The British pair at the heart of Lexus's sportscar push
Have you heard the one about two British guys driving for a Japanese manufacturer in America’s top sportscar series? Time to sit down and talk with Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat about racing across the pond… and your accent being mistaken for Australian!
Lexus is perhaps an unlikely manufacturer to take motor racing, but Toyota’s luxury brand has been developing a sportier edge for quite some time and enters its sixth year in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with two Brits driving its GTD Pro class entry.
Jack Hawksworth has been with Lexus’s programme since the beginning, following a three-year stint in IndyCar that peaked with a podium in Houston. This year, the 31-year-old West Yorkshireman is joined by Ben Barnicoat, who hails from across the border in Derbyshire. Despite their proximity, and similar karting careers, they’d never actually met until Hawksworth saw the opportunity to bring 25-year-old Barnicoat on board…
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