3GT Racing - Lexus F Performance Racing fields Lexus F entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

Bittersweet ending to 2018 IMSA season for 3GT Racing

October 13, 2018 by 3GT-Racing Leave a Comment

BRASELTON, Ga. (October 13, 2018) – The No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 took the checkered flag at the Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga, finishing tenth. The final moments of the 10-hour race found the No. 15, driven by Jack Hawksworth at the back of the GTD class, despite a beginning that looked promising.

The early hours of the endurance race included Hawksworth in the lead in the No. 15 and the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 fighting in the top five for the first five hours.

Hawksworth, who qualified P2 on Friday, earned third fastest lap of the race with his qualifying lap of 1:19:732.

“Our day started off really well,” Hawksworth said. “The car balance was very good. We were surprisingly good over the long runs. The Lexus was competitive on old tires which is something we struggled with (this season). I was very optimistic after the first couple of stints. Led the race for quite a long time during the first two or three hours and then various things got to us and at the end we had one of the calipers explode and we completely lost our brakes. Obviously, the brakes going was kind of the nail in the coffin. The crew did a good job. It just wasn’t our day.”

Hawksworth’s co-driver, David Heinemeier Hansson, said he was disappointed with the end of the race, but he was also thrilled with the stints he drove, agreeing with Hawksworth that the early hours were best.

“My stints were great today. The car was super quick so as long as it was working it was a rocket ship but, unfortunately, we had some issues along the way and we couldn’t make it to the end on the brakes so that was a bummer,” he said. “We showed we definitely had the pace and I think we led quite a few laps with Jack (Hawksworth) in the car and when I was out there the car was as quick as it was going to be. Got to do a bunch of fun passes and compete. It’s just a shame we couldn’t compete for the win at the end.”

The No. 14 car did not finish after mechanical issues forced the car out of the race after the halfway point. Dominik Baumann qualified the No. 14 on Friday, starting the race P8, but quickly moved up through the traffic when the race began at 11:05 a.m.

“Qualifying was not the best,” Baumann said. “But I knew I could make up some places at the beginning of the race. I did a double stint and our Lexus felt great. I had some good fights out there and it felt promising that we’d go further into the race. We did a pit stop and I got back in the car and then I lost a wheel going out of the box. I don’t know what really happened. I tried to bring the car back, but I just had no drive. It didn’t accelerate, and the car may have been damaged trying to come back. It had to go on the tow truck and we had to retire the race unfortunately.”

3GT Racing Technical Director, John Gentilozzi, said he gives full credit to the No. 14 crew for fighting through everything, but it became apparent that retiring the car was the right decision.

“It was a tough deal with the No. 14 car but going any further with it wouldn’t have changed the position in points, so it was better not to take a risk with the car, and perhaps someone else’s race,” Gentilozzi said. “As for the No. 15 car, it was running really well, unfortunately the brake wear was a little faster than we thought, and we had to make that change for the brakes which pretty much put us at the back. But we took the checkered flag for 3GT Racing and for Lexus. We start looking forward to next season.”

No. 14 co-driver, Kyle Marcelli, called the race a bittersweet way to end the season.

“It’s really been a season full of highs and lows,” he said. “We had a good amount of success in the sprint races with two victories and a second-place podium. I think 3GT Racing and Lexus should be happy with those results. The endurance races have not been our friend this year. Everybody gives it their best. There’s certainly nothing left on the table. Today we had a pretty good race car. We were fighting in the top-five for the first six hours. It’s been a lot of fun to work with Dominik (Baumann) for the season and to have Philipp Frommenwiler join us for the endurance races, I couldn’t have asked for better teammates.”

Endurance drivers, Philipp Frommenwiler in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 and Sean Rayhall in the No. 15, were both happy to be part of the race and disappointed in the final standings.

“I’ve enjoyed my experience a lot this year,” said Frommenwiler who also raced at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and at Sebring. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have the luck on our side in the endurance races. That’s part of endurance racing. The guys had the success in the sprint races.”

“This is my favorite race of the season. It’s unfortunate it ended the way it did. 3GT Racing gave us a great Lexus RC F. It was really fast. We struggled a little bit during the day time, but man the car was really coming alive there right before we started to have some gremlins,” Rayhall said. “I’m just really thankful to be a part of this project, be a part of this team and to finish out this season with a strong effort. Really proud of all the guys.”

The season ends for the No. 14 and No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 having earned two wins in the No. 14, Mid-Ohio SportsCar Course and Virginia International Raceway and a second-place podium at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Jack Hawksworth earned four pole positions and the team finished top five in more than half of this year’s races and earned six of the quickest GTD race laps (five by Hawksworth and one by Baumann).

