Lexus RC F GT3s Set to Compete in Petit Le Mans Season Finale
Philipp Frommenwiler, Kyle Marcelli & 3GT Racing drivers ready for grueling 10-hour endurance event at Road Atlanta, Oct. 13.
Lexus and 3GT Racing will compete in the IMSA season-finale Petit Le Mans 10-hour race at Road Atlanta on Saturday, October 13. Lexus is currently tied for third in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD manufacturer standings with one race remaining on the 2018 schedule.
The No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 heads into the 10-hour endurance event having finished within the top-10 in all three endurance races this year with full-time drivers Jack Hawksworth and David Heinemeier Hansson. They opened up the season in January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona with a ninth-place finish, went on to register a fifth-place result at the Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, and finished a season-best of fourth at the six-hour event at Watkins Glen International in July. Last season, the No. 15 Lexus finished all four Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup events on the IMSA schedule.
Philipp Frommenwiler and Georgia-native Sean Rayhall return to 3GT Racing for the grueling 10-hour season-finale at Road Atlanta. Frommenwiler joins full-time drivers Dominik Baumann and Kyle Marcelli, making his third start in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 after competing in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Twelve Hours of Sebring to open the season. Rayhall is making his second start in the No. 15 Lexus, joining full-time racers Hawksworth and Heinemeier Hansson for Saturday’s endurance event after also competing at Sebring earlier this season.
“I really like the Petit Le Mans,” says Marcelli. “I’ve had some success there in the past with some second places, and a victory as well. It’s a fun event, being 10 hours we run into the dark. I’ve never actually raced a GT car there, it’s only been in the Prototype Challenge class, so it’s been with faster race cars, but having experience now at Daytona and Sebring with the Prototypes coming up behind you in the dark, I think I’ll be OK.
“It’s been a rollercoaster season,” continues Marcelli, who races in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3. “We’ve had a lot of great results and great success with the No. 14 Lexus, we’ve got one more race to shine and we’ll give it everything we’ve got and see where we end up. It’s a competitive grid and you can quickly go from the front to the back and the back to the front because it’s just that competitive. It’s been a real pleasure to race the RC F GT3 this year and working with 3GT Racing and Lexus. We’ve got one more race to go this year and we’ll give it our best.”
‘Racing in the U.S. is one of the best things! …The Lexus RC F GT3 is a great car in general. It’s fun to drive especially on fast tracks where you need a lot of aerodynamics.’
In the RC F GT3 Road Atlanta debut last year, the 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3 entries both finished in the top-10 at the 12-turn, 2.54-mile road course located outside of Atlanta. Last year, the No. 15 RC F GT3 finished eighth after leading the GTD class for five laps. The No. 14 Lexus paced the GTD field for 18 laps last year before an incident late in the race resulted in a 10th-place finish. 3GT Racing driver Marcelli was victorious at Road Atlanta in the American Le Mans Series Prototype Challenge class in 2013 and earned a pole position there in 2012, while Hawksworth also recorded a Prototype Challenge pole position at Road Atlanta in 2014.
“We tested at Road Atlanta and it’s a nice track,” says Baumann, who races in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3. “It’s a real American race track. It’s a long race there and we will have Philipp (Frommenwiler) back, which is good. We will try to continue from Sebring with the three of us drivers in a good partnership. Again, it’s a difficult race, a long race and I hope we can finish the proper way in the endurance round, which have been difficult for us this year.”
“It’s the very first time I’ll drive at Road Atlanta,” adds Frommenwiler. “To be ready for the race, I do a lot of sim training. Racing in the U.S. is one of the best things! I’m really looking forward to race again with 3GT Racing, Kyle (Marcelli) and Dominik (Baumann). The Lexus RC F GT3 is a great car in general. It’s fun to drive especially on fast tracks where you need a lot of aerodynamics.”
Coverage of Saturday’s 10-hour endurance event begins at 10:30 a.m. ET on Fox Sports 1 and continues on Fox Sports 2 from 12 p.m. through the conclusion of the event.
