BOWMANVILLE, Ontario, Canada (July 14, 2025) – Jack Hawksworth and Parker Thompson converted a pole position start into a podium finish in Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship sprint race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP), grabbing third place for the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 in GTD. Ben Barnicoat and Aaron Telitz drove the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 home in the eighth position in GTD PRO.

After earning his first pole of the season and his third career pole at CTMP on Saturday, Hawksworth controlled the early portions of Sunday’s race in his No. 12 RC F GT3. The Lexus factory driver led the first 36 laps of the race in GTD before a mid-race caution caused the field to come in for pitstops. As Thompson was hopping in the No. 12 for Hawksworth, he was caught up in congestion on pitlane that put him back in the GTD class field. The adversity did not deter the young Canadian driver, nor the No. 12 team as Thompson race hard on ensuing race action and used great strategy by the Vasser Sullivan team to be in contention for the win, before a late-race incident caused an extended caution and the race to finish under the yellow flag before Thompson could fight for the victory. The third-place finish is the No. 12 team’s fourth podium finish of the 2025 season, keeping them second in the GTD driver and team points standings, 93 points behind the lead.

For the No. 14 team, Telitz began Sunday’s two hour and 40-minute race in the second position in GTD PRO, maintaining position until pitting with just under two hours remaining in the race for Lexus factory driver Barnicoat to hop into the No. 14. Barnicoat cycled to the lead after the GTD PRO field pitted and led five laps before that mid-race caution came out.  Like the sister RC F GT3, the No. 14 was also caught up in the pit road traffic, putting back them back in the GTD PRO field. Barnicoat exerted maximum effort and gained a few positions before ending the day in the eighth position.

The Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3s return to action for another sprint race, this time at famed Road America on Sunday, August 3. 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. 12 Lexus RC F GT3
Take us through today’s sprint for you and the No. 12 team.
“Hard-fought third-place finish today. The No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus team did a great job all weekend, giving all of us really great RC F GT3s. We qualified up front and controlled the race early on until that pit stop in the middle of the race. Lost track position (there) and then Parker (Thompson) did a really good job at the end to get his elbows out. The guys made some good calls to get us some positions back as well, so that was a positive way to end the race. Obviously, would’ve like to have done a little bit better, but we’ll move onto Road America and try again.” 

PARKER THOMPSON, No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3
How would you describe today’s result for the No. 12 team?
“Unfortunate end, but with a big-picture mindset, this is a day we needed. You’re not going to lose the championship on a day your rival finishes second and you finish third. You’ll lose it when you make a big mistake, and they capitalize. All-in-all, the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus team are doing what we need to do to keep this championship alive for us. Now, we head to Road America with hopes and dreams in-tact, ready to go compete even harder.”

BEN BARNICOAT, No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3
Can you take us through your race today?
“Frustrating way to leave what was such a positive weekend to start. Our No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 had great pace in all practices and Aaron (Telitz) did a great job in qualifying. We had a great start to the race and Aaron had an amazing first stint. I got in the car and had a great first stint. We were in the lead by a good margin over the other cars. And then, that mid-race yellow and pit stop put us back in the GTD PRO field. Sadly, we couldn’t fully recover from that. Obviously, really proud of Chris Andrews (engineer) and all of the Vasser Sullivan guys for giving us a great Lexus RC F GT3. Just disappointed we weren’t able to secure another win today.”

AARON TELITZ, No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3
How would you summarize today’s race and the weekend overall?
“We’ve had such a fast Lexus RC F GT3 the last three weekends, just disappointing to not get the result we deserved today. The mid-race pitstop hurt us and we ended up where we were after that. But we have great momentum with the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan RC F GT3 right now and I know the guys will get everything sorted and we’ll be out fighting at Road America.