Woodbridge firm takes AIM at GT Daytona
A Canadian firm is once again venturing into big-league North American racing.
AIM Autosport of Woodbridge is partnering with IndyCar team owners Jimmy Vasser and James Sullivan to campaign two Lexus RC F GT3 race cars in the GT Daytona (GTD) class of the IMSA WeatherTech Championship beginning in 2019.
This new entity will be known as AIM Vasser Sullivan and will operate from its Woodbridge headquarters and a new facility in Charlotte, N.C.
The team takes over running the Lexus RC Fs from the Paul Gentilozzi-owned 3GT Racing after a fairly successful 2018 season with two wins and a thirdplace finish in the manufacturers’ standings. The cars were driven by Austrian Domink Baumann and Canadian Kyle Marcelli of Midland for 3GT Racing, but no drivers have been announced for the upcoming season with the new team.
“Sulli (Sullivan) and I are excited and looking forward to entering a new chapter in our racing careers,” said co-owner and 1996 IndyCar champion Jimmy Vasser. “I have driven sports cars before, but my career was pretty much limited to the 24 Hours of Daytona, including a ‘class’ win in 1992 and second overall in 2008. This new team, with the support of Lexus and our sponsors, has the tools to get the job done and we are looking forward to this new challenge.”
The RC F GT3, which is based upon the production Lexus RC F high performance coupe, initially debuted in IMSA competition at the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona. The car is powered by a 5.4litre V8 with about 500 horsepower. Lexus also fields teams in Europe and Japan. This is a departure in racing venues for Vasser and Sullivan, as they both come from open-wheel backgrounds. Earlier this year, they teamed with veteran IndyCar owner Dale Coyne fielding a team in the Verizon series with driver Sebastian Bourdais.
Founded in 1995, AIM Autosport has worked with and developed Canadian road racing talent, including IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe of Oakville. It has been successful in fielding both open wheel and full-bodied race cars in a variety of series.
Drivers for the AIM Vasser Sullivan team along with the car livery will be announced soon.
For drag racing fans, the upcoming NHRA Breakfast next Wednesday at the SEMA show in Las Vegas promises to be a real treat. This annual event will feature some icons of the sport to help the NHRA celebrate its 50 years of the running of the GatorNats in Florida in March 2019. Sitting at the head table will be Kenny Bernstein, Joe Amato, Don Prudhomme and John Force.
Hopefully, Force will be hungry that morning and spend time eating so the other three can get a few words in.
Weekend winners ... With three races to go earlier this month, Patrick Boniferro sat 10th in points in the Ontario-based TNT Super Series presented by Joe’s Transmission. After those three races, held recently at the New York state dragstrips of Lancaster and Empire, the Niagara Falls racer took his Corvette not only to victory but captured enough points to win his first TNT championship. Placing second was Chris VanBaalen of Wellandport ... Flamboro Speedway held its two-week delayed Frostoberfest last week with features in several divisions. While he didn’t win any of the three 50-lap contests in the Grisdale Pro Late Model Series, Jake Sheridan of Mount Brydges ran well enough to win the series. Taking the first 50lapper was 14-year-old Treyten Lapcevich of Grimsby, while Jason Lawrence of London and Kevin Albers of Brantford won the other two races. Brampton’s Lane Zardo won the first 50-lap main in the Super Stock division, and Matt Bentley of Guelph took the second race. And Brian Wilson of Guelph and Jake Gilbert of Milton shared the victories in a pair of Mini-Stock features ... The Waterloo Regional Kart Club recently finished its 37th season with its annual Oktoberfest event on the Flamboro Speedway grounds. In the cadet class (7-9 years) Jamie Rowley of Kitchener won, while Nithburg’s Logan Prince took the win in novice (9-11 years). In the junior lite class (10-13 years), William Adams of Milton won, while junior heavy (12-15 years) was taken by Jonny Robillard of Dundas. In senior medium, T.J. Marshall of Rockton won the final, and Kitchener’s Paul Harrison took the masters class final.