3GT Racing Managing Partner Paul Gentilozzi said this last race, the Motul Petit Le Man, was a tough race and it would have been better had it been two hours shorter.

“It should be called the 10-hour adventure of Petit Le Mans,” he said. “It’s tough. It’s getting to be every bit as tough a race as Sebring. It’s a 10-hour sprint race and we led, we were fast, but we didn’t finish well. That makes it a failure in my book. But we’ll move on. Lots of good stuff coming. The thing about racing is that you remember your last race until your next race. And then we’ll forget all of this. And it just can’t come soon enough for me.”

About 3GT Racing
3GT Racing was formed to race the Lexus RC F GT3. Owned and operated by five-time Trans-Am Series Champion, Paul Gentilozzi and his longtime partners, Tony and John Gentilozzi, the East Lansing, Michigan-based team principals have been involved in motorsports for more than 48 years and have claimed more than 75 victories and 15 manufacturer and driver championships.

Filed Under: Race Reports Tagged With: David Heinemeier Hansson, Dominik Baumann, IMSA, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Jack Hawksworth, Kyle Marcelli, Lexus, Motul Petit Le Mans, Petit Le Mans, Philipp Frommenwiler, Road Atlanta, Sean Rayhall, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

3GT Racing No. 15 Qualifies P2 for Petit Le Mans

October 13, 2018 by 3GT-Racing Leave a Comment

BRASELTON, GA (October 12, 2018) — It was close. With a fastest lap less than half a tenth of a second behind the pole winner, Jack Hawksworth in the No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 will start tomorrow’s Motul Petit Le Mans in at the front.

Hawksworth said he was happy with his lap time of 1:19:73 and the chance to start in the second position in the last race of the season.

Hawksworth has earned four pole awards during the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Virginia International Raceway. Many were hoping this would have been his fifth.

“I’d rather have five poles than four, but four is ok,” he said. “There was just enough left on the car to have one more stint. But we’re happy with it. The performance of the car was good.”

He and co-driver, David Heinemeier Hansson, have accumulated four top-five finishes this season in the No. 15 Lexus and Hawksworth has amassed five fastest laps, the four poles and a fastest lap at Lime Rock. The No. 15 team is joined by Sean Rayhall for this weekend’s 10-hour endurance race.

Hawksworth said there had been some braking issues during some of the practice sessions this weekend, but the crew came together and had it fixed in time for today’s 15-minute qualifying session.

“We’re really happy with the car now and I think it bodes well for the race,” he said.

Dominik Bauman qualified in the No 14 Lexus RC F GT3 and will start the race eighth.

“It’s a ten-hour race. But we have a good car,” Baumann said. “The race set-up was really good, so we will just have to try to make up some places. Sure, it’s a little disappointing that it’s only eighth, but we have a good driver line-up for the race and we are looking forward to it.”

Philipp Frommenwiler will join Baumann and co-driver, Kyle Marcelli for the race.

3GT Racing Managing Partner Paul Gentilozzi said he’s happy to see Hawksworth starting at the front of the race.

“We’re always wanting to be first, every time we go on the race track,” said Gentilozzi said. “Today, we’re first of the teams that raced the whole season. We’re second overall in our class. And I think it’s wonderful that we can expose the performance in all of the cars that are here, Ferrari, Audi, Porsche, and Lexus. This is the last race of the year, there’s no reason to hold back. We like it.”

3GT Racing Finishes Top Ten at Monterey GP

September 12, 2018 by 3GT-Racing Leave a Comment

MONTEREY, CA (Sept. 9, 2018) – The checkered flag flew at the end of today’s two-hour and 40-minute America’s 250 with the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 finishing seventh and the No. 15 in tenth.

“It’s a terrible result to a very hard-fought battle,” said Paul Gentilozzi, 3GT Racing’s Managing Partner. “We came here knowing that Laguna was a difficult track for our car. The kinematics of our car favor us in places like VIR and they hurt us here. And the other problem is that it’s a tire degradation track and we weigh a lot and it eats our tires.”
Kyle Marcelli, who drove the first stint in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3, said the multiple restarts at the beginning of the race were not part of the team’s strategy.

“With the initial start there was contact with the GTLM’s and the Prototypes and debris all over the track. We made it through that one unscathed. Then there was the second restart, and, on restarts, you can overtake anywhere so, to be honest, I had a great start out of turn 10,” Marcelli said. “I overtook some cars going into turn 11, but then I was just surrounded with cars in front, behind, both sides and the rear of the car was light. I couldn’t tell if maybe my right sides were on the sand, but as soon as I got on the throttle the rear was gone and thankfully, we were able to continue and kept the car running. We were at the back of the line, but I worked hard and at the end of the stint we were in the second position, so it was a good recovery.”

