Whether it's back-to-back or three-in-a-row -- the teams set to lead Saturday's IMSA race field on the historic streets of Long Beach this weekend have managed to show their dominance in the series (or Long Beach) and are making sure to maintain their stake in that 'leading' claim.
This weekend, only the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) cars are on duty. In the GTP category, it's the #24 BMW M Team RLL that took pole for the third time in a row this season, with Dries Vanthoor who is new to the Long Beach track. Vanthoor's 1:11.539 fastest lap was just .250 ahead of fellow RLL teammate Sheldon Van Der Linde (also a first-timer at Long Beach) in the #25.
The strategy for Vanthoor and the #24 BMW heading into the race is maintaining perfection. "We just need to execute a perfect race, myself as well," he told media. "But also as a team we just have to make sure we execute everything perfectly. Make sure we don't make any mistakes in the pits. Make sure I don't make any mistakes on track... that's what we have to do. That's what we've been lacking the last couple of races.
"You don't always get a good car to be on pole all the time, so we also have to capitalize on that."
That incident during the last third of the race at Sebring between the #24 and the #60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing car is still fresh in Vanthoor's mind. The collision after the #60's unsafe release sent the #24 behind the wall, where it returned in the last two hours, 31 laps down. It had started the race as the pole-sitting lead.
Sitting behind the #24 and #25 BMWs are the 7 and #6 Team Penske Porsches, followed by the #93 and #60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian cars. Struggling a bit appears to be the Cadillacs as a whole, with a near-incident between the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac and the #31 Cadillac Whelen car — it appeared the #31 was trying to find a gap. The #31 also incurred a penalty for working on the car in the pit lane -- which was changing tires. IMSA has since rescinded that penalty, and the #31 will now start ahead of the #10 Cadillac, in 7th.
In GTD, the Parker Thompson led the #12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus to pole for the second time in a row at Long Beach, adding a crucial 35 points to the team's standing in the GTD championship. Thompson made it look relatively easy too, leading a good portion of the last-half of the session. Taking up the second and third spots are the #177 AO Racing Porsche "Rexy" — running as a GTD car this weekend — and the the #27 Heart Of Racing Aston Martin.
A crushing disappointment coming out of the GTD qualifying session was Robert Wickens's qualifying. There's been loads of excitement surrounding the Canadian driver's return to a top-tier motorsport series, running the #36 DXDT Racing Corvette in the GTD category (with new hand controls developed by Bosch to make it possible). Unfortunately, as Wickens revealed in a post-qualifying interview, a Ferrari driving into the right rear of his car between turns 9 and 10 caused suspension damage — ending any productive qualifying efforts from the Corvette. A disappointing result after laying down one of the fastest practice laps in the GTD category during final practice. His #36 car will start 8th on the grid, Saturday.
You can catch the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Saturday, at 5:00pm ET on Peacock and the USA Network. International viewers can catch the live stream on IMSA's official YouTube channel.
And stay up-to-date on our sports racing coverage at the Motorsport.com IMSA hub.
