Lexus has announced its motorsports partnership with Paul Gentilozzi and newly formed F Performance Racing to field the RC F GT3 in a soon to be announced sports car series. This new racing venture is part of the Lexus’ global motorsports effort that will see the Japanese luxury brand competing on tracks in the United States beginning in 2016. The new race vehicle is based upon the production Lexus RC F high performance coupe that went on sale at the end of 2014.

“A core mission of F Performance Racing was to strengthen the Lexus’ F brand by applying lessons gleaned from racing, while nurturing an engineering culture that transfers that knowledge to dynamic, high performance passenger car development. We are very excited about what this partnership and race effort can mean for the brand in the years to come,” said Jeff Bracken, group vice president and general manager, Lexus division.

Veteran driver and road racing legend Scott Pruett will pilot the Lexus RC F GT3, bringing a wealth of experience to bear during the vehicle development phase. F Performance Racing will campaign a limited schedule in 2016. In its inaugural year, the team’s primary focus will involve developing the race organization while gathering data and track experience to help further propel vehicle development. For the 2017/18 season, the plan calls for F Performance Racing and Pruett to participate in a full sports car racing schedule with a multi-vehicle effort.

“When Lexus left motorsports, I pledged to them that I would be there to help them return when that time came,” said Pruett. “That time is now and I could not be more ecstatic to be representing Lexus as a performance brand ambassador and on the track in the F Performance RC F GT3.”

The racing family is ready to embrace a new challenge. In early 2015, at the North American International Auto show, Lexus announced the brand would return to racing with its high performance RC F. The possibility of returning to the hotly contested GT ranks in 2016 with Lexus’ high performance niche brand was a race team’s dream. Given the brand’s commitment to competition, Lexus racecars are poised to develop a motorsports heritage through sports car racing around the world. Simply put, this is a “must do” challenge for F Performance Racing and Scott Pruett.

“An opportunity to reunite with North America’s greatest sports car driver and a great friend, Scott Pruett and Lexus, a globally prestigious brand validating their performance potential, is a racer’s dream,” said Paul Gentilozzi. The racing family patriarch continues, “One that would put an exclamation point on anyone’s motorsports career.”

Accepting the challenge of being part of a developing Lexus Motorsports heritage, both F Performance Racing and Pruett look to 2016 and beyond with great anticipation of the first on-track success for the RC F GT3.