I’m not sure about the validity of this racing video, in fact it seems downright sketchy, but pitting the Lexus IS-F against an Audi RS4 doesn’t seem like a fair fight at all:

The reason for my doubt is in the second turn, it looks like the IS-F lets the Audi pass, only to absolutely blow by it before the next turn, almost as if the IS-F driver was toying with his opponent.

If this was a totally legitimate race, that RS4 driver was completely humiliated.

The No.1 Lexus Riley Prototype has won the Daytona 24 race for the third year in a row, marking the first time this has ever been accomplished in the race’s history. Piloted by Scott Pruett, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Memo Rojas, the Chip Ganassi team powered through the 24 hour race with none of the problems that beset their competitors:

The stat sheet will show the No. 01 won by two laps, led 252 of 695 circuits and the last 100. But for the first 19 hours the race was anything but a walkover, more resembling a last-man-standing test of mechanical preparation, luck, will and ability to not only survive, but thrive in conditions that went from wet to dry and back again.

The team did it well enough that aside from an early tire problem, the 2,474.2-mile marathon was trouble-free on the track. The only hiccup came when Franchitti was awakened too late for a stint, forcing Pruett to do extra time, but that didn’t slow them down.

Easily one of the most demanding races out there, it’s an amazing achievement to win it just once, nevermind three years running. Congrats to the whole Chip Ganassi team!

(Thanks Dan!)

[Source: USA Today]

Putting aside the hoopla surrounding the Lexus IS-F Racing Concept for a minute, here’s some jumpy video footage of the car from the Toyko Auto Salon show:

I think I would have liked this vehicle a whole lot better if it had been done up like an actual race car, with the decals and flashy colors. As it stands, it’s hard to get a real feel for it — nevermind that it seems almost impossible for anyone to get a good photo of it.

The confusion surrounding the Lexus IS-F Racing Concept has taken a turn for the absurd, with German auto magazine AutoBild now asserting that it’s not a Lexus at all, but a reworked Opel Opel Vectra DTM racer:

From the article, it’s not exactly clear how they came to this conclusion, but it clearly goes against the Winding Road report last week that the car was a one-off experiment by IS-F Chief Engineer Yukihiko Yaguchi, with no plans for it to enter competition racing of any kind.

Major discrepancies aside, I’m not sure what difference it makes, even if it is just an Opel in Lexus clothing. Let’s consider the very idea of a concept, which at its heart is an experimental model to test a design idea. This isn’t a racer, it’s an idea of a racer. Considering the investment of developing a full-spec DTM racer, is it really that shocking that Lexus would build a tradeshow concept off an existing model?

[Via: Autoblog]

Details are finally coming out in regards to the Lexus IS-F Racing Concept shown at the Tokyo Auto Salon last week.

Due to the body styling and rear wing, it was thought that this was a precursor to Lexus’ entry into the DTM Racing series, but in actuality, the vehicle was a one-off design experiment headed by IS-F chief engineer Yukihiko Yaguchi, and will not be raced in any competitions whatsoever. Instead, it was built primarily for IS-F engineers as a way to experience ‘true driving pleasure’, which presumably would translate into various tweaking and improvements of the production IS-F.

***

There is other news on the Lexus racing front, though, Winding Road has the lowdown:

Meantime, a completely different racing Lexus IS-F is reportedly in the works for the GT300 category of this year’s Super GT championship in Japan.

Super GT? It’s Japan’s top race series, the nearest thing the nation has to NASCAR. Draws huge crowds and with 30-40 car grids makes for spectacular racing.

Right, and we now have it on good authority that this GT300 class IS-F entered by the Japanese Bandoh team will in fact be mid-engined, a configuration that’s already raised eyebrows and been described by one Super GT official as “crazy.”

This “crazy” GT300 class IS-F will debut February at the opening Super GT test sessions.

Update: Autoblog has posted some photos of the IS-F Racing Concept from last week’s Toyko Auto Salon.

[Source: Winding Road]

There’s certainly some confusion out there today in regards to the Lexus IS-F Racing Concept & the new Team Lexus racer. Thought to be the same car, it turns out that the orange Team Lexus race car may be something entirely different. One thing’s for sure, it’s destined for the Le Mans series GT2 class, rather than the DTM Series in Europe (as was previously thought).

Based on the IS 350, the Lexus IS 350 GT2 will be powered by a V6 that’s expected to pump out 470+hp, and will be making its debut at the Twelve Hours of Sebring in Sebring, Florida (March 15-18, 2008).

Now, the only question that remains, what exactly is the IS-F Racing Concept? Is it the same car or something entirely different?

[Source: World Car Fans]

Update: In an update to their original article, World Car Fans has confirmed my suspicions: the IS 350 GT2 is not the same as the IS-F Racing Concept.

(Thanks Dan!)