to take another step. Can’t say too much, or give away too many details, but we’re feeling much more confident heading back.”

The top time of the session was held briefly by Patrick Gallagher in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. His 1m45.234 (111.86mph) was only 0.033s off Barnicoat’s best to lead the GTD field. With conditions likely close to what they will be for qualifying Saturday, the Turner crew sent Gallagher out on fresh sticker Michelins to see what he could do, and he rewarded them with the second-quickest overall time.

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“The Turner guys have it working good,” said Gallagher. “We still have a little work to do – qualifying is always quicker than these practice sessions, but the Turner guys have done a great job and they got this working good and we’ll keep rubbing on it. Hopefully we progress with everyone else and have a shot at pole.”

GTD cars took the next three spots on the time sheet, Aaron Telitz in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus falling 0.160s short of the best time in the class. Philip Ellis took third in GTD with a 1m45.422s lap for defending VIR winners Winward Raacing in the No. 57 Mercedes AMG. Frederik Schandorff (No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S Evo) and Bryan Sellers (No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3) completed the GTD top five.

After the No. 12 Lexus, the rest of the GTD PRO runners were sprinkled throughout the field. The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, winners here last year with Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell, was second in GTD PRO and sixth overall in the hands of Patrick Pilet, whose best lap was 1m45.895s. Antonio Garcia was third, ninth overall, for Corvette Racing with a 1m46.023s in the No. 3 C8.R.

With only a few off-track excursions, there were no red-flag interruptions of the 90-minute session. The most serious incident came at the very end, when the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG caught fire in the pits. Daniel Juncadella was already part way out of the car, ready to hand over to Jules Gounon, when the fire started. It was extinguished quickly, but the extent of the damage is unknown.

All cars in the event (19) turned laps during the session. The entry list originally included 20, but Andretti Autosport withdrew the No. 94 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 for Jarett Andretti and Gabby Chaves.

Up Next: 1h45m split practice session beginning at 10:20 a.m. ET.

RESULTS

Telitz tops opening Lime Rock Park IMSA practice

Aaron Telitz paced the opening practice session of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship weekend from Lime Rock Park. Telitz’s time of 51.762s in the GT Daytona No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC-F GT3 beat out Antonio Garcia’s 51.821 in the No. …

Nineteen of the 20 cars in the GT-only race were within one second of Telitz’s time. All twenty cars completed a substantial number of laps in the session with no one stuck in the garage with mechanical gremlins. The fewest laps completed in the session was 33 circuits from the No. 78 Forte Racing powered by USRT Lamborghini Huracan GT3, which was third quickest after a 51.832s from Misha Goikhberg.

Madison Snow’s No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 was fourth-quickest overall and third quickest in GTD with a time of 51.838s, just 0.006s behind Goikhberg’s time.

The next-best GTD Pro cars were the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC-F GT3 and the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage which ended the sessions seventh and eighth overall. The gaps around Lime Rock Park are so minuscule, though, illustrated by the fact that the No. 14 Lexus’ time was less than one-tenth off its teammate’s time, but still six spots behind them.

UP NEXT: The second practice session for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is slated for 2:45pm ET with qualifying later this evening at 5:40pm ET. The race is tomorrow, Saturday, completing a two-day weekend for the series.

RESULTS