With renewed support from Lexus and technical support from Toyota Racing Development (TRD), U.S.A., Team Lexus will be back to challenge for the Grand-Am Cup Series' Sport Touring I class championship.
Owned and operated by veteran road-racing driver/owner Chuck Goldsborough, Team Lexus will build on its success in 2001 which included a victory at Virginia International Raceway, a pole at Mosport Raceway and 12 top five finishes. Piloting the stable of Team Lexus IS 300s will be Andy Lally, Tim Gaffney, Jean-Francois Dumolin, Daniel Dror, Jr., and Ian James, as well as Goldsborough.
Goldsborough's Team Lexus stepped up on the podium to collect several trophies and received the A.N. Deringer Award for most positions gained while racing Lexus GS 400s in the 1999 and 2000 Motorola Cup Championship. Goldsborough, from Baltimore, Md., has raced competitively for nearly 20 years and has served as an instructor at the Skip Barber and Bertil Roos Racing Schools.
LEXUS GRAND-AM 2-2-2-2-2 For the Grand-Am Cup series, Team Lexus will compete in virtually stock Lexus IS 300s powered by a production-based 3.0-liter, inline six-cylinder engine with a TRD-equipped engine management system. The high-revving IS 300 engine will share the strong low-end and mid-range torque features of its production counterpart, while the compact sport sedan's natural balance and steering response will thrive on the track.
"The IS 300 is a natural race car; it comes alive on a track," said Mike Wells, vice president of marketing at Lexus. "The Grand-Am Cup street-stock series is a great environment to showcase the IS 300s performance capabilities as well as its fun-to-drive style."
The Grand-Am Cup heads west for its next event at California Speedway in Fontana, California, March 22-23. |