Vasser Sullivan fielding two GTD entries for Long Beach

With the GTD Professional class not competing on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn short-term road circuit, Vasser Sullivan opted to regulate its driver lineup for the pair of Lexus RC F GT3 machines.

Jack Hawksworth, recent off a win on the Twelve Hours of Sebring and a win final 12 months in Lengthy Seaside in GTD Professional, will co-drive the No. 12 entry with Frankie Montecalvo for this 12 months’s Lengthy Seaside occasion.

In the meantime, the No. 89 entry will likely be piloted by Parker Thompson and Ben Barnicoat, who can also be coming off the GTD Professional win at Sebring and co-drove to a win with Hawksworth final 12 months at Lengthy Seaside.

“The Lengthy Seaside Grand Prix is sort of merely ‘particular’ for our workforce and Lexus,” Group Principals Jimmy Vasser and James ‘Sulli’ Sullivan stated, through a workforce assertion.

“We’re coming to Lengthy Seaside with one expectation…to win once more. Pairing Frankie and Jack within the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, alongside Ben and Parker within the No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, provides us one of the best shot at that.”

This idea for non-GTD Professional rounds is one thing Vasser Sullivan have carried out up to now. In 2022, for rounds at Mid-Ohio and Detroit, Vasser Sullivan opted to area two GTD entries, which noticed Barnicoat joined by Kyle Kirkwood because the pair claimed victory at Belle Isle.

“We’re excited to return to the streets of Lengthy Seaside and honored to have Vasser Sullivan run a second GTD entry alongside the Vasser Sullivan No. 12 RC F GT3,” stated Jeff Bal, Senior Supervisor of Motorsports for Lexus.

“As a tribute to the 12 months Lexus entered the U.S. luxurious automotive race, the workforce will run the quantity 89 alongside the 12 as a nod to 35 years right here within the U.S. Since 1989, Lexus has constructed a repute on unprecedented high quality and reliability together with constantly delivering an business main visitor expertise, shaping the posh business to the place it’s immediately. ‘No greatest, solely higher’ is current in all places inside Lexus, and the identical is true relating to racing.”