Lexus and AIM VASSER SULLIVAN (AVS) closed out the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season at Sebring International Raceway on Saturday evening. The Twelve Hours of Sebring didn’t go as planned as both AVS Lexus RC F GT3s were damaged after sliding in oil on the race track while running first and second in the GTD class.

Nearly three hours into the event, AVS drivers Townsend Bell and Kyle Kirkwood were running in first and second place, respectively, when they both encountered oil on the track leaked by a GTLM competitor going into Turn 17 sending both cars into the tire barrier. Bell’s No. 12 Lexus was in the garage for just over an hour before the AVS crew got the car back on track for the final eight hours of season-ending endurance event where they finished 10th.

The No. 14 RC F GT3 was too damaged to return to the 17 turn, 3.74-mile road course and their championship run ended with a 13th-place result with full-time drivers Jack Hawksworth and Aaron Telitz, along with Kirkwood. The team finishes the season third in the GTD team championship standings after a successful season that included three wins, five podiums, three pole positions and six top-five finishes in 11 races this season. Telitz ends the season third in the GTD driver point standings while Hawksworth ranks fourth as the season comes to a close. The driver duo scored back-to-back wins in IMSA’s return to racing in July at Daytona International Speedway and in the sprint race at Sebring. They were also victorious at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in September.

Bell and Frankie Montecalvo finish fifth in the overall GTD team standings in the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 and finished third in the IMSA Sprint Cup Championship following Laguna Seca. Bell and Montecalvo earned one win, two podiums, two pole positions and five top-five finishes during the 2020 season.

Lexus finished third in the IMSA GTD Manufacturer’s Championship on the strength of four wins, seven podium finishes and five pole positions in 11 IMSA races. Lexus, along with Hawksworth and Telitz in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3, secured the 2020 IMSA Sprint Cup Championship following the final sprint race of the season at Laguna Seca on November 1.

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