Welcome, everybody, to the first sprint race of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship season, part of the Long Beach Grand Prix that has seen these famous streets reverberate to the sound of racing engines for nearly half a century. The event was first run by Formula 5000 and then, most famously, Formula 1 cars. In recent decades though, it has become the home of both IndyCar and the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. This is round three of the season for 2022. On pole position, Sebastien Bourdais, sharing with Renger van der Zande aboard the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R. 11 turns and just under two miles. Watch for turn one, turn eight, and turn nine. Those places will be major ones to watch to be honest. Postcard worthy weather here in California. 100 minutes, an hour and 40 minutes of racng coming up.
This is a blue riband race for sports cars and for the open wheel racers just the same. The cars are on track and ready to race. We had a record distance for last year's race and a race fully under green flag with no yellows. We send our well wishes to Herb Korthoff from Korthoff Motorsports. We also send our condolences to Marty Kaufmann's family, a legend in IMSA and the American Le Mans Series. He was a very fair person. A real decision maker, but a fair one, too, and a true gentleman. We also remember Phil Binks and Bill Mears, Rick Mears' father. The cars are on the circuit as we mentioned and getting ready to race.
Sebastien Bourdais and Alex Lynn locked out the front row in qualifying. Tom Blomqvist third and Pipo Derani fourth for Meyer Shank Racing and Action Express on the second row. We continue through the grid with Corvette on GTD Pro pole but now we race! We're underway and the Ganassi cars take the lead. Blomqvist passes Derani. Derani was indeed passed by Blomqvist for third place. The field settles down here on lap one although Ganassi, the two of them, they seem to be eking out a gap as we speak. We saw four of the classic four rotor Mazda GTP cars earlier in exhibition.
Pipo Derani made contact with Tom Blomqvist. A bit of argy bargy. In GTD Pro we have a battle between the leading #3 Chevrolet Corvette leading the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Ross Gunn is next in the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. Madison Snow leads GTD with the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3. Madison Snow was short shifting and the other M4 GT3's were stretching their first gear too tall. The rev limiter was set by BMW and the tolerance was too tight. Bourdais leads Alex Lynn.
Tom Blomqvist remains in third place as we watch the GTD battle. Jack Hawksworth is in behind the GT Daytona leader which is Madison Snow. Jon Miller has moved past Mike Skeen. The Crucial Motorsports #59 McLaren moves ahead of the #32 Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3. Sebastien Bourdais at 1:10.66 shatters the old race lap record here at Long Beach. Wow. Interesting to see Gradient Racing here as they normally do the endurance races. But they have elected to race here at Long Beach. Marc Miller sharing the #66 Acura NSX GT3 with Mario Farnbacher.
A good, clean start, but, into the wall, the race leader Sebastien Bourdais has ehacked the wall! He is reversing the car and getting back into the fight. No pit stop for Bourdais. So the sister Ganassi Cadillac takes the lead. He may have clipped the corner, but he had less steering lock, clipping the turn in the final corner, the tight hairpin at the end of the circuit. Bourdais won three IndyCar races here in 2005, 2006, and 2007. No blame for GMG Racing in the #34 Porsche of Kyle Washington that carries the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag because of the current war there. So, ten minutes on the board already. Wow.
A truly uncharacteristic kerfuffle for Sebastien Bourdais. Pipo Derani is third right behind Tom Blomqvist. Derani starts the car and Tristan Nunez will take over at the second half. Wow. Robert Megennis gets chopped by two DPi cars, in the #39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Lamborghini he shares with Jeff Westphal I believe. Yes. Westphal is his co-driver. It is rush hour here in Long Beach! Derani is right on Blomqvist's six as we speak. He may be biding his time but you know he will want to make a move ASAP.
Alex Lynn's gap has stretched out to 2.4 seconds. Sebastien Bourdais is now sixth and he has to play catch up through the traffic more than anyone else at this moment. Derani, probing in on Blomqvist little by little. Here he comes now, screaming past the GTD Pro and GTD traffic. From the overhead camera we can see how tight and twisting this course is and now we can see that Lynn is continuing to pull away from Blomqvist as well, look. Robby Foley and Bill Auberlen in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3, they are slicing and dicing through their fellow contenders and this past Thursday, Auberlen, along with IndyCar legend Alex Zanardi, were inducted into the Long Beach Walk of Fame. Auberlen, the winningest driver in IMSA. Bill Auberlen's home is here.
