With the GTD Pro classification not completing at the 1.968-mile, 11-turn short-lived street circuit, Vasser Sullivan decided to change its chauffeur lineup for the set of Lexus RC F GT3 devices.
Jack Hawksworth, fresh off a win at the Twelve Hours of Sebring and a win in 2015 in Long Beach in GTD Pro, will co-drive the No. 12 entry with Frankie Montecalvo for this year's Long Beach occasion.
The No. 89 entry will be piloted by Parker Thompson and Ben Barnicoat, who is likewise coming off the GTD Pro win at Sebring and co-drove to a win with Hawksworth last year at Long Beach.
“The Long Beach Grand Prix is rather just ‘unique' for our group and Lexus,” Team Principals Jimmy Vasser and James ‘Sulli' Sullivan stated, by means of a group declaration.
“We are pertaining to Long Beach with one expectation … to win once again. Matching Frankie and Jack in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, together with Ben and Parker in the No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, provides us the very best chance at that.”
This idea for non-GTD Pro rounds is something Vasser Sullivan have actually carried out in the past. In 2022, for rounds at Mid-Ohio and Detroit, Vasser Sullivan chose to field 2 GTD entries, which saw Barnicoat signed up with by Kyle Kirkwood as the set declared success at Belle Isle.
“We're delighted to go back to the streets of Long Beach and honored to have Vasser Sullivan run a 2nd GTD entry along with the Vasser Sullivan No. 12 RC F GT3,” stated Jeff Bal, Senior Manager of Motorsports for Lexus.
“As a homage to the year Lexus got in the U.S. high-end vehicle race, the group will run the number 89 together with the 12 as a nod to 35 years here in the U.S. Considering that 1989, Lexus has actually developed a track record on unmatched quality and dependability together with regularly providing a market leading visitor experience, forming the high-end market to where it is today. ‘No finest, just much better' exists all over within Lexus, and the very same holds true when it pertains to racing.”
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