SEBRING, Fla. (March 23, 2026) – After a strong start for both Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 entries that ran competitively in the early stages of Saturday’s Twelve Hours of Sebring, on-track issues at Sebring International Raceway prevented the results the team had worked so hard to achieve. In GTD PRO competition, the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 driven by Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood finished 11th place. In GTD action, Aaron Telitz, Benjamin Pedersen and Frankie Montecalvo rounded out the 12-hour endurance race with a 13th-place result in the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3.

Hawksworth, who made his 100th career IMSA start with Lexus at Sebring, earned the pole position on Saturday with a GTD PRO track record time and led his entire first stint (22 laps) behind the wheel of the Vasser Sullivan No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3. Kirkwood then took over and ran among the top three before handing the car off to Barnicoat who also kept the No. 14 Lexus among the top contenders in class. Midway through the 12-hour endurance race, Hawksworth returned for his second stint, running in the top three while battling grip issues around the historic Florida road course. Kirkwood was running third during hour eight before the Vasser Sullivan Lexus had a wheel hub issue that resulted in the No. 14 having to make multiple pit stops for repairs. The trio returned to the track and ran the entirety of the 12 hours, finishing 11th in class.

In GTD competition, the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 team also had a strong qualifying effort with first-year Lexus driver Pedersen qualifying sixth out of 19 cars in class. Pedersen ran in the top six throughout his stint before Montecalvo took over behind the wheel of the No. 12. Montecalvo was forced behind the wall with a gearbox issue in the second hour and the Vasser Sullivan team worked hard to get the issue resolved and the No. 12 back on the race track. Pedersen, Montecalvo and Telitz ran the remainder of the race with Telitz bringing the No. 12 Lexus home in 13th place after losing significant time from the repairs early in the race.

Lexus and Vasser Sullivan head to the west coast for the first sprint race of the season when they take on the streets of Long Beach on Saturday, April 18. To keep up with all the racing action, follow Lexus Racing on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok by using #LexusPerformance.

Vasser Sullivan Driver Quotes
JACK HAWKSWORTH, No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3
How was your race today?
“The Sebring 12 hour is always a hard race and today was no exception. When I look back on the weekend, I think 99 percent of what we did was really good as a team. We came here with a competitive car, we had a good strategy, we had reliability for the most part, we had good stops for the most part. It was just a couple little banana skins which tripped us up at the end of the day. It’s a real shame because I do feel like we had a shot at winning today. I’m going to take the positives from the weekend and move on to the next one.”

BEN BARNICOAT, No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3
Can you talk about today’s Twelve Hours of Sebring?
“Today was not the result that we deserved or that we expected. We rolled out of the truck on Thursday with a fast Lexus RC F GT3 and we backed that up with a great qualifying result. Obviously, Jack (Hawksworth) put down a great lap to get us the pole position. Honestly, the race was going really well. The Porsche’s were strong and probably had a bit more pace on us in the heat of the day, but I think we were all very confident that it was going to come back to us at night and we were going to be there when it was time to go and time to make the magic happen. But things happen. We had an issue during a pit stop that we need to analyze to understand exactly what happened, and that took us out of contention. I feel bad for this Vasser Sullivan team. They put in a lot of hard work and it’s hard to be this good as an organization and not get the results we deserve. We’ll keep working hard and come back stronger at the next race.”

KYLE KIRKWOOD, No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3
Can you talk about how today’s race was?
“Obviously it was not the finish we wanted today. We had something happen to the car that we can’t really understand at this time and unfortunately it cost us the race here today. But, nonetheless, the team did a phenomenal job. The car preparation was incredible. Our car itself had phenomenal pace and was probably one of the best cars we’ve had at Sebring. This Vasser Sullivan team is doing all of the right things and eventually if we keep doing the right things, wins will come our way.”

AARON TELITZ, No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3
Can you talk about today’s race?
“Obviously, a tough day here for the Vasser Sullivan Lexus Racing team. Both cars were really competitive all weekend and we thought we had a great shot at getting a good result here. We had some things happen out of our control on the 12 side mechanically early on, but the guys worked really hard to fix the car as fast as they could to get us back out on track, and we picked up quite a few valuable positions. The good news is, we’re feeling competitive and we’re heading into the sprint season which is historically where we do the most damage so let’s see what we can do once we get to Long Beach.”

BENJAMIN PEDERSEN, No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3
How was your race?
“It was a pretty perfect start for our race. We were running up to P3 solidly and then unfortunately had a mechanical issue with the gearbox forcing us to have to stop and change it, and went quite a few laps down. We went back out there, circulated and passed the cars that didn’t finish the race at all, and we collected some points which is a good day for what we could salvage. The Lexus RC F GT3 felt really good, especially as sunset came. In the nighttime, I’m very pleased with how our car was performing, so there’s no doubt in my mind that if at the end of the race we were fighting for the win that we would’ve had the car to do it.”

FRANKIE MONTECALVO, No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3
How was your race?
“It just wasn’t our day today. We had a couple issues on both cars, but everyone recovered as best we could. We really clawed our way back up there. The Vasser Sullivan team did an awesome job getting the car back out on track and getting those championship points that we need on days like today. The team did a great job, and we did our best today.”