It is a dream come true for him. A humbling experience. Robby Foley had a penalty and started shotgun on the field. In the lane now, the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Konica Minolta Acura. Filipe Albuquerque at the wheel of it, on an alternate, two-stop strategy. They will need a Full Course Yellow before the halfway mark. Twenty minutes nearly on the board. That Oreca chassis is low to the ground and very aero dependent. They will just always be on the back foot compared to the Cadillac DPi-V.R's for Ganassi, Action Express, and JDC-Miller Motorsports.
Both of the BMW M4 GT3's were outside the RPM tolerance, stretching the gears against the rev limiter that we talked about, and they got dinged on those laps in qualifying. Madison Snow upshifts and then does an extra downshift. Paul Miller Racing got their BMW M4 GT3 very late, coming from the Lamborghini Huracan GT3. The M4 is a much larger car. It is ten inches longer wheelbase and 22 inches longer in overall length. Good scrap here too, between Connor De Philippi and then the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage of Roman De Angelis.
Pipo Derani is told to go for it and not to worry about fuel. Whelen Engineering/Action Express will have to doa two stop race. Derani is pressing hard against Tom Blomqvist. No yellow flags yet. Wayne Taylor and company are going for a different strategy and Alex Lynn blocks Tom Blomqvist and Pipo Derani is right in it as well and here comes Sebastien Bourdais. This is a four-way fight. Be decisive through traffic as Derani gets balked by a GT Daytona car. Derani clears the factory Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMW M4 GT3 of Connor De Philippi. He is now right back up with Tom Blomqvist another time.
Bourdais, flashing the lights to tell the slowe traffic to get out of the way and here is Alex Lynn as well. He is scrapping his way 'round trying to find a place. The DPi cars just whiz past the GTD machinery. I told you, everybody, this race is going to be a street fight and it has been just that as we get going. Don't forget to tune in for the IndyCar race tomorrow at 3PM Eastern Time. So, Alex Lynn is your leader, being monstered by Tom Blomqvist, Pipo Derani, and Seb Bourdais. Derani elbows his way into second past Blomqvist and Bourdais is pushing hard as well!
Alex Lynn and Tom Blomqvist are still in fuel save mode. Alex Lynn is ahead by a second and a half. Derani in second and runs wide and Bourdais moves to second. Ganassi runs 1-2. Derani washes out to the wall and has to regroup. Tristan Vautier in the #5 JDC-Miller Mustang Sampling Cadillac is not far away. Jordan Taylor in the #3 Corvette C8.R leads GTD Pro followed by Matty Jaminet in the Porsche, Ross Gunn in the Aston Martin, Jack Hawksworth in the Lexus, Connor De Philippi in the BMW and more. Pipo Derani in the lane and will hand over to Tristan Nunez. The car is good but they will not fuss with fuel saving.
Tristan Nunez will run the middle stint and Pipo Derani will get back nto the car. Quick stop for Action Express. Maximum attack, and so on, 43-47 minutes is the fuel load time. Foley back on the button after he got snookered. Into the turn, and maybe it was an unforced error. He did not get snookered. That was a weird one. He bailed out to avoid crunching the fence. Alex Lynn leading the motor race for Chip Ganassi Racing in the #02 car. Tristan Nunez is stopped on course. Something is going on with the #31 car! Ah. He gets the car back on track and will have to play catch up.
Bourdais is pressing his way back through the GT field. The 35-minute minimum drive time is past. Nunez had the car stall on him. Hopefully there are no electrical issues for the #31 Whelen Cadillac. Frankie Montecalvo pits the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. Aaron Telitz takes over. Cooper MacNeils is in and Raffaele Marciello will take over. AMG factory driver. He is fast! The #1 Paul Miller BMW is in the lane. Madison Snow, out, and Bryan Sellers is in at the wheel to the end. Just a shade over an hour to go.
