It is a street fight, as the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship runs it's first sprint race of the season, at the legendary Long Beach Grand Prix on the streets of Long Beach, California,. The beautiful southern California coast, and Long Beach, is going to outshine Hollywood in the Roar By The Shore, today! Round three of the WeatherTech Championship, is now!
The kickoff of the championship, truly happens today. The season-long driving teams, are paired up, for only 100 minutes in today's race. This is an electric atmosphere. Pole position, is critical, at Long Beach. Kyle Marcelli in Prototype Challenge, Bill Auberlen in GT Le Mans, and Christian Fittipaldi on the overall pole in Prototype. In GTLM, those boys will make it on one pit stop, but not in Prototype or Prototype Challenge. The teams have traveled 2,500 miles to California, to this 1.968 mile track with 11 turns. Turn 11, the hairpin, is critical to driving down Shoreline Drive.
The track is very bumpy, and the walls, are unforgiving. Mazda has scored their best ever qualifying effort, here at Long Beach. The weather, is perfect. Two pace laps, and a reconnaissance lap. There will be fuel stops, for sure. One stop, will be the way to go, on strategy. It's a very long pit lane here at Long Beach. If you have to make a second pit stop, you're going to lose at least 3/4 of a lap. Class overlap is a big deal, as the GT Le Mans cars, slice their way through the Prototype Challenge traffic in order to contend today. If you have an early problem, pit for a top up on the fuel tank, and then leapfrog everyone else, to see chances of victory, late in the going.
Two of the Prototypes had a coming together, in qualifying. The #90 VisitFlorida.com Corvette, and the #55 Mazda, and they were moved to the rear of the field. Strategy will be wide open, for those two teams. Here we go. We are ready, to start the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix! 100 minutes of racing, in round three of the IWSC is underway! Right off the bat, the cars are single file. But, Ricky Taylor isn't settling, and he's going to look inside of the Action Express car, right here, right now!
They bang doors, and Taylor runs Fittipaldi wide! Fittipaldi demoted to third, and he's passed immediately by the Mazda. Ricky's brother Jordan Taylor made the same move, last year, and went on to win the race for the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing team. Can they repeat? Tom Long in the Mazda, takes advantage of the maneuver. The GTLM cars take their start. Bill Auberlen, the defending race champion, took pole, in the beautiful BMW M6 GT. Earl Bamber in the Porsche, already wants a piece of him. The two yellow Corvette's are also in the thick of this. The production supercars are battling it out, early on, here on the streets of Long Beach.
Patrick Pilet in the second factory Porsche, is trying desperately to get around team mate Earl Bamber. Lucas Luhr in the second BMW M6 gets passed by one of the Ferrari 488's. There are lots and lots of camber changes with every corner on this race track, since it is a public road. Bill Auberlen knows his way around Long Beach like no other. But, he sure is having the blowtorch applied by the Kiwi in the Porsche. Bamber is focusing his efforts on IMSA this year. But, don't forget, he was part of the driving squad, that took the overall victory for Porsche, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, last year.
Early trouble for Scuderia Corsa with their #68 GTLM class Ferrari 488 GTE. Ricky Taylor continues to lead, with Tom Long in the Mazda, running second. Christian Fittipaldi has to be frustrated, after starting on pole, and now, having to claw his way from third, back to the front. Ricky Taylor admitted to making a mistake in turn eight in qualifying. The curbs have been removed from the apex of that turn, so the drivers can drive the cars in deep, and get right next to the wall. The Ford GT's for Chip Ganassi Racing, are right at the back of the GTLM field, after making a strategy call.
It was Joey Hand in car #66 doing well, and team mate Richard Westbrook in the #67 machine, having a bit of a fire, and not being able to take a time in qualifying. As this train of GTLM cars exits turn six, Westbrook is now on the move. The #68 Ferrari is in the lane, and Alessandro Balzan got out of the car. Will there be a driver change? Maybe this was a strategy call, because the Ferrari 488 has a significantly smaller fuel tank than the Porsche, BMW, Corvette, and Ford GT, do. Ricky Taylor looks set to start lapping the tail end of the GT Le Mans field, as the Ford GT's continue to deal with teething problems.
