Hawksworth: “Can’t Write Anybody Off” in GTD Pro

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Jack Hawksworth believes that none of the GTD Pro class entries should be counted out of the championship battle following a competitive start to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

Hawksworth and co-driver Ben Barnicoat enter this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach second in the standings in their No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, just 26 points behind the WeatherTech Racing pairing of Jules Gounon and Dani Juncadella.

The first two races of the season produced two different class winners, with the Proton Competition-run Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo coming out on top at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, with Pfaff Motorsports’ Patrick Pilet, Klaus Bachler and Laurens Vanthoor winning a fuel mileage race in last month’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

While still winless this year, the Lexus factory drivers notched podiums in both races, including a second place class finish at Sebring, in what Hawksworth considers to have been their strongest start to a WeatherTech Championship season to date.

“It’s been a really good start for us,” he said. “Even going back to the GTD days as well, we quite often struggled to come out of Daytona and Sebring with a decent haul of points.

“The longer races have tended to be a bit of a weakness for us.

“But since Petit Le Mans, really, we’ve gone into a good rhythm with them and have come out of these first two this year with a really good haul of points.

“So we’re really happy about that and feel like we’re now getting into the shorter races that [should] suit our car a little bit more.

“We find ourselves, points-wise, not in a massive hole. I’m happy about that.”

When asked by Sportscar365 about the level of competition in GTD Pro, which features five full season entries, Hawksworth said none of the cars should be counted out just yet.

In addition to the WeatherTech Racing Mercedes and Pfaff Porsche, Corvette Racing and The Heart of Racing (Aston Martin Vantage GT3) are the other full-time class entrants ahead of the first sprint round of the season.

“You can’t really write anyone off yet,” Hawksworth said. “Obviously the Mercedes has been quick and the Corvette has been up there as well, and with the Porsche winning Sebring.

“Everybody’s still in the mix. We’re just focusing on ourselves and trying to do the best we can and keep chipping away.

“Certainly the team is in a good spot right now. We’ll just keep trying to execute and let the other guys do what they do and hopefully we’re in front of them.”

He added:  “It was competitive last year as well but certainly there’s no weak cars in the field. It’s not the biggest field but there’s not one car in the field where you’d say, ‘That can’t win.’

“Every team has a lineup and every team has personnel and crew behind them to be able to win on any given weekend. It’s not going to be easy at all. You can’t make any mistakes for sure.”

WeatherTech Racing Duo Set for Long Beach Debuts

GTD Pro points leaders Gounon and Juncadella, meanwhile, are preparing for their first laps of the 1.968-mile Long Beach street circuit.

Both drivers have relied on pre-event sim work in an effort to get up to speed, especially considering the lack of available track time over the course of the two-day event.

“Long Beach, I have learned on the sim, looks like an amazing track,” Gounon said. “Short, and you are running very close to the walls. It will be very important to maximize the traction and rotation of our WeatherTech Mercedes-AMG GT3 car.”

Juncadella added: “Long Beach is a new track for me. I have been on the sim and watching online video to get an understanding of the layout.

“I have a pretty good history on street courses, I won the Macau Formula 3 race in 2011. I know how to experience the limits on street courses. I would compare Long Beach more to Pau in France, which is another famous street race.

“We have had a very good start on the season, and we are looking at keeping the momentum going as we start the sprint portion of the schedule.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John