Jordan Taylor in the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R is in the lane and will hand off to Antonio Garcia. Fuel, tires, and the driver change. Vasser Sullivan Lexus #14 in. Ben Barnicoat takes over from Jack Hawksworth. 13 drivers in this field have never raced at Long Beach until today. Maxime Martin takes over the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin from Ross Gunn. Less than an hour to go here at Long Beach. 59 and a half minutes. The #51 Rick Ware Racing Acura NSX GT3 dives for the lead. Ryan Eversley sharing with Aidan Read. Eversley has raced the NSX GT3 in another sports car championship and this deal came together through a tweet. Team Eurasia is helping them out. Rick Ware Racing also has an IndyCar team and in NASCAR Cup.
Aidan Read is an engineer for Rick Ware Racing on the NASCAR side. His mom and dad are here from Australia to watch. Sebastien Bourdais now leading the motor race by nearly four seconds. Bourdais leads DPi and overall. Connor De Philippi leads GTD Pro and Bryan Sellers leads GTD. This track at Long Beach has been around since 1975. Cadillac are going for their fifth consecutive prototype win here. GM has two addition victories in the old Daytona Prototype class about a decade ago. The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes has hit the wall and is now trying to trundle his way back to the pit lane. Russell Ward qualified well. In replay, Philip Ellis did not get tagged. He just got wide, got in the clag and can't turn the car.
Sebastien Bourdais will soon hand the #01 Cadillac over to Renger van der Zande. Troubles for the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche with a holed radiator and an overheating engine. Game over. Someone else's wheel nut put them out. A wheel nut going through a rad. That's bananas. Connor De Philippi leads GTD Pro. Good move to the inside of the McLaren #59 by the #27 Aston Martin. Sebastien Bourdais brings the #01 to the lane and hands over to Renger van der Zande. #02 and #60 can go harder and run longer. Fuel save mode for the final 50 minutes of this event. The #5 JDC-Miller Cadillac is in and Richard Westbrook takes over from Tristan Vautier.
#5 is the championship leading car with Westbrook and Vautier. Filipe Albuquerque runs fifth in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura. That bold pit strategy they tried has likely backfired. Corvette Racing will be penalized for the errant wheel nut that holed the radiator for the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche. Close racing amid the GT3 cars. The Crucial Motorsports McLaren, the Gradient Acura, and the BMW Team RLL entry. Pit stop time for the #10 Konica Minolta Acura. Driver change. Filipe Albuquerque hands over to Ricky Taylor. Likewise, the #3 Corvette C8.R is in the lane as well. Full Course Yellow. Full Course Yellow. Rumble strips in turn five, bolted to the curbs, coming apart.
IndyCars have to stay away but the GTD and DPi cars can use them. So, we have trouble with them and if they stand up they can slice the monocoque on one of these race cars. Any apex of the corner is where you want the unweighted parts of the car. The pounding these blocks have taken, have broken one loose. The turtles, I guess is what they would be called. Sebastien Bourdais has had a great drive so far. Tristan Nunez has made it to fifth place in the #31. The heat is not bad in the car but you can go into a trance if you are not careful. After making mistakes, that is when drivers can be at their best.
Michelin tires have more than 200 ingredients in their rubber, construction, and other materials. Michelin Pilot Sport race tires operate in a 50 degree range from 180-230 degrees. Action Express and the #31 car are in the lane for service under yellow for curb repairs. Tristan Nunez is finished with his stint. Pipo Derani is back in the car. He will finish. They lost a dive plane and changed a nose on the car. It looks like AXR is doing all they can to recover. Curbing is fixed and we are close to getting back to racing. The #25 BMW Team RLL BMW M4 GT3 is also in pit lane for a scheduled stop. Serviced and sent.
This will be a half an hour shootout to the end after this Full Course Yellow with Renger van der Zande at the wheel of the #01 Ganassi Racing Cadillac. No more fuel worries. Pull the pin and go for it. Renger van der Zande floors it over Earl Bamber and Oliver Jarvis. van der Zande wants it. Bamber is going to push hard. Bamber is a two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner in prototypes for Porsche. Pipo Derani is in full attack mode and the GTD #27 Aston Martin clobbers the wall! Maxime Martin off the road having slammed the wall! Good grief! John Edwards now at the wheel of the RLL BMW M4 GT3, car #25. #25 is headed back to the lane. Something is broken on the Aston, and had a cut tire. The BMW braked early and put him in the wall.
