IMSA Wire: Entry List Notebook – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

By Mark Robinson

IMSA Wire Service

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship takes the action and drama of North America’s most popular and competitive sports car racing series out west next week for the first of two California races in a four-week span. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is set for April 19-20 on the iconic street course near Los Angeles.

Two WeatherTech Championship classes – Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) – and a total of 27 cars will attack the tight and challenging Long Beach temporary street circuit for the 100-minute, all-out sprint on Saturday, April 20.

Porsche Penske Motorsport seeks to repeat its overall and GTP class win from a year ago, when No. 6 Porsche 963 co-drivers Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet succeeded with the assist of the team’s decision not to change tires on their lone pit stop. There will be no repeat winner in GTD; Paul Miller Racing, which won the last three GTD races at Long Beach, is no longer competing in the class.

There have been a few changes within the GTD class for Long Beach. Flying Lizard Motorsports makes its return to the WeatherTech Championship with the No. 28 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo to be driven by Elias Sabo and Andy Lee. Veteran driver Spencer Pumpelly joins Roman De Angelis in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin, and Stevan McAleer returns to the No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 to drive alongside Sheena Monk.

Practice and qualifying take place Friday, April 19. The race airs live on USA Network, Peacock and IMSA Radio at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday, April 20.

Here’s what else you need to know heading into race week:

Fast Facts

Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

Long Beach Street Course – Long Beach, California

April 19-20, 2024

• Race Day/Time: Saturday, April 20 – 4:35 p.m. ET
• NBC Sports Coverage: USA Network and Peacock from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
• Live Qualifying Stream: Friday, April 19 – 7:55 p.m. ET on Peacock (U.S.) and IMSA.tv (globally)
• IMSA Radio: All sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins Saturday, April 20 at 4:30 p.m. (Sirius 211, XM 206, Web/App 996)
• Circuit Type: 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street course
• Race Length: 100 minutes
• Classes Competing: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Grand Touring Daytona (GTD)

Track Social Media: 

• X/Twitter: Twitter.com/GPLongBeach
• Instagram: Instagram.com/GPLongBeach
• Facebook: Facebook.com/GrandPrixLB

Event Hashtags: #IMSA, #AcuraGPLB

WeatherTech Championship Track Records

• GTP: Filipe Albuquerque, Acura ARX-06, 1:09.909 / 101.343 mph, April 2023
• GTD: Marco Sorensen, Aston Martin Vantage GT3, 1:17.811 / 91.051 mph, April 2023

2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Winners:

• GTP: Nick Tandy/Mathieu Jaminet, No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963
• GTD PRO: Jack Hawksworth/Ben Barnicoat, No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3
• GTD: Bryan Sellers/Madison Snow, No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3

Storylines

• The Long (Beach) and Short of It: Coming off the two longest races of the season – the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac – the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship heads to one of the two shortest events on the calendar: the 100-minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. After a pair of grueling endurance events, how will teams and drivers adapt to the truest of sprint races on a tight temporary street circuit?
• Two Classes Racing: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), the hybrid-electrified top prototype class that debuted to rave reviews last year, and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD), the popular GT3-spec class featuring 11 of the world’s top automotive manufacturers, are the two WeatherTech Championship classes competing at Long Beach.
• Dead Heat for GTP Points Lead: Two teams, each a winner in the first two rounds of the 2024 season, are deadlocked atop the GTP standings heading to Long Beach. The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, with full-season drivers Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron, won the Rolex 24 At Daytona to open 2024. The No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06, with Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor aboard for the season, won last month’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac. Will the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach see a third first-time winner of 2024?
• Changing of the GTD Guard at Long Beach: Paul Miller Racing won the GTD race at Long Beach each of the past three years, but the team is no longer competing in that class, opening it to a wide range of suitors to take the honors in 2024. BMW’s chances at a third straight GTD victory lie in the hands of the No. 96 Turner Motorsport team and co-drivers Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher, who finished eighth a year ago.
• CrowdStrike Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award: The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo was awarded the CrowdStrike Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award for its performance at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac. The team will be presented with the award during Long Beach prerace ceremonies. Click here for a list of the 2024 winners and award criteria.

Who’s Hot?

• No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: Russell Ward and Philip Ellis head to Long Beach on the strength of back-to-back GTD wins to start the season, allowing them to open a sizable lead in the class standings. The duo has finished 14th and fifth at Long Beach the last two years.
• No. 7 Porsche, No. 40 Acura: The co-leaders in GTP – the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 and No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 – have swapped first- and third-place finishes in the two races to begin the season, the only teams in the class to have achieved two podium results thus far.

Who’s Good Here?

• Tandy and the Taylors: With his GTP victory in 2023 with co-driver Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy earned his third Long Beach victory; the first two coming in the former GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. Tandy joins brothers Jordan and Ricky Taylor as the active drivers with the most wins on the street circuit. The Taylors accomplished theirs together from 2015-17 driving for the team they’re both back with in 2024, though they’ll race in different GTP cars this time.

Previous Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Winners in 2024 Field (12)

• Nick Tandy (3): GTLM – 2016, 2021; GTP – 2023
• Jordan Taylor (3): P – 2015, 2016, 2017
• Ricky Taylor (3): P – 2015, 2016, 2017
• Filipe Albuquerque (2): P – 2018; DPi – 2019
• Ben Barnicoat (1): GTD PRO – 2023
• Sebastien Bourdais (1): DPi – 2022
• Pipo Derani (1): DPi – 2021
• Misha Goikhberg (1): PC – 2016
• Jack Hawksworth (1): GTD PRO – 2023
• Mathieu Jaminet (1): GTP – 2023
• Felipe Nasr (1): DPi – 2021
• Renger van der Zande (1): DPi – 2022

Previous Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Pole Winners in 2024 Field (8)

• Jordan Taylor (2): GTLM – 2021; GTD PRO – 2022
• Ricky Taylor (2): P – 2015, 2017
• Filipe Albuquerque (1): GTP – 2023
• Sebastien Bourdais (1): DPi – 2022
• Jack Hawksworth (1): GTD PRO – 2023
• Felipe Nasr (1): DPi – 2021
• Marco Sorensen (1): GTD – 2023
• Nick Tandy (1): GTLM – 2019

Previous Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Winning Teams in 2024 Field (9)

• Action Express Racing (3): P – 2018; DPi – 2019, 2021
• BMW M Team RLL (3): GT – 2011, 2013; GTLM – 2015
• Chip Ganassi Racing (3): DP – 2006; P – 2014; DPi – 2022
• Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (3): P – 2015, 2016, 2017
• Flying Lizard Motorsports (2): GT2 – 2009; GT – 2010
• Penske Racing (2): P2 – 2007; GTP – 2023
• Heart of Racing Team (1): GTD PRO – 2022
• JDC-Miller MotorSports (1): 2016 – PC
• Vasser Sullivan (1): 2023 – GTD PRO

Previous Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Winning Manufacturers in 2024 Field (11)

• Chevrolet – 10
• Porsche – 10
• Cadillac – 5
• BMW – 5
• Acura – 3
• Aston Martin – 2
• Ferrari – 2
• Lexus – 2
• Ford – 1
• Lamborghini – 1
• Mercedes-AMG – 1