Lopez to Spearhead Lexus LMGT3 Effort

Jose Maria Lopez has been confirmed as part of Akkodis ASP Team’s Lexus LMGT3 effort in the FIA World Endurance Championship, leaving Toyota’s top-level prototype program after seven years.

The Argentinean driver will pilot a Lexus RC F GT3 in the eight-round championship, beginning with the Qatar 1812km on March 2, pending the entry’s approval from the WEC Selection Committee.

French powerhouse team ASP, which has been highly successful in GT3 competition over the last decade, will field a pair of cars in WEC’s new-for-2024 class.

Lopez recently sampled the Lexus GT3 platform at a multi-day Goodyear tire test at Portimao last month.

The 40-year-old has relatively little experience racing GT machinery compared to his highly successful stints in touring car racing and prototype competition.

Lopez raced in the 2008 FIA GT Championship alongside the likes of Gaston Mazzacane and Esteban Tuero, drove an Aston Martin DBR9 for two FIA GT1 World Championship rounds in his native Argentina in 2010 and briefly competed in the American Le Mans Series in 2007.