The first sprint race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season after the two longest endurance races on the calendar, next week’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will also feature some revisions to the entry list. A flurry of announcements in recent days regarding Vasser Sullivan’s lineup, Stevan McAleer replacing Katherine Legge at Gradient Racing and a one-off entry for Flying Lizard Motorsports has shaken things up.
One of two 100-minute races on the schedule and the first of two street circuits, along with Detroit, the Saturday, April 20 event also marks the first race of the season in which only some of the classes will be present. LMP2 and GTD PRO are sitting this one out, with the paddock and pit lane only having room for GTP and GTD. Twenty-seven cars will tackle the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary circuit, 10 in GTP and 17 in GTD.
Led by defending winners Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, the 10 GTP entries include one TBD on the driver roster, the question being who will accompany Gianmaria Bruni in the No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche 963. Alessio Picariello, Neel Jani, Julien Andlauer and Romain Dumas have been in the car this year, but Jani and Andlauer will be racing Proton’s 963 in the World Endurance Championship round at Imola the same weekend.
All the GTP teams are chasing the two teams that have won races so far this season and are in a tie for the points lead– Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 6 963 (Felipe Nasr and Mathieu Jaminet) and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti’s No. 40 Acura ARX-06 (Louis Delétraz and Jordan Taylor).
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Heart of Racing is another team dealing with the WEC conflict. Team principal and driver Ian James has been in the GTD class No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo for both races this season, but will be in the team’s LMGT3 entry at Imola. Zacharie Robichon has also driven both races for HoR this season, but will be competing in WEC as well. Spencer Pumpelly, a regular in Magnus Racing’s Aston Martin that will run the endurance events this season, will drive with Roman De Angelis for Long Beach.
Winward Racing comes into the first sprint race dominating the points, having won both Daytona and Sebring. Russell Ward and Philip Ellis will pilot the No. 57 Mercedes AMG at Long Beach.
On the Balance of Performance front, every GTP car has received adjustments across the board, while the only changes in the GTD field are to maximum fuel capacities.
The Acura ARX-06 and Porsche 963 both receive slight bumps in minimum weight, the Acura remaining the heaviest at 1060kg; the Cadillac V-Series.R loses 2kg and the BMW M Hybrid V8 remains at 1030kg. All the cars with the exception of Cadillac, which has the most maximum power at 520kW, received a power bump. BMW has the least at 509kW, for an 11Kw swing across the field.
The WeatherTech Championship at Long Beach has two practice sessions and qualifying on Friday, with the 1h40m race taking place Saturday afternoon at 1:35pm local time. The race will be broadcast live on USA Network, as well as streamed on Peacock.