LAS VEGAS: 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.

In early 2015, at the North American International Auto show, Lexus announced the brand would return to racing with its high performance RC F and now the Japanese brand will soon be seen competing on tracks in the United States from next year onwards.

The new race vehicle is based on the production Lexus RC F high performance coupe that went on sale at the end of last year with a wheelbase of 2,730mm, length of 4,805mm, height of 1,270mm and width at 2,000mm.

The 1,300kg (kerb) race car sports a 6-speed Sequential gearbox with paddle shifters mated to a 5.0-litre V8 engine that churns out more than 500hp.

Helming the race car will be veteran driver and road racing legend, Scott Pruett, after using his wealth of experience and knowledge to help during the race car's development phase.

In its inaugural year, the team’s primary focus will involve developing race organization while gathering data and track experience to help further vehicle development.

The following 2017/18 season will see F Performance Racing and Pruett participating in a full sports car racing schedule with a multi-vehicle effort.

“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,” said Lexus division group vice president and general manager Jeff Bracken.

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