Emil Frey Lexus Racing will give the Lexus RC F GT3 its debut in the Total 24 Hours of Spa this weekend, the centrepiece of the 2018 Blancpain GT Series.

The team will field two cars in the 70th edition of the gruelling event at the Belgian circuit and are hoping to sustain the run of good form that has yielded a victory at Paul Ricard in France and several points-scoring finishes in Europe’s premier GT competition.

Pre-race preparations have been promising with a positive test session at Spa-Francorchamps, where different car set-ups for wet and dry conditions were evaluated. The team have also been able to make use of data gathered from the RC F GT3 when it competed at the circuit last year in the International GT Open series. On that occasion, the car posted its first pole position in any global competition and went on to secure a dominant race win.

Team Principal Lorenz Frey said the testing has boosted the team’s confidence, with the RC F GT3 performing well on the challenging 4.4-mile circuit: “Taking into consideration the fact Spa suits our Lexus RC F GT3 very well with its fast corners, we should see a good performance. This is one of the toughest GT3 races, taking place on probably the most spectacular racetrack there is, so everyone in the team is very excited about our first 24-hour race with the Lexus.”

The No14 Lexus will be piloted by Alberto Costa Balboa, Christian Klien and Marco Seefried, with the No114 car driven by past Spa 24 Hours winners Markus Palttala and Stéphane Ortelli, with Norbert Siedler. Qualifying is on Thursday and Friday with the race being flagged away at 4.30pm local time on Saturday.

Source. Lexus/Photo. John Patterson