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Photo: Perry Nelson/IMSA Laurin Heinrich was quickest in opening practice for this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The Long Beach rookie, aboard JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963, reeled off a chart-topping time of 1:13.240 in the closing stages of Friday morning’s session to dethrone the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 of Tom Blomqvist, who led much of the session. Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R was third, also in a late session improvement. It bumped Laurens Vanthoor, in the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 to fourth. However, co-driver Kevin Estre stopped late in the session after brushing the Turn 4 wall, before the Frenchman made his way safely into a track cut-out. Both of the factory Porsches, which are undefeated in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition so far this season, are carrying 45 kg/99 pounds of additional weight as part of a pre-event Balance of Performance adjustment. Heinrich’s Porsche is...

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA Robert Wickens says he’s not giving up hope on stepping up to a full season IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship program in the future after being unable to put the funding together this year for DXDT Racing’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R entry. The 37-year-old Canadian is set to again undertake a five-race sprint race portion of the season, alongside the team’s new full season driver Mason Filippi in the GTD class entry beginning with this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. “Obviously when you are racing with a customer team in sports car racing, it tends to come with a price tag to it,” said Wickens. “It’s no discredit to any of the customer teams. “It’s just kind of the circle of life of sports car racing and I wasn’t able to put together the funds required to do a full season of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as heartbreaking as it was. “I felt like I showed some results that I am not a liability and that I can do all facets of th...

Photo: Racingpixels/Creventic Optimum Motorsport took pole position in its No. 77 Mclaren 720S GT3 Evo ahead of the Michelin 12H Spa-Francorchamps. The Optimum driver lineup of Salman Owega, Harry George and Freddie Tomlinson set a fastest combined qualifying time of 2:15.534, just 0.259 seconds ahead of the No. 286 GetSpeed Team JR286 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. The GetSpeed entry would also take the GT3-Am class pole. Optimum’s entry is the only McLaren on the grid in this weekend’s race. The team were at the head of the field from early on in the session with a strong time from George in Qualifying 1. Spanish team E2P Racing jostled with Optimum for the top of the timesheets in the opening two qualifying sessions, but its Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo could achieve no better than an eighth place finish at the end of Qualifying 3. Owega set a fastest overall time of 2:14.593 in Qualifying 3, sealing the pole position for Optimum. Herberth Motorsport’s No. 269 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA ***IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams unloaded in Southern California on Thursday for this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. This year’s race marks the 20th anniversary of Grand-Am/IMSA’s debut at the event, which saw a DP-only Rolex Sports Car Series race in 2006 that was won by Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz in a Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Lexus DP. ***The American Le Mans Series made its debut at the 1.968-mile street circuit one year later, and through the post-merger era, IMSA’s top sports car racing series has been part of the Grand Prix of Long Beach ever since, except for the canceled 2020 event due to the COVID pandemic. ***In addition to the new Apple Music design on the pair of Penske Porsche 963s , the No. 31 Action Express Racing and No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.Rs and No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06s are also running revised liveries this weekend. ***Action Express has partnered with the National Law Enfo...

Photo: Andrea Lorenzina/DPPI ***A special presentation was held at the Piazza Matteotti in downtown Imola featuring all FIA World Endurance Championship teams and drivers on Thursday afternoon. Each team was allotted a five-minute slot to appear on stage in front of gathered fans and local media, with drivers also partaking in an autograph session. ***Collective drivers’ photos for the LMGT3 and Hypercar classes were also taken at the same location. ***Peugeot has undergone other changes in its team structure for the new season besides the arrival of new team principal Emmanuel Esnault, who replaces freshly-promoted Stellantis Motorsport boss Olivier Jansonnie. Mathieu Neuville has moved up to become chief engineer, while Victor Famin takes over from Neuville as race engineer for the No. 93 side of the garage. ***Esnault said he believes the work that is being done within the French manufacturer “ is not in line with the results that the cars have delivered on-track” as the pro...

Photo: Porsche Porsche Penske Motorsport’s pair of 963s will feature a special Apple Music livery at this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round. The German manufacturer has enjoyed a partnership with Apple since 2019 when the Porsche Taycan became the first car to offer Apple Music as a built-in streaming experience. That partnership has now expanded into motorsport with the company’s logos and special colored stripes added to the liveries of the factory 963s for the event. “We are extremely proud of our collaboration with Apple Music,” said Thomas Laudenbach, vice president Porsche Motorsport. “The livery on our two Porsche 963 cars looks fantastic. After our successful Mobil 1-themed appearance at Sebring, this is another highlight as we celebrate 75 years of Porsche Motorsport. I’m very excited to see how fans respond to this design.” PPM currently heads both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ standings heading into the ...