Joey Hand had to hit pit lane to fix the door. The sister BMW M6 GT of Lucas Luhr (car #100), has also had issues. Hand continues to have door trouble on the Ford. Compounding his woes, he sped in pit lane on the last stop, and will have to do a drive through penalty, where the team cannot repair the car. Ford's day, here at Long Beach, has definitely turned pear shaped. There has been a driver change as Dirk Mueller has taken over the car, from Joey Hand. Ricky Taylor holds the lead, but Christian Fittipaldi, is closing in all the time. Eric Curran in the sister Action Express Corvette Prototype, #31, is also having a strong race in the early going.
Turn nine is a very tight corner. Could Richard Westbrook be having issues with the #67 Ford GT? Curran has also had success here at Long Beach in other forms of sports car racing, such as Pirelli World Challenge. The Prototype points championship is surely heating up, during this race. Sixth in GT Le Mans, and 21st overall, is the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE. Auberlen and other in GTLM have to negotiate the slower Prototype Challenge car of gentleman racer, Mark Kvamme. Kvamme had a practice incident, and did not force the issue with the GT Le Mans machines trying to get around him.
BMW has won three of the last five races here, with their M3 and Z4 cars that were very successful. The M6 is so big, one driver for BMW said it is like driving a limo around the streets here at Long Beach. Bamber looks inside Auberlen going into the corner, and decided discretion was the better part of valor. The turbocharged motor in the BMW is a big help for them. Meanwhile, the Ganassi Ford GT is still in pit lane, with Dirk Mueller aboard, trying to get the door fixed. Three mechanics took their time to fix the door on the Ford. BMW #100 pitted for new tires. No driver change.
Are we seeing something with tire choice? Back to that, in a second as it looks like Porsche will make their move on BMW! Ooh! #912 passes. Meanwhile, track temperature, is 20-25 degrees hotter than it was during Friday running for these teams. Auberlen realized he'd been had on that pass. The BMW's are on harder Michelin tires, which gives them greater durability. But, Lucas Luhr has not had the most ideal grip as this race has gotten underway. Auberlen got a bad run off turn seven, and looking in his mirrors, he sees the Porsche bearing down on him.
He had no choice but to leave the door open for Bamber, to avoid contact. Patrick Pilet in the second Porsche also makes a move. Giancarlo Fisichella is giving the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE a good outing. They have had success here at Long Beach, with wins, and podium finishes. They almost won this race in class, last year. Fisichella is sharing the car, with Toni Vilander this time out. Vilander finished third in 2011, in his only other Long Beach appearance. The Ferrari's don't have the outright pace of the Porsche's or BMW's. Meanwhile, Andy Meyrick, in the #0 DeltaWing, spins the car, and thankfully does not hit anything.
This is Meyrick's first race at Long Beach. He shares the car, as usual, with co-driver Katherine Legge. He was in deep into the corner, and spun out. Meyrick re-fires the engine, and is back up and running. There's a scrap underway in Prototype Challenge. The qualifying session never made it through the full allotted ten minutes, so the cars lined up on points. Due to the red flag, several cars well up in points in the division, got moved to the back of the grid. James French could have had pole, but after basing qualifying off points, that meant the #85 car was in the pound seats. Mikhail Goikhberg, takes it around, right now.
Recall that these boys won the big one at the Rolex 24 back in January. Goikhberg's co-driver, Stephen Simpson has also done a sterling job. Alex Popow is also in contention, but James French is clawing his way up the order, in full attack mode. French tries diving inside Popow. Popow doesn't give up too easily here. Thought this scrap was done and dusted. No way. Starworks and team boss Peter Baron, are fighting for what they've got here on the streets of Long Beach. This is good for Mikhail Goikhberg, who extends his lead in the class. Mazda is becoming very, very competitive.
Mazda Motorsports boss John Doonan, is quite confident that the team can score a top result here at Long Beach. Christian Fittipaldi makes a move on Tom Long going into the final corner. Pit stop time for Corvette Racing. #4 in and out, for perhaps their only stop, taking a driver change. If they are running on strategy, they are getting great gas mileage and we have only about an hour or so to go in this race. We have been clean and green in this race so far. A major scrap unfolded between the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette Prototype and the similar #31 machine for Action Express Racing.
