The DRC Motorsports Lexus IS-GTF (which has suitably been renamed as an IS 350) had a bumpy start to its inaugural race this past weekend, my.IS has the details:

The #72 DRC Motorsports Lexus IS 350 made its initial Mid-Ohio appearance during the second practice session, but entered pit lane before completing a full practice lap. The team opted to sit out qualifying, as well, and, thus, started at the very back of the pack of the 30-car SPEED World Challenge Grand Touring class grid…Yet, never underestimate 2007 SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Champion Jeff Altenburg, for he managed to finish the race in 24th place, only one lap down from the first 19 cars, and ahead of five Dodge Vipers and a Chevrolet Corvette, delivering a very credible first effort.

Hard to expect anything in a race when you start in last place, so placing 24th is a good result. The RDC IS should see action again at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, scheduled for August 10th.

Whatever the reason, every time the Lexus IS-F & racing are linked together, it ends up being super-confusing. Case in point: My.IS has posted a story about pair of race-modified IS-Fs owned by DRC Motorsports that are about to enter the GT class of the SPEED World Challenge — only they’re not really IS-Fs, but the two race cars purchased from Team Lexus.

Regardless, the cars are powered by a 510hp 4.7-liter V8, and the first one will be making its debut this weekend in Ohio. The driver, Jeff Altenburg, was last year’s SWC Touring Car champion. The race itself will be broadcast on SPEED TV on Thursday, July 24 at 1:00pm.

[Source: My.IS via Autoblog]

No matter how evenly matched they might be, I still had a chuckle over of this photo of the Lexus LF-A up against a Honda Civic:

(This photo comes from Flickr user nordschleifenfan, my favorite Nürburgring photographer.)

Japanese racing website Start Your Engines has posted some extended footage of the Lexus LF-A in last month’s Nürburgring 24hour race, with plenty of mysterious Japanese commentary:

The racing prototype certainly didn’t seem to struggle against its competitors on the track, which makes me wonder just how well the prototype would have finished without the extended pitstops.

A writer from Motor Trend secured a seat to the Lexus Performance Academy held two weekends ago at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California. Here’s how the event broke down:

For the most part, it turned out to be a fun way to spend a day. The four-hour-plus event is broken up into several parts, about 30 minutes in length. The Academy starts off with the program’s rundown and a brief introduction to proper driving techniques by a professional driver. Afterward, attendees are split into four groups. Each will rotate through the day’s four sessions — autocross, team relay, lead follow, and advanced theory — before finishing up with a few laps in an IS F with one of the pros behind the wheel.

Each of the four events described sound like plenty of fun, particularly the lead-follow session:

Three people in IS Fs follow a pro driver in an IS 350 or IS 250 around a road course; in this case, the 1.4-mile course on the speedway’s infield. Despite the IS F’s power edge, keeping up with the pros predictably isn’t easy.

The writer’s main complaint was that the event was fairly basic and intended for only novices, though I wouldn’t have expected anything different.

Update: The event described here is the paid version of the Performance Driving Academy.

Details have been revealed today that the Lexus LF-A Racing Prototype was involved in some kind of crash during the qualifying session prior to the actual race. Autoblog has some more photos of the smash, but the damage seem to be around the driver-side front and rear bumper. Here’s what it looked like from the back:

I wonder is if this was partly responsible for extended pitstops that the LF-A had to take during the race?

(I really like the top night shot of the LF-A, it looks fantastic in matte black, and I would honestly like to see offered as a real color for the supercar.)