Lexus has announced its motorsports activities for 2019, and it’s a full calendar of racing around the world. Let’s break down the action.
Super GT
2019 will mark the final season for the Lexus LC GT500 before its replacement by the Toyota Supra in 2020. A Motorsports.com article details the rationale behind a number of driver changes outlined below:
| Team | Car | Drivers |
| LeMans Wako’s | Wako’s 4CR LC500 #6 | Kazuya Oshima & Kenta Yamashita |
| WedsSport Bandoh | WedsSport ADVAN LC500 #19 | Yuji Kunimoto & Sho Tsuboi |
| au TOM’S | au TOM’S LC500 #36 | Kazuki Nakajima & Yuhi Sekiguchi |
| KeePer TOM’S | KeePer TOM’S LC500 #37 | Ryo Hirakawa & Nick Cassidy |
| Zent Cerumo | Zent Cerumo LC500 #38 | Yuji Tachikawa & Hiroaki Ishiura |
| Sard Denso | Kobelco Sard LC500 #39 | Heikki Kovalainen & Yuichi Nakayama |
There will be a trio of GT300 Lexus RC F GT3 racers in contention:
| Team | Car | Drivers |
| Panther arto Team Thailand | arto RC F GT3 #35 | Drivers to be determined |
| LM corsa | SYNTIUM LMcorsa RC F GT3 #60 | Hiroki Yoshimoto & Ritomo Miyata |
| K-tunes Racing | K-tunes RC F GT3 #96 | Morio Nitta & Sena Sakaguchi |
24 Hours of Nürburgring Endurance Race
A Lexus LC will compete for the second year in a row in the SP-Pro class. This marks the 13th year of participation for Lexus in Germany’s signature endurance race, which this year will take place on June 22-23. Drivers are Takeshi Tsuchiya, Takamitsu Matsui, Naoya Gamo, and Yuichi Nakayama.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTD Class)
For the 2019 season, Lexus’ U.S. GT3 Customer Motorsports program moved from 3GT Racing to the AIM Vasser Sullivan team. Their two-vehicle effort features the #12 car with full-time drivers Townsend Bell & Frankie Montecalvo (whose third place podium finish at the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona was Lexus’ best U.S. GT3 result to date) and the #14 car with full-time drivers Jack Hawksworth & Richard Heistand.
Blancpain GT Series Europe
European GT3 Customer Motorsports also sees a change in Lexus teams, as Emil Frey Racing moves on from Lexus to Lamborghini. Picking up the Lexus mantle is Panis-Barthez Competition and Tech 1 Racing.The number of entries and the identity of its drivers will be revealed ahead of the upcoming Blancpain GT Series test days on March 13-14.
Discussion