There's Prototype Challenge traffic to contend with. Tom Long in the Mazda holds Eric Curran at bay. Through the Fountain turn, Tom Long makes the pass on Curran. The car loosened up on Long just a shade. Oh dear. Problems for Jon Bennett in the #54 CORE Autosport Prototype Challenge machine. He's hit the wall, and surely has a damaged rear wing on that car. This incident may have happend in turn ten. Bennett has fluid dripping out of the car. Will there be a full course yellow for this incident? Bennett has damage to the left rear corner of the race car. The tow link is broken on that car.
Game over for CORE Autosport in this race. Tristan Nunez in the #55 Mazda is setting fast lap after fast lap. Christian Fittipaldi seems to be working his way back into contention. Jon Bennett has made it to the pit lane. Tires, fuel, and a driver change are in order, as Colin Braun will surely get into the car. Maybe not. Bennett has not hit the 35 minute maximum drive time yet. Continental Tire, is now using dandelion roots, to derive rubber, for making tires, since the world's rubber supply in the rain forest, may be dwindling. Drive through penalty for the #25 BMW M6 GT in GTLM.
Why? It is for contact with the aforementioned #54 car. Bill Auberlen went inside, and tapped Jon Bennett's Prototype Challenge racer. Marc Goossens is currently at the wheel of the #90 VisitFlorida.com Corvette Prototype, and Ryan Hunter-Reay will soon take over that car. Hunter-Reay says his Indycar has a lot more grip than the Daytona Prototype based Prototype car he drives in IWSC. Each car has it's own unique driving style, as we are now under an hour remaining in this motor race. Porsche now pits their cars in GT Le Mans, as well as Jan Magnussen in the sister #3 Corvette.
The #912 Porsche is also in the lane. Earl Bamber out, and Fred Makowiecki, in. Jan Magnussen is out of the #3 car and Antonio Garcia is in the car. Nick Tandy in the #911 Porsche will be penalized for speeding in pit lane. A critical mistake. Bill Auberlen is now back in pit lane, for a regular stop, including a driver change. Dirk Werner will take over the car. Ricky Taylor has to drive a few more minutes before pitting, so he can get a few more laps on fuel. Taylor is trying to make a move on Alex Popow in the #8 Starworks Motorsports Prototype Challenge car. Popow sharing with Renger van der Zande as Tandy takes his drive through penalty.
Overall leader, Ricky Taylor, in the #10 WTR Konica Minolta Corvette Prototype, hits pit lane. This team is at the top of tree when it comes to making clean, quick, efficient, pit stops. #5 is in and out, with Joao Barbosa now at the wheel. #31 also came in, as both Porsche's were penalized for speeding in the pit lane. Eric Curran stepped out, and Dane Cameron, took over. Normally if you speed in pit lane, it's a drive through. But the Porsche sped excessively, at 17 kilometers over the limit. #90 is in the pits and Ryan Hunter-Reay will take over the car.
The balance on car #90 was bad in qualifying, and the team changed everything, according to engineer Gary Grosenbacher. 50 minutes left in this race as Jordan Taylor runs really wide out of the last corner! Ooh! Taylor scrapes the wall! Joao Barbosa has to work his way quickly around the lapped Ford GT in GT Le Mans. Mazda runs 1-2 after staying out on their fuel load, longer. The Mazda's have to hit pit lane. The #70 Mazda now leads, and the #55 team car of Tristan Nunez is in the lane. Jonathan Bomarito takes over the car. The team did not clean the windshield, that was very, very dirty.
The sister #70 Mazda will be in next lap. In fact, it's hit the pit lane, now. Tom Long will turn the sister Mazda over to Joel Miller. There's so little running on this track due to the compressed schedule, it is really hard to get running data on actual fuel consumption. A big question mark remains as to why Corvette Racing pitted Oliver Gavin in car #4 so early in the going, as the #3 sister car thunders around Long Beach. Joel Miller in the #70 car is also a California based racing driver. Mazda North America is also located in Los Angeles. Corvette had a flat left front tire on car #4. They hope for a yellow flag, or can run blocker for the #3.
Mark Kvamme is in the lane and will turn his #88 Prototype Challenge car over to his co-driver. Only 45 minutes now remain in this street fight. Joao Barbosa is going after Jordan Taylor and Dane Cameron is fastest on the road. He has a gap between himself and the leaders. Joao Barbosa has more pace than does Jordan Taylor. When Taylor whacked the wall, could that have damaged something? Barbosa is 2/10ths of a second quicker at the moment, as these two will try and put a lap on the #4 Corvette. Cameron takes 8/10ths of a second out of the leader, with 39 minutes left. Nick Tandy tries to get inside Dirk Werner in the BMW M6 GT, and is a man on a mission. Werner does not take kindly to Tandy's little nudge.
CORE Autosport Porsche believes the marker for the pit lane speed limit, has been moved, by the IMSA officials. Both cars did so. Two different cars, two different drivers. Tandy is absolutely flying at the moment. Corvette Racing is on a roll right now. But, fuel mileage is the big question. Dane Cameron runs a 1:15.6 while the leaders are in the 1:16 bracket. Jordan Taylor has to watch for where Joao Barbosa is. Dane Cameron is five seconds in-arrears of this battle. Dane Cameron had a great drive here, last year, and was the only driver to pass a competitor, on the race track and not just in the pit lane. Tire management is the key to success around Long Beach, though. Cameron continues to trim the margin by half a second a lap, or more.
Taylor and Barbosa caught in traffic, allow Cameron to trim the margin to 2.8 seconds. Barbosa shows his nose to Taylor, but Cameron is coming! The top two should clear a lapped Prototype Challenge car ahead. Will Cameron also clear the slow car? Taylor and Barbosa get through. Cameron, is blocked by the PC machine. Cameron passes, and can now close the margin. It is luck of the draw, as far as where you get the chance to pass. We are now under our first full course yellow flag, as the CORE Autosport Prototype Challenge car, is stranded, out on course. Colin Braun at the controls. After earlier woes with Jon Bennett at the wheel, the left rear corner of the car, is again, broken.
The car is going on the flatbed truck. Game over. Pit lane is open for Prototypes to come in. Will there be any takers? Probably not. PC cars will pit. Will Corvette pit next time by? The #66 Ford GT is coming to pit lane. These boys had the door issues earlier in the race. They are in for tires and a top up on fuel, and so is car #67, the team car. Now, we are back to green flag racing, with just 22 minutes on the clock, remaining, in this race. The Mazda's are trying to pounce on the leading Corvette Prototypes. Jordan Taylor pulls a gap as Dane Cameron is close to Joao Barbosa. The #4 factory Corvette did not pit, and is rolling the dice.
Oh dear. More drama for the DeltaWing, as the suspension is broken on the car. Did Katherine Legge hit the wall? Or, have the bumps taken their toll on the car? John Edwards brought the #25 BMW M6 GT into the lane, with a flat left rear tire. There was a big cut in the sidewall of the tire. The pro drivers have taken over the top Prototype Challenge machines. You have a group including Stephen Simpson, Kyle Marcelli, Renger van der Zande, Johnny Mowlem, and Tom Kimber-Smith, all going for it. Some major ringers (and, Rengers... hardy har har), are in this field.
Tommy Milner has a bit of a cushion. But, Fred Makowiecki is chasing down Antonio Garcia. Makowiecki does not want the Prototype Challenge overlap to disrupt his run. But, it will. Makowiecki is also hounded by the VisitFlorida.com Racing #90 Corvette Prototype of Ryan Hunter-Reay. Simpson tries Milner. The new low energy Michelin tire really suits the Porsche's. The Porsche is strong on a street course, and is able to get the power down with the engine weight over the drive wheels. Jordan Taylor opens the margin in the lead with just over 15 minutes to go.
We have had seven lead changes, only one yellow, and no cars have retired from this race. Jordan Taylor is making a good run through traffic and has had a car that has settled down. Corvette boss Doug Fehan says the team can make it on fuel. Jordan Taylor has adjusted the brake bias on the #10 car, and that's made the car come alive. Fred Makowiecki has come right back onto the tail of Antonio Garcia's Corvette. Nick Tandy is also surging. Tandy taps Makowiecki as we now have just ten minutes left.
Milner can really open a margin, and he's still in need of stretching fuel. Ooh! Antonio Garcia has swapped ends, and spun the #3 Corvette, between the barriers! He just lost control. Unreal. You do not see a driver like Antonio Garcia, make mistakes of that kind. That was a heavy clout with the wall. Is the car moveable? Will a full course yellow be required? The car does not look to have suffered a lot of damage. Now, Garcia gets going again. Did he clip the left rear corner and cause damage? Something just broke, over a bump.
Garcia feathered the gas pedal through that part of track. Game over for the #100 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing BMW M6 GT, which has had a fraught race, and has now crunched the barrier, someplace, here at Long Beach. Radiator damage to the front of the car. The hood got loose off the front the car. Edwards is driving blind, hits the wall, and spins out. Ker-runch! Could there have been a suspension issue? The tire came off, and that's what caused the crash. Car #3 pits to repair damage. We are green as we close in on the last five minutes. Milner will be eaten up by the two Porsche's, perhaps.
Jordan Taylor leads by 3.5 seconds over the Action Express cars. Second place in Prototype Challenge will also be contested. Corvette has not lost a race yet this year. Porsche, has yet to win one. Will Nick Tandy try and pass Fred Makowiecki? Milner has lots of confidence, and is on top of his game. Under three minutes left. Jordan Taylor has three seconds in hand over Barbosa, and a half a second over Dane Cameron. Oh no! Makowiecki turns Tommy Milner! There goes Nick Tandy. Tandy, looks to be the winner, in GT Le Mans, should things hold together. Unbelievable! Porsche was going to push. You just had to know they wouldn't sit back and rest on their laurels here at Long Beach.
What will the stewards have to say about this one? The Porsche is wounded, definitely. It was too late for Makowiecki to even get through the corner, let alone make a banzai move. Makowiecki policed himself on this one, breaking the car, and limping it into the lane, with just a minute or so to go. Jordan Taylor has two seconds in hand, and he's going to win this race, going for two in a row here on the streets of Long Beach. It's the final lap. Corvette and Porsche will not be happy with each other. It was Kevin Estre vs. Jan Magnussen at Sebring, and here, at Long Beach, it's Tommy Milner vs. Fred Makowiecki.
Mazda will bring both cars home in the top five. Joel Miller, fourth, and Jonathan Bomarito, fifth. Toni Vilander in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE is up to third in GT Le Mans. Ryan Briscoe in the #67 Ford GT is also going to get a decent finish. Stephen Simpson gets the white flag in the Prototype Challenge class. For the second year in a row, it's a sweep, of pole, and the race win, for Wayne Taylor Racing, and the #10 Konica Minolta Corvette Prototype, piloted by Wayne's sons, on the streets of Long Beach.
As we finish, there's big contact in turn eight for one of the Prototype Challenge cars. It's a monster shunt, for Kyle Marcelli. That car, is junk. Win number two for the #85 JDC Miller Motorsports car of Stephen Simpson, and Mikhail Goikhberg! Nick Tandy takes the win in GT Le Mans, for Porsche!
Kyle Marcelli scraped the wall, lifted to slow down, and by lifting, he spun the car, and smashed the opposite end, into the barrier. What a street fight!
Overall/Prototype: #10 Taylor/Taylor Chevrolet Corvette Prototype
Prototype
Challenge: #85 Simpson/Goikhberg Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
GT Le Mans: #911 Tandy/Pilet Porsche 911 RSR
That's it, from Long Beach. California dreamin' will continue for the IMSA WeatherTech Championship, in northern California, as opposed to southern California, on the Monterey Peninsula, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, this weekend. Two races. One for Prototype and GT Le Mans and the other, for Prototype Challenge and GT Daytona. Separate events for professional and amateur drivers. Looking forward, to bringing those races, to you, right here on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog.
So long, for now.
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