John Edwards, a penalty for too many members of the team over the wall. Wow. In replay, we see that the door on the BMW came off, the driver's door. They ran afoul of having too many mechanics over the wall. Maxime Martin came into Long Beach undefeated. He is very upset, and he will have a word or two to say to Bryan Sellers. That is for dead sure. Sellers did not do anything wrong. The clock runs down. 23 minutes remaining. In replay, at the BMW team. we see that the door fell off. Connor De Philippi, attempting to fix the door, he was the fifth man over the wall. Is there a problem with putting the door back on it's hinges? Strange stuff. Drivers are not mechanics. Jordan Taylor says that the Corvette team wants to fight the leaders even though they've lost track position.
Lots of marbles on the road. OK. We are back to green. Renger van der Zande off like a rocket ship. Richard Westbrook, DPi championship leader, all over Oliver Jarvis. If Westbrook and Vautier do not move up, they will lose the championship lead before the next race. Details to come soon. Alex Riberas and Aston Martin lead GTD Pro while Bryan Sellers leads GTD. Ben Barnicoat and Antonio Garcia are next in GTD Pro while in GTD it is Mario Farnbacher followed by Aaron Telitz. Oh dear! The #32 Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 has stuffed it into the tires, Stevan McAleer at the controls sharing with Mike Skeen.
Somehow or other he just ran into the tires and had the Inception Racing McLaren behind. Westphal, too, in the #39 Lamborghini could not steer and smashed the wall as well. Yet another Full Course Yellow. We will see a mad dash to the end of this thing. Ready to finish this race. It has been an eventful race. It is time to go with less than 14 minutes on the board. Renger van der Zande flies into the lead and leaving team mate Earl Bamber in his dust. Jarvis, Westbrook, Derani, Taylor, next. More argy bargy with John Edwards and Bill Auberlen. Westbrook locks up and Pipo Derani makes a move and he is now pressing Oliver Jarvis. Here comes Ricky Taylor too. \
Taylor wants by Pipo Derani. Derani will not let him by. Westbrook is doing all he can to get past Jarvis. Derani recovering and is trying to pass Westbrook. Renger van der Zande and Earl Bamber are a country mile ahead of the rest. Derani flies past Westbrook. Outside pass. "The dynamo" is on a mission. Alex Riberas still leads GT Daytona Pro followed by Ben Barnicoat and Antonio Garcia. Jam Heylen and Ryan Hardwick in the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R have gone really well. Hardwick has done jet ski racing, Super Moto, and IMSA, in Long Beach. Ganassi run 1-2. Can Pipo Derani catch up to Oliver Jarvis? In GTD Pro, the confidential tire and the antilock braking systems are totally different.
Jan Heylen spins at the hairpin. Did he get tipped? He likely was tapped by the #79 Mercedes AMG GT3 of Raffaele Marciello. Look out. Look out. Boom! Late move for Marciello there. That made a near pig's breakfast out of things. Six tenths of a second between the two Ganassi Cadillac's. Renger van der Zande being chased by Earl Bamber. Earl Bamber was called "superb" by one of his own team mates when the Ganassi team won Sebring. Pipo Derani is harrying Oliver Jarvis before the end of this race. Can't quite make it. Can Jarvis hang onto the podium? Will Pipo Derani make a move? Derani wants traffic so that Jarvis is stymied.
Bamber will get a run on van der Zande. van der Zande had to open his hands to get the radius on the turn Paul Miller Racing coukld get their second straight win in class. Oh deary me. Ryan Eversley has crunched the wall and now is back on track. Jarvis makes a move on Pipo Derani and allows Richard Westbrook through. Chip Ganassi Racing will win here at Long Beach for yet another Cadillac victory at Long Beach which has come at the hands of a few different teams. van der Zande and Bourdais win at Long Beach!
GTD Pro honors go to Alex Riberas and Ross Gunn while Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow get the first GTD win for the BMW M4 GT3!
Overall/DPi: #01 Bourdais/van der Zande Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R
GT Daytona Pro: #23 Gunn/Riberas Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3
GT Daytona: #1 Sellers/Snow Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3
So, the Long Beach Grand Prix is over. The first 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Championship sprint race is in the bag. Next up, more racing in California, as the WeatherTech Championship moves to the pure road course, the legendary Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, coming up in three weeks on Sunday, May 1st. Join us there. You won't want to miss it. So long for now, from Long Beach.
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