Details are finally coming out in regards to the Lexus IS-F Racing Concept shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon last week.
Due to the body styling and rear wing, it was thought that this was a precursor to Lexus’ entry into the DTM Racing series, but in actuality, the vehicle was a one-off design experiment headed by IS-F chief engineer Yukihiko Yaguchi, and will not be raced in any competitions whatsoever. Instead, it was built primarily for IS-F engineers as a way to experience ‘true driving pleasure’, which presumably would translate into various tweaking and improvements of the production IS-F.
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There is other news on the Lexus racing front, though, Winding Road has the lowdown:
Meantime, a completely different racing Lexus IS-F is reportedly in the works for the GT300 category of this year’s Super GT championship in Japan.
Super GT? It’s Japan’s top race series, the nearest thing the nation has to NASCAR. Draws huge crowds and with 30-40 car grids makes for spectacular racing.
Right, and we now have it on good authority that this GT300 class IS-F entered by the Japanese Bandoh team will in fact be mid-engined, a configuration that’s already raised eyebrows and been described by one Super GT official as “crazy.”
This “crazy” GT300 class IS-F will debut February at the opening Super GT test sessions.
Update: Autoblog has posted some photos of the IS-F Racing Concept from last week’s Toyko Auto Salon.
[Source: Winding Road]
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