Lexus Racing Debuts New Racecar for the 2014 Super GT Season

About an hour ago, Toyota Motor Sports debuted a wildly menacing, carbon and orange wide-bodied race car on their Japanese Facebook page that looks surprisingly similar to the recently re-designed Lexus IS. However, upon further inspection – if the carbon fibre headlight covers, canards, spoiler, hood vents, and louvered widebody wheel arches are to be believed – this is no ordinary IS. This is in fact, the new Lexus Racing Super GT contender for the 2014 GT500 class.

According to the Lexus Racing press release (and with some aid from Google Translate), the new car is based off of the LF-CC coupe concept (seen below) that was released at the 2012 Paris Auto Show. The car is scheduled to replace Lexus’ aging SC430, which has seen remarkable service in Super GT’s GT500 class ever since Toyota stopped production of the MKIV Supra.

With Honda’s NSX finally seeming to materialize into an actual production model, the announcement of the new Toyota/Lexus racer could not have been more timely. Photos have appeared of an NSX race car taking to the test track with clear intentions to replace the struggling HSV that always seemed to lack the sheer pace of the R35s and SC430s through the corners and on the straights.

While details are still short on the new Lexus car, looks are something that the new race model has in spades. The SC430 was always exciting to watch, but appearance-wise, it fell a little short compared to Nissan’s R35 and the Honda HSV. As Toyota continues to branch out of its “boring” and “beige” cocoon and Honda begins to get serious about its revived sportscar, one can’t help but be excited for the upcoming year in motorsports.

Source: Toyota Motor Sports, Lexus, SuperGT.net