IMSA Long Beach: Porsche 963 takes first win, Taylor crashes

The 100-minute race around the 1.968-mile Californian street course started with a bang when Sebastien Bourdais crashed out at the first corner in his Cadillac V.Series-R and fellow frontrunner Tom Blomqvist’s Acura was also pushed into a spin.

The pole-winning Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 was expected to dominate, but an issue at the pitstop cost the Filipe Albuquerque/Ricky Taylor-crewed car 12s. Its charge back to the front was highlighted by an amazing duel with the #7 Porsche and #25 BMW, and having dispensed with them, caught the leading #7 Porsche – only to crash out trying to pass it with just two laps to go.

Porsche ran the whole race on one set of tires, to save time in pitstops and avoid the painfully slow tire warm-up process, and it proved a winning strategy.

Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat won the GTD Pro class for Lexus, while Paul Miller Racing claimed GTD honors for BMW.

#10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, #60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06: Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, #01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-LMDh: Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande

Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images

GTP

With major concerns being voiced over tire warm-up in the early laps, Albuquerque led from pole in the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura, while a fast-starting Bourdais (Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R) had to lift off to avoid clipping the rear of Tom Blomqvist’s second-placed Meyer Shank Racing Acura on Shoreline Drive. Seconds later, Bourdais got on the marbles and outbraked himself on cold tires at Turn 1, snapping sideways and hitting the inside wall before spinning into the run-off. Behind him, the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Nick Yelloly tagged Blomqvist into a spin. “I just couldn’t avoid him,” shrugged Yelloly.

In the chaos, the opportunistic Nick Tandy (#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963) was “in the right place at the right time” and leapt up to second, ahead of BMWs of Yelloly and Augusto Farfus, Felipe Nasr’s #7 Porsche and Alexander Sims (Action Express Racing Cadillac). Significantly, the #60 Meyer Shank car fell off the lead lap as he struggled to restart the car after its spin. Bourdais couldn’t restart at all, as the impact had registered a safety protocol in the complex electronics and refused to fire up the engine.

After this false start, the race properly got going with 90 minutes left on the clock, and Albuquerque led Tandy, Yelloly and Farfus. Sims pitted the Action Express car to switch over to Pipo Derani in a bold, but ultimately doomed, strategy play.

With the tires taking over 10 laps for the GTP cars to get up to a good operating temperature, Albuquerque took time before he put the hammer down and pulled away out front. At one-third distance, he led by 4s but had the hindrance of Derani in front, who was determined to stay on the lead lap. Behind them, Yelloly was putting pressure on Tandy for second, and they caught Albuquerque who was being frustrated by the obstinate Derani’s defensive lines – which meant the four GTPs all ran nose-to-tail.

Albuquerque had enough of that and pitted, handing over to Ricky Taylor, as Tandy inherited the lead. Taylor took an age to rejoin, as the car became stuck in neutral, and when he did he was then hit by the Pfaff Porsche GTD Pro-class car as he struggled to warm up his tires.

Tandy pitted in response but Porsche opted not to change tires, and Jaminet rejoined 13s in front after the WTR Acura’s delay.  The BMWs were last to pit, and after the pitstop cycle played out, there was a Porsche 1-2 with Jaminet’s #6 car leading Matt Campbell in the #7.

But Derani spoiled the Porsche party by grabbing second from Campbell at Turn 5 and chased down Jaminet for the lead. Jaminet held firm, and Derani stopped with 30 minutes to go, taking tires and fuel, dropping him to sixth.

Connor De Phillippi, who took over the #25 BMW of Yelloly, attacked Campbell for second at Turn 5 with 22 minutes to go, but overshot and was forced to spin-turn the car. That handed third to Taylor, who had needed to pace himself at the start of his stint but was now in full-charge mode.

He attacked Campbell at Turn 5, and they swapped second place briefly, and a lap later they made nose-to-tail contact, which sent a chunk of the Porsche’s bodywork flying.

After an intense duel, Taylor ran wide at Turn 6 and fell back into the clutches of De Phillippi with 12m to go. The thrilling battle became three-way, with Campbell nudging Taylor, who then had to shove De Phillippi.

Taylor passed Campbell by cutting the apex curb at Turn 8, and De Phillippi also got ahead of Campbell on the exit of the corner as he took evasive action. By this time, Jaminet was 8s up the road with eight minutes remaining, but his older tires were clearly finished and Taylor caught him with 3m on the clock.

With the final minute approaching, and two laps to go, Taylor lunged to the Porsche's inside at Turn 1 and sailed into the tires. Jaminet won the race under yellows, ahead of De Phillippi and Campbell.

#14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat

Photo by: Gavin Baker / Motorsport Images

Lexus wins GTD class

With no LMP2 or P3 cars in action, GTD was the sole secondary class at Long Beach.

Hawksworth grabbed the lead at the start in his Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F, taking an early advantage over impressive pole-winner Marco Sorensen in the pro-am #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage. Patrick Pilet ran third in the Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, ahead of Ross Gunn in the GTD Pro Heart of Racing Aston and Antonio Garcia’s factory-run Corvette C8.R.

Sorensen was the first to pit after 35 minutes, to hand over to Roman De Angelis, but he got stuck in traffic and dropped behind the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 of Madison Snow/Bryan Sellers.

Hawksworth relayed to Ben Barnicoat, and the RC F rejoined with a 7s lead over Klaus Bachler, in the Pfaff Porsche, and Jordan Taylor in the Corvette. Taylor barged past Bachler for second at Turn 5 with 40 minutes remaining.

Sellers led the non-pro GTD class, but De Angelis was a constant shadow, and that’s the way it finished.