Acura Meyer Shank Racing Claims Victory at IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s #93 Acura ARX-06, driven by Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande, secured victory at the IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, marking Acura’s first IMSA overall win at Long Beach since 2013. The race, held under Acura’s title sponsorship since 2019, featured a series of incidents that heavily influenced the outcome.
Yelloly took an early lead but was forced to relinquish it to Jack Aitken in the #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R after being impeded by slower traffic. Strategic pit timing allowed Yelloly to regain the lead following a second full-course caution caused by contact between BMW M Team WRT’s Philipp Eng and JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Laurin Heinrich.
Despite further cautions—including one triggered by Ricky Taylor’s crash and the final yellow caused by Corey Lewis’s incident with Andrea Caldarelli—the #93 Acura maintained its lead, finishing a mere eight-tenths of a second ahead of the #31 Cadillac. Porsche’s factory entries demonstrated resilience, with Kévin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor finishing third in the #6 Porsche 963, followed closely by Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer in the #7 car, and the #24 WRT BMW in fifth.
In GTP standings, Heinrich’s aggressive driving contributed to his sixth-place finish, despite a controversial incident involving Eng that was ruled as Eng’s fault by Race Control.
In the GTD class, Vasser Sullivan Racing’s #12 Lexus RC F GT3, driven by Benjamin Pedersen and Aaron Telitz, achieved its first win of the year. The Lexus overtook the leading #36 DXDT Racing Corvette after a strong performance from Robert Wickens in the opening stint. The victory came with a five-second margin over the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW. The podium was completed by Conquest Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will reconvene on May 3 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship.
Race Results:
- Overall Winner: #93 Acura ARX-06 (Yelloly/van der Zande)
- 2nd Place: #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R (Aitken)
- 3rd Place: #6 Porsche 963 (Estre/Vanthoor)
GTD Class Results:
- Winner: #12 Lexus RC F GT3 (Pedersen/Telitz)
- 2nd Place: #96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO (Gallagher/Foley)
- 3rd Place: #34 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo (Franco/Costa)