Corkscrew Monterey

While in second position, Marcelli came in for a driver change and co-pilot Dominik Baumann took over driving duties.

“It was hard after half of a stint to really keep up with the others. Just the time we lost with used tires was too much,” Baumann said. “The last stint we had a small problem with the pit stop. We went a little bit too far to the front, and the crew couldn’t put the refuel hose in the car easily. We lost 30 seconds. It’s a little bit disappointing.”

Jack Hawksworth took the first stint and the last in the No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3. He earned the second fastest lap in the GTD class with a lap time of 1:25:786. Hawksworth said the No. 15 car struggled over the course of the weekend and they were expecting a struggle for the race.

“Last night we took a big swing at things with the Lexus and we went in a direction which we’ve really never been before,” Hawksworth said. “We went out of our comfort window, setup-wise and it seemed to work better this morning in warmup. We stuck with it for the race and the performance of the car was a lot stronger than it had been all weekend. The pace was much better. We had an issue in the second stint with a hole in the front of the grille, so that kind of slowed us during that second stint. Had some tire degradation towards the end.”

Hawksworth said while the outcome wasn’t what anybody hoped for, he was encouraged with the engineering staff’s set-up changes, and said that the team learned a lot this weekend.

Paul Gentilozzi said he wanted to compliment the engineering staff for being creative with the set-up.

“In the race event, the incident at the beginning, Jack (Hawksworth) got hit, hit into somebody else, and actually punched a hole in the nose of the car. It took a while for it to break through and when it did, it caused a massive push,” he said. “At the end of David’s (Heinemeier Hansson) stint, Jack got back in and the push was so bad that it was 3.5 to 4 seconds a lap. But we had to get to 35 or 38 laps left to be able to have tires at the end. We did the change, we did a three-stop, one more than normal and fought our way back. Some cars are simply miracles, the 50-lap Porsche on fuel is a big miracle, I’m not sure how they did that. We could certainly not do that, we were five laps short of that and the Acura, well they were just fast.”

Heinemeier Hansson said he was surprised to find that there was more pace with the No. 15 than he had expected based on qualifying.

“So, for the first 20 laps, I had a blast passing half the field,” he said. “I was happy to see us run as high as fourth. Damage from the earlier carnage impeded Jack’s (Hawksworth) middle stint and running out of tires at the end kept us from finishing better. We will try again in a month.”

The team’s Technical Director, John Gentilozzi, said he takes a couple things away from the weekend.

“We did learn a lot about running at Laguna,” he said. “It may not have shown in the result sheets, but we made the cars better as the weekend went on and that has some value. The guys did good on the pit stops, we were lucky to avoid all the trouble that went on out there. We’re leaving with two mostly complete race cars and you can always count that as a good weekend. We’ll take our lessons and move on to Atlanta where we definitely feel better about our chances.”

Next race is the ten-hour endurance race, Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Oct. 13.

About 3GT Racing

3GT Racing was formed to race the Lexus RC F GT3. Owned and operated by five-time Trans-Am Series Champion, Paul Gentilozzi and his longtime partners, Tony and John Gentilozzi, the East Lansing, Michigan-based team principals have been involved in motorsports for more than 48 years and have claimed more than 75 victories and 15 manufacturer and driver championships.

Filed Under: Race Reports Tagged With: David Heinemeier Hansson, Dominik Baumann, IMSA, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Jack Hawksworth, Kyle Marcelli, Laguna Seca, Lexus, Monterey Grand Prix, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

3GT Racing Qualifies in Top Ten for Monterey Grand Prix

September 8, 2018 by 3GT-Racing Leave a Comment

MONTEREY, CALIF. (September 8, 2018) – 3GT Racing’s No. 14 and No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 cars will start tomorrow’s America’s Tire 250, part of the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3, with Kyle Marcelli in the driver’s seat, qualified P6 with a fastest lap of 1:25:010, about a half a second behind the leader, despite a fuel delivery issue.

“Our strategy was to go out of pit lane and complete an out-lap, then I was going to do one warmup lap bringing the tires up and then push for two laps, but I only got to push for one because by Turn 6 on my second lap, it felt like we ran out of fuel,” Marcelli said

3GT Racing

John Gentilozzi, 3GT Racing’s Technical Director, said that Marcelli had reported on the radio very early on that he had a fuel alarm.

