Here is a great little video of Gazoo Racing steep learning curve at the infamous 24h race on the Nürburgring in Germany, the story began in 2008 where the racing prototype finished in 121st place due to some extended time in the pits where it managed 100 laps compared to the 148 by the winning GT3 RSR.
A year later the two LF-A racecars were powered by a 4.8-liter (4805cc) V10 engine’s entered again the ADAC 24H, Armin Hahne, Andre Lotterer, and Hiromu Naruse achieved sub-9min laps and a best time of 8:50.458, which was the fastest time in the SP8 class.
The number 15 car suffered fire and had to retire 90mins before the finish of the endurance race, the number 14 car finished the race and was ranked 4th in its class and 87th overall.
2010 was a bad year for Gazoo and Lexus, The Chief Test Driver/Engineer Hiromu Naruse, who coached the 2010 LFA race team, died in a tragic accident on June 23, 2010 testing the Nurburgring Edition of the Lexus LFA on the roads local to the Nordschleife in Germany. The Police report stated that Naruse was reportedly not wearing his seatbelt, and as his LFA test vehicle was a pre-production prototype, its safety features, including airbags, were not functional at the time.
This didn’t stop Gazoo racing entering another 2 cars and this time was awarded with first in the sp8 class after racing 142 laps of the demanding Nordschleife.
2011 The #88 LFA, with its team of Akira Iida, Hiroaki Ishiura & Kazuya Oshima, fared much better than the 151st and 8th position in the SP8 class — at one point climbing to 20th overall — until a collision in the pit lane and two hours of repairs derailed any hope of a top twenty finish. Final result: 133 laps, 42nd overall, and 3rd in SP8 class.
In 2012 the Lexus LFA made its fourth appearance at the ADAC 24 Hours Nürburgring in the high-performance SP8 class, After surviving a few incidents, and posting a quickest lap time of 8:44, the GAZOO Racing LFA proved its reliably and consistent times through the race, and was placed 15th in the overall standings and was awarded SP8 Class winner.
