EAST LANSING, Mich. — 3GT Racing has signed drivers Dominik Baumann and Kyle Marcelli to contest the full IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule in the GT Daytona class.
Baumann and Marcelli share the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3. The East Lansing, Mich.-based team will field two Lexus RC F GT3 cars this year. The team announced last month that driver David Heinemeier Hansson will pair with returning driver Jack Hawksworth in the No. 15 Lexus RC F GT3.
Baumann, the 2016 Blancpain GT series champion, was born in Austria. In 2011, he began racing sports cars, driving the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. In 2012, he won the FIA GT3 European Teams’ Championship and was named FIA Central European Zone Young Talent of the year. He won the 24h Nürburgring Qualifying Race in 2016.
For the last four years he has raced professionally with BMW and AMG. He returned for the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup race in Barcelona and earned a sixth-place finish. He has 22 wins in his career.
“I am excited to work with 3GT Racing,” Baumann said. “I like the look of the Lexus RC F GT3 and I think it suits me. And, I think I will suit it. My dream has been to race in America. I’ve watched all the races and I’m ready for a new challenge. I want to do my best when I get in the car. I don’t want to be over-confident. I just want to do well and learn as much as I can.”
3GT Managing Partner Paul Gentilozzi believes Baumann and Marcelli will be a great team in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3.
“As a team owner in the IMSA WeatherTech Series the pairing of drivers is critical to your opportunity for success. Their ability to form a team symmetry and strategy quickly and efficiently is the first step to winning,” Gentilozzi said. “I believe Dominik and Kyle will quickly demonstrate their connection and give us the podiums we are striving for.”
Marcelli of Barrie, Ontario, has come close to racing with the Gentilozzi racing team before.
“I’ve known Paul Gentilozzi for quite a few years and raced against his team,” Marcelli said. “A few years ago, I was going to race with him, but schedules didn’t work out. This year, is the right time. Everything has lined up and to be a part of 3GT Racing, with the Lexus RC F GT3, is special. Everyone takes this year very seriously. They want to show up and win and it’s exciting to be part of that.”
Like most Canadians, Marcelli said he started out on hockey skates, but at the age of 10 he turned his attention to go-karts and soon realized his true passion was motorsports. He made his professional debut in the American Le Mans Series in 2010. He is a former FF1600 champion, Porsche GT3 Cup champion, American Le Mans Series vice-champion, Petit Le Mans winner, and runner-up at the Sebring 12 Hours.
Also joining the 3GT Racing team for the Rolex 24 are drivers Philipp Frommenwiler and Bruno Junqueira.
Junqueira has partnered with Gentilozzi teams before, driving in 2011 with the IMSA GTS team, in the American Le Mans series in 2013 to 2015, alongside Hawksworth.
Taking his seat in the Lexus RC F GT3 will be easy for Frommenwiler of Kreuzlingen, Switzerland. The European driver teamed with Alberto Costa in Europe’s International GT Open series last year, driving the Lexus RC F GT3. They came away with third place in the Drivers’ Championship and earned third place in the International GT Open overall standings.
“As we approach 2018 we do it with great anticipation, we have learned what our Lexus RC F GT3 wants on the track and played our way back into racing shape,” Gentilozzi said. “Our Lexus is now ready to achieve the next step onto the podium, a step we expect to achieve.”
Source : speedsport.com
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