“After investigating the telemetry, we did indeed find, he had a fuel delivery issue,” Gentilozzi said. “He had to push a little earlier then we planned. The car wasn’t able to get anymore fuel going through the Corkscrew on his second timed lap. Luckily, he was able to coast down the hill and get back to the pits and not disturb the session. Certainly, we feel that Kyle had some more time left in the car had we got another lap.”

“It’s certainly not the pole position that we wanted,” Marcelli said. “I think we could have been third or fourth on the grid. It’s a shame because I thought the team built a pretty good car for qualifying. For us a win this weekend is a top 5, but certainly in qualifying we wanted to shine a bit more. Just a bummer to have to give it up like that.”

Jack Hawksworth qualified the No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 with a fastest lap of 1:25:170 and will start the race P8. Hawksworth, who has claimed the pole in IMSA’s GTD class at four races, Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and VIR, has not ranked below P2 since Watkins Glen.

“It’s been a tough weekend for us,” Hawksworth said. “The cars not working very well here. We can’t find any grip. But we’re just going to keep trying.”

The East Lansing, Michigan-based team has accumulated two wins, a second-place podium, 11 top-ten finishes and has not qualified out of the top five in any race in this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series.

The Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix begins Sunday, Sept. 9 at 5 p.m. ET and can be viewed lived on FS1.

About 3GT Racing
3GT Racing was formed to race the Lexus RC F GT3. Owned and operated by five-time Trans-Am Series Champion, Paul Gentilozzi and his longtime partners, Tony and John Gentilozzi, the East Lansing, Michigan-based team principals have been involved in motorsports for more than 48 years and have claimed more than 75 victories and 15 manufacturer and driver championships.

3GT Racing Heads to Monterey Grand Prix with Two IMSA Wins

September 5, 2018 by 3GT-Racing Leave a Comment

(EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN) Sept. 5, 2018 — 3GT Racing’s trucks are packed and rolling west as the team readies for the America’s Tire 250, part of this weekend’s Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, in Monterey, California.

The East Lansing, Michigan-based team is one of only two teams with two wins in the GTD Class of the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Racing Championship series. With the No. 14 and No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 cars, the team has accumulated two wins, a second-place podium, 11 top-ten finishes, qualified top-five in all nine races and is ranked fifth, only 10 points from fourth, in the GTD class. Lexus is ranked third among manufacturers.

3GT Racing

Drivers of the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3, Dominik Baumann and Kyle Marcelli, are also only 10 points from fourth among drivers. The No. 14 has earned two wins and a podium this season, including the latest win at VIR earlier this month.

Marcelli and Baumann hope the strong performances they’ve had with the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 will carry them through to the finish line at the California raceway.

“I really think we’ve had pretty strong performances all season, from Mid-Ohio right up to now and I expect the same for the last two races of the year,” Marcelli said. We talk about some tracks being fun to drive but racing or overtaking is difficult, but at Laguna there are several places for overtaking and that makes it fun.”

Baumann agreed: “We had some small issues the beginning of the year, but you can see at each race we won or finished on the podium that we’re a good package – us drivers, car and team.”

“To win these races is not easy,” Marcelli said. “We know what we need to win. We need the pace to be strong for the duration. We need a perfect strategy and pit stops and we need to have the best tires and car that we can have at the end of the races.”

The accolades for the team continue with the No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 and driver Jack Hawksworth, who has earned the pole position at four races this season, including Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Virginia International Raceway. He’s also attained the fastest lap in GTD class in more than half of the races this year.

Hawksworth said he has plenty of good memories at the 2.238-mile track with the infamous downhill-plunging “Corkscrew” at Turn 8, but it’s not his favorite track.

“Obviously, fundamentally, we know a lot more about the car this year. And we have made changes that will be worthwhile since we struggled a bit last year,” Hawksworth said. “We have made changes that will be worth something when we go into Laguna this year. We have more knowledge and the set-ups will be better, considering what we’ve learned. I’m sure the engineers will have some good ideas. The key this year will be to come back with a better performance and an idea how to look after the tires, so we have performance at the end of the stints.”

Hawksworth’s co-driver, David Heinemeier Hansson, who has a home in Malibu, said he loves the 11-turn track in one of California’s most picturesque areas.

“It’s a real treat to drive in such beautiful surroundings,” he said. “And, an added bonus is that I can drive from our place in Malibu to the track.”

The two-hour, 40-minute America’s Tire 250, part of this weekend’s Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, in Monterey, California will be televised live on Sunday, Sept. 9 beginning at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

Filed Under: Team PR Tagged With: David Heinemeier Hansson, Dominik Baumann, IMSA, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Jack Hawksworth, Kyle Marcelli, Laguna Seca, Lexus, Monterey Grand Prix, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca