Long Beach, California, is the scene for the Tequila Patron Sports Car Showcase, for the first sprint race of the season. This race is only 100 minutes. Prototype and GT Le Mans, will be the classes in competition. We only have one pit stop planned. It's a small field, but very competitive. Action Express Racing is the team to beat. The Spirit of Daytona and Whelen Corvette's are up there. Ganassi Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing, are still in the fight. WTR is on pole for this event. Jordan Taylor has pole, with his brother Ricky. Watch out for Scott Pruett and Joey Hand, too.
In GT Le Mans, Corvette has won back-to-back races, for the opening two endurance events. Risi Competizione is the top Ferrari and the top Porsche is the Falken Tire machine. BMW has swept the front row for GT Le Mans. Bill Auberlen has his first ever Tudor Championship pole. The top three Prototypes and the top seven GT LM cars, broke the track record. It's breezy outside, but hot, in the closed cockpit cars of the Prototype and GT Le Mans cars.
Here we go! We are green in Prototype. The GTLM class is next. Michael Valiante takes a spot away from one of the other contenders. John Edwards gets wheel spin and Ferrari goes to the fore, past the two BMW's. Oh man. The #4 Corvette C-7-R- spins, with Oliver Gavin at the wheel. Richard Lietz may have a cut tire. We are on Pine Street, onto Seaside Way, and into turn nine. Giancarlo Fisichella is leading this race. Fisichella wants a race here. #912 has a flat right front tire. From the camera, he hits the wall, and the Corvette spins. Oliver Gavin squeezed the Porsche.
There's an emergency entrance to piot lane. He's going to take the hairpin. It's a racing incident. Jordan Taylor leads Scott Pruett, Michael Valiante, and Christian Fittipaldi. Eric Currant and Dane Cameron, follow in the #31 Whelen Corvette Prototype. #912 is in the pits. No damage. But, check the suspension. Jorg Bergmeister takes over the car. With understeer in a race car, it's hard to be balanced. Don't burn off your tires. There are four really bumpy spots on this track.
We review the wreck between the factory Porsche and the Corvette. Giancarlo Fisichella hit the wall in turn nine in qualifying, with five minutes before the session. The team scrambled, and put the repairs on the car. They replaced the rear bumper, which was attached with Bear Bond, because of broken mounts. He slammed the wall, hard! Fisichella qualified third, and has flown by the two BMW Z4's.
This track is magic. The hairpin, through Shoreline Drive, is a great section. Turns one and nine are great overtaking spots. The #4 Corvette exits the pits. Tommy Milner was not ready to get in the car to replace Oliver Gavin. The Deltawing has hit pit road, with a gearbox problem. Memo Rojas is having issues, and is told to turn the wheel back and forth. This was the first street race for the Deltawing. Katherine Legge, driving, won the Formula Atlantic event in 2005. Memo Rojas is also in the car, who won this race, for Ganassi, last year.
Bill Auberlen has become the 14th different polesitter in GT Le Mans. Ferrari and BMW have gapped the fourth place car in class. Auberlen may be on low tire pressures. If Lucas Luhr can win this race, he will be five for five at Long Beach, despite not racing here last year. The DeltaWing returns to the track after it's problems. Ricky Taylor continues to lead Scott Pruett in the Prototype class.
We watch GT Le Mans, and the scrum betwen Ferrari and BMW. The BMW is ten kilograms lighter than it was at the 12 Hours of Sebring, three weeks ago. Bill Auberlen owns a 1300 horsepower boat, that goes 190 miles an hour. The #912 car exits the pit lane. Pruett vs. Taylor at the front. It is not easy for the GT Le Mans cars to quite keep up with the Prototypes, as they lose a shade of speed. Ricky Taylor and Giancarlo Fisichella, lead their respective classes right now.
It is eerie between the #3 and #4 Corvette's with the differences in luck. #3 has had MUCH more luck, than car #4. Joey Hand is another driver, who has won here, and so has Scott Pruett. Street courses have unique characteristics, and drivers know they can run well. Viper has accepted an invite to go to Le Mans. Viper's will race in GTE Am at Le Mans. Patrick Pilet is pushing Oliver Gavin. Pruett has set his fastest lap. Ricky Taylor has overall fastest lap right now.
Oswaldo Negri Jr. has taken over the #60 Mike Shank Racing Ligier JS P2 Honda, after John Pew may have made contact with something. The Mazda diesel prototype pits. Tires, fuel, and a driver change. It's a solid minute before you get off of pit lane. Meanwhile, we return to the BMW and Ferrari fight in GT Le Mans. BMW wants their first victory in the Tudor Championship, but Ferrari's 458 Italia has good speed, too. One Ferrari vs. two BMW's. A year ago, this race went green, flag to flag.
The #911 Porsche pits. If the Ferrari comes to pit lane, get a clean, hot lap. If they don't come, we'll come, according to BMW management. Patrick Pilet hands the #911 Porsche 911 RSR to Fred Makowiecki. The #17 Falken Tire Porsche switches drivers, too. Bryan Sellers, takes over from Wolf Henzler. The Ferrari stays out. Bill Auberlen dives for the pit lane. No full fuel. Just a driver change. John Edwards will pursue the Ferrari. Dirk Werner takes over the #25 car. This pit stop is going to be a determining factor.
