The result meant Jaminet and Tandy took over the lead of the GTP Drivers' Championship with 955 points. Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr moved from sixth to fifth while Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims dropped from first to second. Cadillac remained in the lead of the Manufcatures' Championship, but their advantage was reduced to 41 points as BMW and Porsche jumped one position each. In the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship, Barnicoat and Hawksworth the lead from Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella as Lexus took lead of the GTD Pro Manufactures' Championship. Sellers and Snow jumped from second to first in the GTD Drivers' Championship with 1008 points, as BMW took the lead of the GTD Manufactures' Championship with eight races left in the season.
Background
The Long Beach Street Circuit (pictured in 2009), where the race was held.
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2022.[1] It was the ninth year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the fifteenth annual running of the race, counting the period between 2006 and 2013 when it was a round of the Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series respectively. The 2023 Grand Prix of Long Beach was the third of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2023 by IMSA, the shortest of the season in terms of distance, and it was the first round held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.[2] The race was held at the eleven-turn 1.968mi (3.167km) Long Beach street circuit on April 15, 2023.[2]
On April 3, 2023, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD classes. In GTP, all cars received weight reductions compared to Sebring. The Cadillac ran at the lowest weight (1031kg), with the BMW and Porsche at 1036kg, and the Acura at 1045kg. As a result, the Cadillac ran on 513 kilowatts of power, while the BMW ran on 515kW (up 2kW from Sebring), the Porsche ran on 515kW (down 2kW from Sebring), and the Acura on 520kW. Maximum stint energy figures were also adjusted.[4] In GTD Pro and GTD, the Acura and BMW received weight adjustments. The Corvette, Lamborghini, and the Mercedes received air restrictor size changes. Other changes included a change in fuel tank capacity for almost all cars, except the BMW and Mercedes, and an adjustment of average power delta.[4]
A total of 28 cars took part in the event, split across three classes. 8 were entered in GTP, 5 in GTD Pro, and 15 in GTD.[5]Risi Competizione and Iron Lynx were absent in GTD Pro while Turner Motorsport moved its entry to GTD. In GTD, Jeroen Bleekmeolen replaced David Brule in the #92 Kelly-Moss lineup. Wright Motorsports scaled down to 1 car after initially citing BoP concerns and scaling back their #16 entry to only contesting the Michelin Endurance Cup.[6] Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR added a partial sprint campaign in addition to committing to the Michelin Endurance Cup.[7]
Practice
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, one on Friday morning and one on Friday afternoon. The first session lasted one hour on Friday morning while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted 105 minutes.[8]
Friday's qualification session was divided into two groups with the first session lasting 15 minutes while the second session lasted 20 minutes. Cars in GTD Pro and GTD were sent out first. After a ten-minute interval, GTP vehicles drove onto the track. Regulations stipulated teams to nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each classes starting order. IMSA arranged the grid to put GTP vehicles ahead of the GTD Pro and GTD cars.[19][8]
Qualifying was broken into two sessions. The first was cars in the GTD Pro and GTD classes. Jack Hawksworth qualified on pole in GTD Pro driving the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing entry, beating Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team entry by 0.141 seconds. Following in third was Pilet's No. 9 Porsche. The No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD and the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes rounded out the GTD Pro qualifiers. Marco Sørensen set the fastest time among all GTD cars driving the No. 27 car for Heart of Racing Team, 0.006 seconds faster than GTD Pro pole winner Hawksworth.[20] Sørensen was five-tenths clear of Frankie Montecalvo in the No. 12 Lexus followed by Madison Snow in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing Car in third. The session was shortened after Ashton Harrison driving the No. 93 car for Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR crashed at turn eight. Moments later, P. J. Hyett driving the No. 80 car for AO Racing Team also crashed at turn eight. The Racers Edge Motorsports Acura caught fire and Harrison walked away from the accident.[21] Hyett walked away from the incident unhurt.[21] For causing the red flag, both the No. 93 and No. 80 had their best two times from the session deleted. Due to the extensive damage on their cars, Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR and AO Racing Team withdrew from the event.[22][23]
Albuquerque maintained his pole position advantage while Tom Blomqvist blocked Sébastien Bourdais. Bourdais lifted to avoid touching the rear of the No. 60 Acura. Moments later, the No. 01 Cadillac was on the marbles and Bourdais outbraked himself going into turn one and crashed into the barrier. Blomqvist's Acura was tagged by the No. 25 BMW of Nick Yelloly, sending the Acura into a spin. The No. 01 Cadillac and No. 60 Acura came to a stop at the turn one runoff area. Blomqvist stalled his Acura and a full course caution was displayed soon after. Blomqvist lost a lap and continued while Bourdais's Cadillac retired due to heavy nose damage.[28][29]
Racing resumed with 90 minutes remaining with Albuquerque maintaining his lead over Nick Tandy with Jack Hawksworth leading the five-car GTD Pro field and Marco Sørensen led GTD.[30] The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Alexander Sims pitted at the end of lap 7.[28] The No. 31 Cadillac was refueled and Pipo Derani took over from Sims.[31] With 78 minutes and 39 seconds remaining, The No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren of Brendan Iribe made contact with the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW of Chandler Hull at turn eleven.[30] 6 minutes later, Hull spun Iribe at the same corner and blocked the track for several cars.[32] Hull was issued a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.[32]
