With the upcoming death of the Lexus RC F, the glorious luxury Japanese Camaro, the company will be left without any F-branded sports car products in its lineup, and the knock-on effect is that the successful IMSA RC F GT3 campaign will die with it. Fortunately for Lexus and the team running its efforts Vasser Sullivan Racing, Toyota already has a new GT3 car waiting in the wings. Teased at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon as the GR GT3, the new front-engine rear-drive sports machine is on the way, and could bow in the U.S. as a Lexus. Perfect, then, to pick up the GT3 mantle for Lexus and VSR from 2026 onward.
“We’re working to develop the next generation of sports cars, including a new GT3 race car,” Lexus Motorsports senior manager Jeff Bal told Racer. “At this point in the development stage, we are unable to provide any further details.”
Lexus hit the race track with the RC F GT3 way back in 2017 with the now-defunct 3GT Racing. For 2019 the program was handed to Vasser Sullivan Racing. In the years since, these highlighter-yellow Lexuses have won just about every prize that IMSA has to offer, including the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, Petit Le Mans, 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 2023 GTD Pro championship title. This big luxury sports coupe fights it out week in and week out with the best from Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, McLaren, Lamborghini, Ford, Acura, Corvette, BMW, and Mercedes-AMG. The 2025 season, however, will be its last.
The sleek and low-slung GR GT3 concept stands in stark contrast to the massive RC F. The car has been spotted testing in Europe for nearly a year, though there’s no clear schedule for when Vasser Sullivan will get its hands on one to start testing in the U.S. For now we’ll have to just wait and see how this program shakes out. The car is rumored to be powered by a turbocharged V8, and while fans would probably prefer the throaty 5-liter naturally-aspirated roar of the current RC F GT3, the GR GT3 looks nice enough that I’m willing to give it a pass.
I look forward to seeing this car make its competition debut a year from now at the Daytona 24. For now we’ll just cheer on the Lexus in its swan song season.