Ably assisted by his season-long team-mate Ben Barnicoat, Jack Hawksworth claimed the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s GTD Pro title in his fifth season with the factory-backed Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus squad.
Four class pole positions and two victories at Long Beach and Watkins Glen were the highlights. He finished on the podium of every race apart from Mosport, after Barnicoat lost a turf war with Patrick Pilet at Turn 1, and at Petit Le Mans (where they were crowned champions simply by starting), when Barnicoat’s off inflicted race-ending damage.
He also had four LMP2 Pro-Am outings in the European Le Mans Series with Algarve Pro Racing.
Even Toyota’s US racing boss David Wilson admits that its Lexus RC F is a “bit of a Frankenstein” race car, but in its fifth season of IMSA competition, this old stager beat all the purpose-built GT3 racers in the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s GTD Pro class.
Vasser Sullivan’s marque stalwart Hawksworth has been driving (and winning) in the RC F since 2019 but fellow Briton Barnicoat, in his second season with the squad, has helped elevate it to championship-winning level.
“I’m very lucky to race alongside Jack, as he is definitely one of, if not the best guy in IMSA right now,” says Barnicoat of the former IndyCar driver. “There is no one else I’d rather go racing with.
Source: Autosport