Cadillac Racing triumphed at Long Beach in the third race of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship season, the first in the Sprint Cup.
Choosing not to change tires during the only pit stop of the 100-minute race on the famous Southern California road course, Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande took the #01 V-Series.R to success with a one-two finish for the GM brand, as the #31 Action Express Racing driven by Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken finished second by just 0″564 under the checkered flag.
Derani started from pole and held the lead until the sequence of pit stops which took place after approximately 35'. Bourdais was among the last GTP cars to stop, with van der Zande taking the wheel while the mechanics refueled the vehicle but did not change the Michelin tyres.
This allowed van der Zande to overtake the #31 and hold position for the remainder of the race despite a couple of restarts due to neutralizations in the final hour.
The #7 Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 finished third with drivers Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr, and took the lead in GTP points, with the #6 Tandy/Jaminet sister finishing fourth, beating the privately owned #5 Proton Competition in the hands of Bruni/Rockenfeller.
Team RLL's #25 BMW was sixth, followed by JDC Miller Motorsports' #85 Porsche and WTR-Andretti's #10 Acura.
#89 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Ben Barnicoat, Parker Thompson
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
GTD: Lexus is great
Lexus fielded a special RC F in GTD with the #89 signifying 1989, the year of the brand's debut in America; Parker Thompson and Ben Barnicoat helped the now established automaker celebrate this 35-year milestone by achieving success in the first sprint race of the 2024 season.
The two won with a lead of 1″449 over Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW.
Thompson had earned Pole with a record lap on the track on Friday, then he and Barnicoat together dominated the 100-minute race on Saturday. They lost the lead only briefly during the only pit stop for a driver change.
The #96 BMW which had qualified seventh, moved up to second place when the Turner team chose not to change tires while Gallagher passed the car to Foley. His deft tire management was key.
The #32 Mercedes-AMG of Korthoff/Preston Motorsports instead climbed from sixth to third place in the hands of Mikael Grenier and Mike Skeen.
Stevan McAleer took fourth place in the #66 Gradient Racing Acura he shares with Sheena Monk, after rallying strongly from the back of the field following engine problems that prevented the car from qualifying and forced him to starting last on the 17-car GTD grid.
The Winward Racing Mercedes driven by Russell Ward and Philip Ellis finished seventh, followed by the WTR-Andetti Lamborghini.
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