VASSER’S FACTORY OPERATION
Lexus has entrusted its factoryblessed IMSA operation to Vasser Sullivan Racing, the team owned by 1996 CART Indycar champion Jimmy Vasser and business partner James ‘Sulli’ Sullivan.
The team is based in Concord, North Carolina, just a few miles away from TRD’S NASCAR operation in Salisbury. With talent already added from the NASCAR gene pool in the area, its latest addition on the driving side, Barnicoat, has impressed Vasser so far this year.
“In the car he’s the consummate professional,” says Vasser. “He knows what he wants, his feedback is spot-on, and he’s immediately worked well with everybody.
But we expected that.
“We had a good look at a lot of European drivers, and across
America, who’d won in the categories, so we knew a lot about Ben and made a run at him. We weren’t sure we’d be able to get him, to extract him from Mclaren, which was a process. It felt like we prised him away! It was a victory to get Ben to join Jack and Kyle.”
Let’s get to the bottom of his signing, was it really Hawksworth who made the connection? “The first point of contact really was Hawksworth,” says Sullivan. “To some, that’s a surprise, right? Some organisations look at drivers who come and go, and are somewhat replaceable. With Jack – one, we’ve built a programme around him, and two, as he’s matured he’s become a quarterback for us.
And this is an example of that: Jack led us to explore Ben.
“There were a lot of options, there’s no shortage of fantastic pro drivers, but this was somebody who Jack had identified. I see some really organic chemistry happening between Kirkwood and Hawksworth and Barnicoat.”
Following Daytona, Barnicoat got some valuable extra seat time in pre-sebring testing – which
Vasser reports went really well – as he builds up his bank of experience. “He’s been a little bit of a deer in the headlights as he’s adapted to the Lexus RC F,” adds ‘Sulli’, “because it’s a different animal, which is fine and we expected that. But he’s a pro, his energy is high, and we’re looking to see what he’s capable of. It’s an exciting signing.”