Majority of the field made their first scheduled pit stops for fuel, tires, and driver changes. Sellers overtook De Angelis in the pit cycle to take the lead of GTD after the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW pitted one lap after the No. 27 Aston Martin.[32] Sellers held off De Angelis on his out lap and kept the GTD lead.[33] The No. 10 Acura had a slow pit stop after Ricky Taylor selected neutral on the car's steering wheel causing the car to not launch.[34] Taylor eventually got the clutch engaged and rejoined the race. Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell, Pipo Derani, and Connor De Phillippi jumped Taylor in the pit cycle.[31][29]
Derani passed Campbell for second at turn six with 49 minutes and 42 seconds remaining.[31]Jordan Taylor passed Klaus Bachler for second in GTD Pro at the same corner 8 minutes later.[30][35] The No. 31 Cadillac of Pipo Derani pitted on lap 52 and dropped to sixth in the GTP class.[36][31] De Phillippi attempted to pass Campbell at turn six on lap 59, but missed his braking point and went into the runoff area.[32] De Phillippi spun his car around in the runoff area and Ricky Taylor was promoted to third place while De Phillippi rejoined in fourth.[31][37] The No. 60 Acura of Colin Braun received a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pits.[30]
On lap 60, the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Connor De Phillippi set the overall fastest lap of the race, a 1:11.503.[38] Ricky Taylor caught Jaminet on lap 62 and passed Campbell at turn 6, but was quickly overtaken by Campbell. The No. 10 Acura touched the rear of the No. 7 Porsche on seaside way one lap later and the Porsche lost its left-rear wing endplate.[31][32] On the next lap, Taylor went around the outside at turn six to try overtaking Campbell for second overall. Campbell blocked Taylor from overtaking him for second position. Ricky Taylor went wide at turn eight on lap 67 was caught by De Phillippi's BMW.[31] 3 laps later, Taylor passed Campbell for second position at turn eight while De Phillippi overtook Campbell for third position shortly afterwards.[28]
Going into turn one on the penultimate lap, Ricky Taylor dived down the inside of Mathieu Jaminet and out braked Jaminet going into turn one. However, Taylor carried too much speed and went into the tire barrier.[31][32] A full course caution was displayed soon after and the race ended behind the safety car.[37] Jaminet inherited the overall lead and took the first win of the season for the No. 6 Porsche.[39] De Phillippi finished second in the No. 25 BMW, and Campbell completed the podium positions by finishing third.[40] The No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus of Barnicoat and Hawksworth secured victory in GTD Pro, ahead of the No. 3 Corvette of Antonio García and Jordan Taylor, and third-position finishers Klaus Bachler and Patrick Pilet of Pfaff Motorsports.[32]Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow took their second win of the season in GTD.[41] The No. 27 Heart of Racing Team entry of Roman De Angelis and Marco Sørensen finished second, and Frankie Montecalvo and Aaron Telitz in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing entry rounded out the podium.[42]
Post-race
Ricky Taylor expressed his disappointment after crashing out on the penultimate lap: "I’m very sorry for Acura, HPD and the WTRAndretti team. With the [previous] Acura ARX-05, this was always the track where we had the most performance deficit to the field. It just says so much about Acura, HPD, ORECA and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport to turn our weakest track into our strongest track [with the new Acura ARX-06]. Unfortunately, we got behind with a little issue mid race, but we had such a strong car while fighting back. It came down so close in the end, if we had more time maybe I would have been more patient, but we just wanted to win this for Acura. Everyone at Acura, HPD and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport deserved to win this today and it’s just disappointing, but I’m just so proud to drive an Acura and be part of this team."[43] Jaminet admitted he saw Taylor's overtake attempt happening: "I kind of saw it coming. He had fresher tires and I got held up in traffic the lap before. It was two to go and he went for us. I braked very late and I just saw he was going and if he could make it stop I’d be impressed."[44]
Hawksworth described the No. 14 Lexus victory in GTD Pro as a "perfect weekend": "One of the best-executed races we’ve been a part of. It was good to clear Sorensen off the start, and that put our Lexus RC F GT3 up at the front. Had an amazing pit stop and then Ben drove his tail off from there."[32]
De Angelis admitted the No. 27 Aston Martin couldn't keep pace with the GTD class winning No. 1 BMW: "We just didn’t have the pace of the BMW. We are looking long term and want to win the championship. I’m still disappointed we didn’t win the race today, but we still have to be happy for good points."[33]
As a result of winning the race, Tandy and Jaminet advanced from fifth to first in the GTP Drivers' Championship.[45] In GTD Pro, Barnicoat and Hawksworth moved to first after being second coming into Long Beach.[45] In the GTD Drivers' Championship, De Angelis and Sørensen advanced from fifth to second while Iribe and Millroy dropped from first to fourth. Additionally, Foley and Gallagher jumped from eighth to fifth.[45] Cadillac continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championship while Lexus took the lead of the GTD Pro Manufacturers' Championship while BMW took the lead of the GTD Manufacturers' Championship.[45] Porsche Penske Motorsport, Vasser Sullivan Racing, and Paul Miller Racing took the lead in the trio of Teams' Championships with eight races left in the season.[45]
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