Be careful, and obey the 60 kilometer per hour speed limit. Eedwards tries hitting the pits, and Fisichella wanted to stay in front, and also pit. These two are in the lane. What can Werner do on cold tires on the out lap? Pierre Kaffer takes over the #62 car. Ferrari beats the #24 BMW out of the pits. Lucas Luhr at the wheel of the #24. #24 had a bad stop, with an issue on the left front tire. The #3 Corvette now pits. Jan Magnussen comes in. Antonio Garcia will take over the car. Four new Michelin tires on the Corvette C-7-R. They make up time, with an excellent pit stop.
They might grab a place away from BMW. We're almost halfway through this race, already. Wow. Fast and frantic at Long Beach. But, it's also, party time. Ricky Taylor is in the lead. We are 50 minutes into this race. Tires and fuel for the car, and a driver change. Jordan Taylor takes over. This is the first of only two short, 100 minute street races. The other one is at Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan, next month. Michael Valiante pits in the #90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette prototype. Scott Pruett leads, and leads at halfway.
Richard Westbrook is now at the controls. The #5 Corvette also pits. Here comes the leader. These boys could be in great shape if they exrcute the pit stop. Joey Hand will take over from Scott Pruett. They took the fuel down to the wire, as Pruett hit the reserve tank before pitting. Things are OK, except for the car stalling, briefly. Joey Hand is on cold tires, and might grab the race lead. Pruett has to get up to speed. The #31 Whelen Corvette pits. Eric Curran will hand the car over to Dane Cameron.
The #60 Ligier Honda passes. Jordan Taylor crunches the wall off of turn eight onto the back straight. Jordan Taylor makes a late dive down the inside of Joey Hand. Oh wow. Just under 45 minutes to go. These 100 minute races, are frantic, and we'll see another, as mentioned, in Detroit. In GT Le Mans, it's Antonio Garcia, chasing Lucas Luhr. Corvette vs. BMW. Risi Competizione had a pit stop two seconds faster, than any other teams and cars, in class.
Bill Auberlen wants to see a full course yellow flag. Typically, with a short fuel fill, the driver change takes more time. There was a problem with the fueling on a recent pit stop. Mazda has done well today, and look forward to their home race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, in Monterey, California, on the Monterey Peninsula. Dane Cameron is the fastest man on track, running a 1:15.6. Christian Fittipaldi has handed the #5 Mustang Sampling Corvette Prototype, to team mate, Joao Barbosa.
The tire pressures and contact patches, are a big deal here at Long Beach, as we've seen. Christian Fittipaldi says that Action Express has to capitalize on as many points as they can. Both of the Action Express cars are running nose-to-tail at the moment. We have only 24 minutes remaining in this race now. Joey Hand runs fastest lap for the Ganassi car at 1:16 flat. The #10 team could get a lot of points after the end of this race.
The top three all run in the 1:16.3 bracket. We've been green flag-to-flag in this race so far, just like last year. Jordan Taylor is running a tenth quicker than Joey Hand, still in the 1:16 bracket. Pierre Kaffer driving the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia, continues to lead GT Le Mans, with Dirk Werner in second place. Werner has more pace, but he's five seconds behind Kaffer. Ferrari seems to have had a better race than BMW, today. Luhr's four-race win streak at Long Beach, will come to an end.
With the Riley, it is more affected by aerodynamics, with the large dive planes on the front of the car. The Corvette has smaller dive planes. The 5.0 liter normally aspirated Chevrolet V8 accelerates better, than the turbocharged 3.7 liter Ford V6 EcoBoost motor. Jordan Taylor runs in the 1:15.9 range now, and Joey Hand ran a 1:16.2. We are approaching 12 minutes left. Dirk Werner is now pushing Pierre Kaffer. He is right on top of Kaffer. Kaffer's handling is going away! Here comes Werner. Have patience. Giancarlo Fisichella is nervous. Side by side, and Kaffer locks the brakes up! Oh my! BMW is back in front in GT Le Mans!
So, BMW will lead GT Le Mans, with about ten minutes to go in this street fight. Lucas Luhr has no brakes left in the #24 RLL BMW Z4. Joao Barbosa whacked the wall, and Dane Cameron got around him. Jordan Taylor has the edge over Joey Hand. Werner leads Kaffer, Garcia, and Makowiecki, in the Porsche, is fourth in class. Joey Hand is trying desperately, with four minutes left, to run down Jordan Taylor. It's crunch time in the championship, even after only two races.
The championship begins for real, with these sprint races. Antonio Garcia is fending off Frederic Makowiecki for the final podium place in GT Le Mans. Garcia is going for it, getting on the curb. The #4 Corvette is not in this battle. We have just a minute and a half remaining in this event. We're into the final 60 seconds. We expect the white flag, from turn six, onto Pine Avenue. The Prototype leader clears the Corvette.
White flag. It's the final lap. Ooh! Joey Hand runs wide! The GT LM cars have great mechanical grip in one part of the track. Jordan Taylor is clear to take a win in this race. Bring it home. Jordan and Ricky Taylor put their Konica Minolta Corvette Prototype on pole, and win at Long Beach! In GT Le Mans, the race belongs to BMW and the #25 BMW RLL BMW Z4 GTE of Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner! Bill Auberlen, now has won, at his favorite track!
Overall/Prototype: #10 Taylor/Taylor Chevrolet Corvette Prototype
GT Le Mans: #25 Auberlen/Werner BMW Z4 GTE
So, Long Beach is in the books. The Tudor Championship, will stay in California, for the next race, and head for another legendary speed palace. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, on the Monterey Peninsula, in two weeks.
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