Mostert “Honored” to Drive Lexus RC F GT3 in Vasser Sullivan Call-Up

Photo: Sideline Sports Photography/Lexus Racing

Chaz Mostert said he feels “honored” to get a chance to drive the Lexus RC F GT3, likely in its final year of top-level sports car racing competition, after getting the call-up from Vasser Sullivan to take part in this weekend’s Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic.

The reigning Repco Supercars champion, who is coming off his maiden win in the first-year GR Supra program last weekend in Tasmania, has quickly come to grips of one of the oldest active GT3 cars, having set the fourth quickest time in Friday’s second practice session.

Mostert got his first laps in the car in a shakedown at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C. on Tuesday prior to a sim session in TRD’s technical and engineering center in Salisbury, N.C. prior to arriving in Detroit.

He is sharing the No. 15 Lexus with the team’s regular GTD pilot Aaron Telitz.

“It’s funny; The engine is very similar to what we race in Supercars,” Mostert told Sportscar365. “That stuff is actually quite interesting and quite cool.

“These GT cars, they have a stack of aero, good ABS, good traction control units.

“It’s always fun getting in these cars, especially on a track like this, trying to find the limits is quite tricky with the bumps and all that.

“I’m glad the car is working really well. It’s probably making me look a bit better than I am at the moment.

“The car is cool. I know it’s been around a long time and it’s really exciting in the Toyota/Lexus family at the moment of what’s around the corner and what’s coming.

“To be able to say I got to drive the Lexus is pretty cool.”

Mostert, whose last IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship outing came in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, where he scored a runner-up finish in GTD Pro aboard 75 Express’ Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, said the 10-turn, 1.645-mile downtown Detroit street circuit has some similarities to the Surfers Paradise street circuit in the Gold Coast.

“It probably doesn’t quite have the high commitment speed areas,” he said. “Gold Coast has two chicanes in the back, you get it wrong, it’s going in big time.

“You have small room for error here, like how quick you’ve got to get the car down to some of these really sharp corners.

“If you get that a little big wrong, you’re looking to go straight down the shoot.

“The braking commitment is super high, especially down into [Turn] 3. You’ve got a lot of speed up by the time you get down there.”

While serving as a Toyota factory driver in Supercars, Mostert said he’s unlikely to have the chance to make any more “cameo” GT3 appearances overseas this year but admitted he’s eyeing up the new GR GT3, which is set to debut next year.

“The new car looks really good,” he said. “I’m just honored to be thought of for this race.

“I’m lucky for the opportunity, knowing when you’ve got a team that runs a GTD and a GTD Pro and they needed someone and was willing to slot me in was super cool.

“I’d like to say that I could probably do some more GT racing in the Toyota/Lexus family.

“The team over here, Vasser Sullivan, they’re absolutely world class. It’s just an honor to be able to drive for them.

“It feels like a real family-based team for me, which is quite cool. It feels like home.

“To be honest, I feel like a lot of people in America, no matter what team you drive for, everyone just loves motorsport so much here and it’s very similar to what it is in Australia.

“I love racing any time I can in the States.”

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