Sports Car Classic at Belle Isle Park – The Raceway on Belle Isle Park – June 3, 2017
• Both 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3s finished in the top-10 in the GTD class Saturday at the IMSA WeatherTech Championship race at the Raceway on Belle Isle Park.
• Scott Pruett and Sage Karam co-piloted the No. 14 Lexus entry to a sixth-place result, marking the third consecutive top-10 finish for the driver duo.
• The 3GT Racing No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 entry driven by Jack Hawksworth and Robert Alon earned its first top-10 result of the season with a seventh-place finish in Saturday’s 100-minute event. Hawksworth posted the second quickest lap of the race in the No. 15 Lexus with a time of 1:30.348 on lap 41 around the 2.35-mile Detroit track.
Lexus Racing Quotes
SAGE KARAM, No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3
How was your race in the RC F GT3?
“It was a positive weekend in my opinion. I think we could’ve finished better if things went just a little differently in the race for us, but we did the best with what we were dealt with and I think that’s the first time that we had both RC F GT3s finish inside the top-10 together so we’re making improvements. Our qualifying speed was decent and our race pace was a bit better than at COTA. We had a good tire test at Watkins Glen so I think our Lexus is pretty good at Watkins Glen and we’re looking forward to getting there to see what we can do.”
SCOTT PRUETT, No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3
Can you talk about today’s race?
“The Lexus RC F GT3 ran solid. The 14 and 15 ran great all day long. We’ve been just knocking on the door. The Lexus has been running strong and we’re happy with the pace. We need a little bit more, but from where we’ve come to where we are right now we’re making really good strides.”
Do you feel the team and the Lexus RC F GT3 are progressing as the season moves along?
“We are progressing every race. Where we started in Daytona was a bit rough, we ran solid at Sebring and had some issues, Long Beach was okay and we had our best finish of sixth and today backed up another finish of sixth. Every race is getting better, but now we’re knocking on the door. In qualifying I was first, second, third – I was right there and only missed it by hundredths of a second. We just need to continue what we’re doing and we’ll just keep getting better.”
JACK HAWKSWORTH, No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3
What was the racing like out there today?
“It was a tough because it was so hard to pass and we obviously didn’t have track position. I managed to get past the Porsche early on which was good and got stuck behind that Mercedes for a long, long time. I was much faster and just had nowhere to go. I caught him in the end and then was behind Sage (Karam) and we had a really fast car but just had nowhere to go. I was all over him in the end and making some moves, but he defended well. It was just so hard to pass. We had a car to win but we just didn’t have the track position we needed. We had the second fastest lap of the race and that was in the end on old tires. The guys did a great job with our Lexus. This is the best that the RC F GT3 has been so that’s good. It was the best performance from our car in terms of speed but we just needed the track position and that was that really.”
JACK HAWKSWORTH, No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3 (continued)
Does today’s finish give you motivation heading into the next race at Watkins Glen?
“We had two top 10 finishes for both cars and moving up in the points so that’s good for 3GT Racing and Lexus. That means we can move on for the next race now that we’ve been testing for. I’m happy with the results – to get two top 10s and get some points on the board. But, I think I’m just more happy with the performance and pace of our race cars. We finished seventh, but we had the pace to win so if we can just play our cards right and get ourselves some better track position then we would’ve been able to get a better result.”
MARK EGGER, motorsports manager, Lexus Division
How would you evaluate the Lexus Racing program after four races this season?
“This weekend was a home race for 3GT Racing with the team being based in Lansing, Michigan and they had a very successful couple of days. They had great solid practices, were able to qualify well and both race cars earned top-10 finishes in today’s race. The 15 team had its best finish of the season and Jack (Hawksworth) had the second fastest lap of the race in the RC F GT3, so overall we’re happy with the progress that the team is making with the pace of the RC F GT3s and look forward to getting back on track at Watkins Glen.”
