– Those looking for AO Racing on the starting grid of the IMSA SportsCar Championship have it easy: you just have to go where the biggest crowd is. Although the team is only in its fourth year, Rexy and her pink sister Roxy have long since won the hearts of millions of fans by storm.
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At Laguna Seca Raceway, it was time to welcome the latest work from PJ Hyett and Gunnar Jeanette: Sketchy – a character with a white base and frayed lines symbolizing the long process of Rexy’s creation.
When IMSA announced retro designs for the Laguna Seca race, AO Racing initially faced a problem. “Since we’ve only existed for three years, we had no historical livery to fall back on,” explains Gunnar Jeanette, team manager and co-founder of AO Racing, to Motorsport-Total.com.
“So we came up with the idea to show the first sketches on a blank white sheet. We thought it would be a fun thing for the fans to see a new character and the origin story of Rexy.”
“As simple as it looks to just put a few doodles on the car, it was actually very difficult to design something that looks as good as our result now. We invested a lot of time to make the car and the final result perfect.”
The design is just the beginning
Jeanette emphasizes that Sketchy is not just the first draft of Rexy, but an independent character: “He went through the same sketching process as Rexy did back then.”
And the livery is just the beginning. “You can stick a design on a car, but it’s something completely different to create a real character and a narrative that evolves with what happens on the track.”
This was especially difficult this time because AO Racing only found out right after the 24 Hours of Daytona that Laguna Seca would be a race for retro designs – so time was extremely tight. “On top of that comes retelling the story on and off the track, through videos, social media, and merchandise.”
“Sketchy” from all angles
Merchandise has never done better; some items sell out faster than restocks can be delivered. However, Jeanette clarifies that it was originally not intended to launch Rexy as a purely commercial project.
“I would like to claim that we had this plan from the start, but when we introduced Rexy to the world and saw the response – especially how much it grew in such a short time – it made us want to make the storytelling as comprehensive as possible,” he says. The business only grew out of the fans’ enthusiasm. No IMSA team sells more merchandise today.
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Of course, a new character always brings uncertainty, but Sketchy was an immediate success: “The car is just the first step. Developing the character is part of it, and then comes the whole merchandise package with plush toys and T-shirts.”
“It’s a lot of work. But seeing it come to life is absolutely worth it. I was nervous, I was extremely nervous with Rexy.”
No quick return of Sketchy planned
Jeanette tells of an unusual disappointment at the very beginning of the project: “I showed the very first sketch of Rexy to my wife, and she said: ‘Oh my God, no, that’s terrible!’ And I just thought: ‘Oh no!’ because I was personally so excited and saw the potential. I ignored her comments and went ahead anyway. Now she loves it too.”
Jeanette admits that he has had hardly any free time in recent months: “I’m too busy to have kids, but these are my kids. When you create something and put it out into the world, you’re always a bit nervous whether people will like it.”
When asked how much time the Rexy storytelling consumes in addition to the normal work in a professional racing team, a voice from the team background interrupts: “Too much!”
Jeanette adds: “We look at the calendar over the year and create a timeline for when a special design or story might fit – that spreads across Rexy, Roxy, Spike, now Sketchy, and the Skeleton cars [at Petit Le Mans 2025]. So yes, I don’t have much free time at the moment, as I am also involved in the European program.”
For now, it is uncertain if or when Sketchy will return. “I don’t know,” says Jeanette. “For this year, it is definitely just a one-time appearance here. But with the success Sketchy had, we would like to find a part of his story where he can race again.”
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As always with the characters around Rexy, it has to fit into the narrative. But as creative as AO Racing has been so far, it would be no surprise to soon find a reason for Sketchy’s return. Do they ever run out of ideas? “I’m always afraid that the ideas will run out, but not yet!”
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