Cadillac Racing; IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship; Long Beach, California; April 20, 2024; Cadillac V-LMDh prototypes; No. 01 driven by Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais; No. 31 driven by Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken (Wes Duenkel/Cadillac Photo).
Hot News IMSA

IMSA News: BoP adjustments made for upcoming Long Beach race

Posted by AR1 staff

IMSA’s annual April trek out West, sees the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race with IndyCar at the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach next weekend.

A field of 27 cars from 11 manufacturers are set to tackle the 100-minute race, where pit strategy is one of the biggest keys to win, split among 11 Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) cars and 16 Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) cars. The 14 full-season GTD entries expand to include additional one-off entries for Vasser Sullivan Racing and AO Racing.

IMSA has made wholesale Balance of Performance changes to both the GTP and GTD classes ahead of next weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Confirmed in a technical bulletin (see below) on Thursday afternoon, the sanctioning body confirmed the weight, power and energy configurations for the third round of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

In accordance with Attachment 2 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship SSR, the following Balance of Performance values are set for the indicated Car Models for the 2025 Long Beach race.

The column listed as current is the current specification after any adjustment is applied and thus the required specification for the Event(s). These decisions come into effect immediately and are applicable until further notice.

BoP Technical Bulletin for Long Beach

TB_IWSC_25-42_Long_Beach_BoP_04032025

Fast Facts

Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Long Beach Street Course – Long Beach, California
April 11-12, 2025

Race Day/Time: Saturday, April 12 – 5:00 p.m. ET
NBC Sports Coverage: USA Network and Peacock from 5:00-7:00 p.m. (IMSA.com/TVLive, YouTube.com/@IMSAOfficial outside the U.S.)
Live Qualifying Stream: Friday, April 11 – 8:05 p.m. ET (Peacock, IMSA.com/TVLive, YouTube.com/@IMSAOfficial outside the U.S.)
IMSA Radio Coverage: Audio via XM 206, Web/App 996
Circuit Type: 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street course
Race Length: 100 minutes
Classes Competing: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Grand Touring Daytona (GTD)

WeatherTech Championship Track Records
GTP: Filipe Albuquerque, Acura ARX-06, 1:09.909 / 101.343 mph, April 2023
GTD: Parker Thompson, Lexus RC F GT3, 1:17.357 / 91.585 mph, April 2024

2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Winners:
GTP: Renger van der Zande/Sebastien Bourdais, No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R
GTD: Parker Thompson/Ben Barnicoat, No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3

2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Motul Pole Award Winners:
GTP: Pipo Derani, No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R
GTD: Parker Thompson, No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3

Storylines

  • The Hard Pivot to the Streets: With the “36 Hours of Florida” in the books, IMSA heads west to Long Beach to the one of the two shortest races on the calendar: the 100-minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. There are five Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and nine Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) manufacturers, with three manufacturers (Aston Martin, BMW, Porsche) competing in both classes.
  • Wickens’ Corvette Debut: One of the most anticipated WeatherTech Championship GTD debuts comes as Robert Wickens makes his first start in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which carries a special Bosch electronic hand control braking package. Never satisfied and focused on his driving return since his 2018 accident that left him partially paralyzed, the 2023 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Touring Car (TCR) class champion races at a track where he raced 18 years ago in Formula Atlantic in 2007, seven years ago in IndyCar in 2018, and where he’s coached IndyCar drivers since.
  • To Change or Not To Change?: The last two GTP winners at Long Beach have opted for the same winning strategy: no tire change on the one scheduled pit stop in the 100-minute race. In both 2023 for Porsche Penske Motorsports and 2024 for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing, that decision to double stint the starting set of Michelin tires to the finish has proved pivotal to victory. As in 2024, Michelin has brought its soft compound tires for GTP teams to use in the 2025 race.
  • A Half Century of Awesomeness: The Long Beach event celebrates both its 50th running and 50th anniversary in 2025, and sports car racing has been a part of the weekend for more than 20 years. IMSA held races here in the 1990s, while GRAND-AM staged a single race in 2006, the American Le Mans Series competed from 2007 through 2013 and IMSA has raced here since 2014. Who will win this historic trip to “The Beach?”
  • Shriek on the Streets: It’s been more than a decade since the last time an Aston Martin V12 engine’s note echoed off the buildings in Long Beach in ALMS. Simon Pagenaud’s HRC ARX-01c passed Adrian Fernandez’s Lola B09/60 Aston Martin on the last lap for the overall win in 2010. Aston Martin got its win a year later in the hands of Muscle Milk Pickett Racing, in a Lola B08/62 Aston Martin. Now, the new Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie will make its street course debut and its sound will be worth the price of admission.

Who’s Hot?

  • No. 7 Porsche: It’s been a picture-perfect start for the Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr pairing in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, with back-to-back overall and GTP wins in Florida. The Porsche 963 won its first race globally at Long Beach in 2023 with Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet.
  • Winward, Heart of Racing, Turner, Wright: Through two GTD races, four cars: the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO and No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) are the only cars in class with two top-six finishes in both races.

Who’s Good Here?

  • Tommy Milner: With GTD PRO off this race, Corvette Racing customer program DXDT Racing enlists Milner’s services to share the No. 36 Corvette Z06 GT3.R with Robert Wickens. Milner is the active leader in Long Beach wins with four, all in the former GT Le Mans class.
  • Cadillac: Although Acura is the race weekend entitlement partner, Cadillac has made Long Beach victory lane feel like home. Cadillac has won six of the last seven top-class prototype races at Long Beach since 2017, losing only in 2023.
  • Lexus: The Vasser Sullivan Racing team goes for its third straight Long Beach win, with its first two split between GTD PRO in 2023 and GTD in 2024.