There may not be many options specific to this platform, but this driver enjoys his Lexus RC F - and he now enjoys the track, too.
Photography by J.A. Ackley
The looks of the Lexus RC F drew Mark Goddard’s attention. Its performance kept it. However, he quickly found the capability of the car exceeded his capability as a driver–the hard way.
Mark bought the 2015 Lexus with the intent of having fun on the street and at car shows. Unfortunately, he found out the dangers of driving it hard on the backroads.
“I ran out of talent,” says Mark. “I took a corner too fast, slid off down into a ditch and hit a couple of trees with it. That was the end of its life for the street.
“It was a real eye-opener for me,” he continues. “It just solidified the fact that driving like that needs to be done in a controlled environment, on the racetrack.”
After that, Mark repaired the damage, essentially the whole passenger side of the car, from headlight to trunk. Then, he started work on making the Lexus a race car, without any track experience whatsoever. Mark gutted the interior and installed a rear wing and front splitter. Finding go-fast components specific to the Lexus RC F proved difficult, though.
“There are only two websites where you can buy parts for this car,” Mark says. “One’s RR Racing and the other one is Figs Engineering. I did research on general prep for the track: tires, brake pads, suspension–most of it translates to any car. As far as specifics and fine tuning, for that car, there’s not too much out there.”
Mark doesn’t seem to just stick a toe into the water when doing things–he jumps all in. Mark made his on-track debut with the Lexus in an HPDE at the super-fast Virginia International Raceway.
“Going down pit lane I was so nervous,” Mark says of his first moments on track. “The instructor, he calmed me down. After the first lap or two, I was calm and relaxed and thinking, ‘This is awesome. I want more.’”
In fact, he found it even more enjoyable than driving his car on the ragged edge on backroads. “You don’t have to worry about oncoming traffic, police, loose gravel–things you have to look out for on the roads,” admits Mark.
Mark is hooked on tracking his Lexus RC F. He’s done HPDE events at tracks such as Carolina Motorsports Park, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Mid-Ohio, and Watkins Glen. Mark wants to go beyond HPDEs and do time trials eventually, but for now he’s enjoying the process of becoming a better driver and bettering his Lexus RC F.
“Finding that perfection over and over again is so much fun,” Mark says. “When you’re driving the car to its limits, you don’t think of anything else. You think of just what’s in front of you. It’s peace.”
There may not be many options specific to this platform, but this driver enjoys his Lexus RC F - and he now enjoys the track, too.
Considering how competitive Lexus in with their GT3 cars, it kind of surprises me they don't push the performance versions of the RC-F harder. I think there's an argument to be made that this should have been the Supra.
In reply to JG Pasterjak :
I think there's a very good argument to be made, I like that.
That V8 sounds glorious too.
And don't get me wrong, I love the BMupra as well, and its easy path to 5, 6 or even 700hp. But this is a classic muscular 2+2 grand tourer, which has always kind of been the Supra's thing.
DirtyBird222 said:That V8 sounds glorious too.
I second that!
Believe this car was at NCM with us (1010ths)? Looks/sounds absolutely killer if its the same car, cant imaging two kitted out like this.....
In reply to Olemiss540 :
There is at least one other out there @xmotorsports on instagram, the car runs time trials/time attack. Slightly less stripped down than this example. These things sound so good on track.
Olemiss540 said:Believe this car was at NCM with us (1010ths)? Looks/sounds absolutely killer if its the same car, cant imaging two kitted out like this.....
Mark told me that he has brought the Lexus to NCM. You may have seen it in person, or, better yet, heard it firsthand.
Enjoyed driving one of these at the Lexus Performance driving school and Masters school, they do make some nice noises. Found the transmission a pleasant surprise as it always seemed to be in the right gear, and if not would downshift with a nice bark to it!
Kinda sucked the lead follow deal but a inexpensive way to drive a couple Iconic tracks.
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