For those of you that follow the US road racing scene, you might be aware that Lexus’ first foray in to sport sedan racing in the US, was finally marked last weekend at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in the SCCA Speed World Challenge GT class. The IS-350 piloted by last year’s touring car champion Jeff Altenburg entered has the series late this year as a shake down exercise for an all out assault on the championship in 2009.
So just how did the first race go? If you were counting on a top ten finish, you will be disappointed; however the goal for the season is to pinpoint issues not to rack up points. The DRC IS-350 finished the 28 lap race in 24th place down only 1 lap, and actually ahead of a few Dodge Vipers in the process. Not too bad for a shake down run, but clearly off the pace leading Dodges, Chevrolets, and Cadillacs.
However with 4 more races to go, the clearly competent Altenburg will assuredly sort out the IS into a competent racing machine by 2009. But if it will be fast enough to keep up with the CTS-V, 911, and the Corvettes in the same class will be the real question. Looking at the current pace set in the first race, Altenburg would have been at the head of the pack in the slower Touring Class series, but alas only averaging 3 seconds faster per lap than the slowest car in the class, a Volkswagen Jetta TDI. So let’s hope the car picks up the pace for the reminder of the season.
As the season progresses, expect us to keep you up to date on the development of this racer.