Inside the push to give IMSA's longest-serving car a proper send-off

Drivers rarely get to fall in love with cars these days, as they’re phased out and replaced as quickly as they are introduced.

But that’s not the case for the Lexus RC F GT3, and its drivers are running out of time to give the eight-year-old machine the send-off it deserves.

With a new Toyota/Lexus GT3-level car anticipated for 2026, this looks to be the RC F’s last year in IMSA, and we’re almost upon the 12 Hours of Sebring, which is the last race it won in the GTD Pro class with Ben Barnicoat, Jack Hawksworth and Kyle Kirkwood driving the No.14 last year.

It was one of the finest victories for the car, with a class record pole position followed up with it bouncing back from an early drive-through penalty.

A perfect call from engineer Geoff Fickling to pit the car before an incident brought out a yellow put it back in contention. Hawksworth took over to finish the race, lost the lead with just under 40 minutes to go, but then fought back and passed Daniel Serra with 20 minutes remaining to push the RC F over the finish line for a 0.121s win after 12 hours of dogfighting.

“That’s a memory I’ll have for a long time, fighting for the win at Sebring, right at the death. It was super, super exciting,” Hawksworth tells RACER, while Barnicoat adds: “Jack’s a killer, and everyone who watched that race last year got to see how good he is.”

There are similarities developing between that race and the one coming up next month. In 2024 and 2025 the team had pretty nightmarish Daytona 24 Hour weekends, struggling for pace and failing to execute to the best of their ability.

But a recent Sebring test where Aaron Telitz – replacing Hawksworth in that line-up this year as the latter switches to the No.12 GTD car with Parker Thompson – was fastest in the GTD Pro class on the opening day points to the potential for a similar result to 2024.

“One of the things that amazes me about this group and this team, is that every time we go to a track, we always seem to be able to make it a little bit better,” says Barnicoat, who will lead the No.14 line-up with Kirkwood and Telitz at Sebring.

The Lexus’s most recent GTD Pro victory came in a thriller at Sebring last year. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

“Our test went really well. We were able to find some gains in terms of chassis and handling to hopefully put us in a good position when we get here.”

It’s interesting that races like Sebring have become a forte for this car. Hawksworth reckons that when the car was introduced – and he was driving it back in 2017 – its bodywork and some of the mechanicals were weaker than the opposition, which made the sprint races the more likely target for success than the endurance counters.

But the team won Petit Le Mans in 2022 and Sebring in 2024, showing the work Toyota Racing Development and Vasser Sullivan have done to elevate the car to the next level and blunt those weaknesses.

It’s still potent in the shorter races too, winning at Long Beach in the GTD class with Barnicoat and Thompson last year.

While it is a much older car, which means it doesn’t have the reachable upside of its newer rivals, age does have its benefits. The team knows the car inside out, its strengths and weaknesses, and can adapt. It knows what breaks, what needs nursing, what can be pushed for every last bit of performance. This all helps to keep the car competitive over a season.

“You can be the slowest car on the track, and if you execute a clean race, you have good pit stops, you don’t make mistakes, you stay out of trouble, you get good restarts… even if you don’t have the pace, if you do everything else correctly, you’re going to get something out of the race,” says Hawksworth.

“Especially in an IMSA race, where so much stuff happens and there’s so many opportunities to mess up.”

Of course, there are murmurings of what the RC F’s replacement will look like and testing has already begun. But thanks to their affinity with the old car, the drivers are desperate to send it off with success.

Hawskworth (left) has been driving the RC F since 2017. The Brit has moved across to Vasser Sullivan’s GTD entry for 2025, and is aiming to send the car off into retirement on a high note. Mike Levitt/IMSA

“You can see that the end for the RC F is certainly on the horizon,” says Hawksworth.

“We’re not going to be racing this car for much longer. So if anything, I’d say it’s a little bit of added motivation to try and send it off with… my target would be to win another endurance race this year, and then to try and win the championship and to end on the biggest high possible.”

Part of getting the most out of the older-spec car is the quality of the driver line-up, which in this case is undoubtedly one of the best on the grid. Barnicoat and Hawksworth especially have led the way for this group, and while obviously every team needs teamwork, the way this team brings together drivers is special.

The lead drivers Vasser Sullivan have used often come from single-seater backgrounds, which means they are used to fighting their teammates as bitter rivals on the cutthroat ladder to the next championship. That’s not proven to be a pitfall for this team’s line-ups in sportscars where working together is key, and that’s testament to the selflessness of the drivers involved.

“Everyone knows full well that when you’re coming up through junior single-seaters, your teammates are your number one enemies,” says Barnicoat. “If you want to make it, you’ve got to beat them.

“Yes, when you start sportscars, it is a shift, but actually, it’s something that I’ve grown to really love and really enjoy about sports cars. At this point now where I am in my career, it’s quite nice to share moments with others and also, share a bit of pressure and things like that. It’s not all on your shoulders.”

Barnicoat and Hawksworth were split this season, with the former leading the Np.14 GTD Pro car and the latter in charge of the No.12 GTD effort. Both were spectacular alongside Kyle Kirkwood last year at Sebring, but splitting them up might even give the team a greater chance of success.

There’s absolutely no feeling sorry for the RC F and its age as other teams bring new cars and evos every year which raises the bar for what this class of car can achieve.

There’s only desire and belief that after eight years, and a year-long winless streak in GTD Pro, the success isn’t over.

“I think we can still be competitive this year, and I will be very, very disappointed if we don’t win races and we don’t compete for the championship,” says Hawksworth of the No.12 GTD car. “So I’m not saying we will, but I hope we do. I’m working, and I know the team’s working. We’re in this thing.”

Sebring is certainly a much happier hunting ground than Daytona for Lexus, so now it’s time to see if the RC F rolls out of pitlane another year wiser, or another year older to its detriment.

It’s won Sebring, Petit Le Mans and the 2023 GTD Pro championship in IMSA. But Lexus and Vasser Sullivan are still trying to squeeze out every molecule of success from this car before it retires into the sunset.