August 24, 2026
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A tough battle combined with strategy calls from the pitwall saw the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 climb up the order, eventually fighting to a P7 finish
With two race wins so far this season, and a best result at VIR of P2, the pair were looking for a solid result to keep the championship fight alive. However, qualifying proved a challenging session for the team. Jack struggled for outright pace, and the Vasser Sullivan Lexus crew would start from P10 in a tightly-packed GTD field.
The race got underway with immediate drama, as a full course caution was called on the very first lap. The lengthy caution period opened up strategy opportunities for the team, as the crew looked to work on ganing ground on the leading group. Rolling the dice early, the #14 was the first down the pitlane shortly after the 40-minute mark. This quick-thinking achieved the undercut over the cars ahead, and paid dividends to move up to P6. As pitstops continued to play out, the Lexus continued to run well, before gaining a further position as the leader finally pitted.
With an hour to go, Ben took over and set about continuing the battle as the final scheduled stops reshuffled the order. Running in P9, Ben was looking to make progress and challenged the #77 Porsche for position, before being pushed off track and resulting in his radiator grille being filled with grass. Ben worked to clear the debris and keep the Lexus in the fight, and was rewarded when the stewards handed the Porsche a penalty for the incident, with just under 45 minutes remaining. The call promoted Ben to P8 and, from there he settled into a strong rhythm, running clear of traffic both ahead and behind. A further position was then gained as one of the GTD Pro leaders required a late fuel stop.
Combining with Jack’s pace in the opening stints and the strategy calls from the pitwall, Ben crossed the line in P7. The result wasn’t representative of the effort from the team, but rounded out a solid recovery drive after a tough start to the weekend.
Looking back at a tough weekend, Ben explained –
“A very challenging weekend here at VIR, but not through a lack of effort from everyone. Obviously, qualified in 10th so that showed we were struggling for a bit of pace. Jack and the engineers pulled off a great strategy to sort of get us to mid-pack which was pretty remarkable.
“We came out into a pretty thick battle in that last hour there, which was pretty fun to be a part of until it wasn’t. The Porsche made contact, sending me off, and without a yellow, that made anything more than a P7 unlikely. I’m disappointed it ended that way after a pretty heroic strategy and start of the race from the Vasser Sullivan team and Jack. Just a tough weekend from start to finish here at VIR, but we go again at Indianapolis in a few weeks.”
The team now heads to Indianoplis for the final Sprint round of the IMSA championship, 18-20 September.