Hawksworth Taking “Win or Bust” Approach in ASP One-Off

Jack Hawksworth says he is taking a “win or bust” approach to this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in a one-off outing for the Akkodis ASP Lexus team, which he feels is in a position to contend for LMGT3 honors in its second attempt at the French classic.

Lexus IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship regular Hawksworth has once again been drafted in to drive one of the ASP squad’s two RC F GT3s in the FIA World Endurance Championship blue riband event as a replacement for the still-injured Ben Barnicoat.

He will share the No. 78 car with Barnicoat’s regular WEC co-drivers Arnold Robin and Finn Gehrsitz in what will be his second Le Mans outing after his last-minute call-up in 2024 to fill in for Jose Maria Lopez.

Hawksworth joked he had “quite a lot more notice” this time around after he hurriedly flew across the Atlantic to join ASP last year when Mike Conway’s injuries prompted Toyota to place Lopez in one of its two Hypercar entries.

“I’ve known for a few weeks now and I’ve been able to prepare a lot better,” Hawksworth told Sportscar365. “I remember at [scrutineering] last year, I was wearing Kelvin [van der Linde]’s suit, I was super jet-lagged, I had just flown in.

“I’m glad to be back and from my side I’m more prepared, and I’ve seen how much better prepared the team is since last year, so I am super excited to see how it goes.

“Last year I came here not really knowing what to expect, it was the team’s first event, so they didn’t know what to expect. But this year we are coming in with the mentality of trying to win the race. It’s a different feeling to last year.”

This week’s race is likely to mark the second and final Le Mans outing for the RC F GT3, which is poised to be retired in favor of the all-new GT3 model that has been developed by Toyota and is set to race in WEC and the WeatherTech Championship next year.

While Hawksworth is focused on trying to win the GTD title in the WeatherTech Championship for Vasser Sullivan Racing, he said he is relishing the prospect of simply gunning for victory at Le Mans without any consideration for the championship.

“My mind is on trying to win the race, and if it is the end for the RC F, it would be a super-cool way to finish it, as well as trying to win the IMSA series,” he said. “Those are my two goals: win this race, and win the IMSA series.

“It’s a different mentality here. In IMSA it’s 10 races and it’s all about consistency, but this race is just about trying to win. I like that a lot: it’s win or bust.

“We’ll just go for it and we’ll see what happens.”

ASP’s No. 87 Lexus led the way in both sessions of Sunday’s test day, with Jose Maria Lopez setting the fastest time in LMGT3, while Hawksworth’s best effort in the sister No. 78 machine was good enough for fourth across the two sessions.

The British driver cautioned that Ferrari appeared strong, but remains optimistic that Lexus has the tools to fight towards the head of a bumper field.

“It’s a good start,” he said following Sunday’s afternoon session. “Both cars have looked fast all day, we’ve been in the mix. It’s always difficult to tell what everyone is doing, but honestly, first day was strong. The car feels good.

“Ferrari look fast on the straight, their top speeds look good, so I am sure they will be decent. I think we are decent, but I don’t know if we’re quickest or whether we are around third or fourth.

“But I have to say, the car felt really good today, the balance felt good all day, and sometimes that’s all you can take from these test days.”