By: Lexus Racing
July 21 2018
The 3GT Racing No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 recorded a fifth-place result (12th overall) in the GTD class in Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Lime Rock Park with drivers Jack Hawksworth and Mario Farnbacher.
Hawskworth led 31 laps in the No. 15 Lexus and ran the quickest lap in class on lap 45 with a time of 52.145, marking the fourth time in five races he’s run the fastest GTD lap of the race.
The No. 15 has registered four top-five finishes in seven GTD races this season.
The No. 14 Lexus finished seventh in Saturday’s GT-only sprint race with 3GT Racing drivers Dominik Baumann and Kyle Marcelli.
Lexus Racing Quotes
Jack Hawksworth, No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3
How was your race in the Lexus RC F GT3 at Lime Rock?
“To be honest, we struggled in practice all weekend, so coming into this morning we didn’t really know what to expect. Threw a Hail Mary in qualifying and ended up third, which was okay, but we were concerned about the race. We got out there and the pace was pretty okay in the first stint, pitted early to get on the new tires and the pace was good and the strategy was good. We got held up right at the end of my third stint by another car, which cost us about four or five seconds and was enough for us to come out of the pits in fifth instead of second or third. That traffic at the end of my stint is really what made the difference between being on the podium and being fifth. I’m honestly quite happy because the Lexus was working a lot better in the race and we were close to being on the podium.”
Mario Farnbacher, No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3
Can you talk about your stint in the No. 15 Lexus in today’s race at Lime Rock?
“Jack (Hawksworth) had a great three stints before I got in the Lexus. Unfortunately, we got held up at the end of his stint so that cost us a bit of time. I couldn’t get by with new tires because it’s tough to overtake here, so I needed a mistake from my competitors to get by. I basically thought I could save the tires a bit more and just try to overtake them at the end of my stint because they had a few laps more on their tires but unfortunately it didn’t work out and I lost too much ground to the end. Overall, it was okay. Our car was way better in the race compared to in practice. We’re happy with a fifth place result because this track was tough with traction issues for everybody and we made the best out of it.”
Dominik Baumann, No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3
How was your race driving the RC F GT3 today?
“I started the race P2 and lost one position to Jack (Hawksworth) at the start. I just took the wrong line because it’s really narrow and just two lines through all of the corners. I was past the leader in turn 1, and in turn 3, Jack (Hawksworth) passed me. It was okay and I knew we just had to stay with the leaders. I tried to save some tires, but it failed I would say. We struggled a lot at the end with the tire degradation. My stint was okay, I just tried to defend the last quarter of my last stint. I lost one position, but it was right before our pit stop. It was an okay day. I tried to save the car and keep the car in shape for Kyle (Marcelli).”
Kyle Marcelli, No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3
What was your day like racing in two events in the same day?
“Overall it was a difficult race for us in many respects. Personally, it was a busy, busy weekend for me. The busiest I think yet. It was just two series here this weekend with the Continental Series and the WeatherTech Series and it was virtually back-to-back on-track both Friday and Saturday, so I ran lots of miles this weekend. Today’s race was interesting because my entire stint for about two hours was green flag, and so around here a lap is only 52 to 55 seconds so you do a heck of a lot of laps in two hours. We had a couple mistakes (during the race). Dominik (Baumann) drove a good first stint and after qualifying second he was third for his stint. We came in the pits to do the driver change and my radio never got plugged in so after tires and fuel were done I was kind of sitting there waiting for the radio call to leave and I didn’t hear anything and then I realized my radio wasn’t in. We lost five to 10 seconds on that stop and probably two to three positions on that track. My first stint was okay, my second stint was a handful and then we came in for fuel and tires to go to the last hour and that last hour our Lexus was great. I think I passed nearly everyone in the field, but the only downside is we were already a lap down to them all. Just another one of those days where you’ve got to push every single lap because you never know what will happen.”
Mark Egger, Lexus Motorsports Manager
Can you assess the performance of the Lexus RC F GT3s this weekend?
“The RC F GT3 performed well today. Unfortunately, we didn’t see results we would have liked due to more tire degradation this race, but we were happy to see that Jack (Hawksworth) led some laps and had the fastest race lap again this weekend. We’re looking forward to Road America in two weeks’ time where we had some success last year and the track seemed to suit the RC F GT3.”
Canadians In BOLD