IMSA: Long Beach Resource Guide and Preview

The third IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race of 2016 gets underway on Friday at Long Beach. RACER will be on the ground reporting from the quick two-day event.

WEATHERTECH CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT SCHEDULE

Friday, April 15 (all times Eastern)
10:40 a.m.-12:40 p.m., Free Practice 1
8:00-8:25 p.m., Free Practice 2
8:35-9:30 p.m., Qualifying

Saturday, April 16
7:05-8:45 p.m., Race Start – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Round 3 (1 hour, 40 minutes)

FOUR POINTS OF INTEREST

1. THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER

Following two years of modest car counts with IMSA’s Prototype and GT Le Mans classes at Long Beach, the WeatherTech Championship has added a third class, PC, which has brought seven extra entries to the field. Along with PC, Prototype (eight) and GTLM (10) push the grid to 25 cars for the 100-minute event. The GT Daytona class returns in two weeks at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Increasing the total number of cars for IMSA’s Saturday afternoon BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach was a welcome change. But if there’s one reason to hold cautious optimism for the race, it’s the propensity for some drivers in the PC class to strike the barriers or other cars. For such a short race, an excess of caution periods could limit the quality of the IMSA event, and while there’s nothing stopping Prototype or GTLM drivers from bringing out the yellows, history says the PC class can make an almighty mess if they aren’t on their best behavior.

The central California-based PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports team leads the PC standings entering the event coming off fine second-place finishes at the first two rounds.

2. FORDS HIT THE BEACH

Ford’s brand-new twin-turbo V6 GTs will make their California debut at Long Beach. The Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team and its pair of low-slung GTLM coupes have been competitive at the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring, although contact or mechanical gremlins have kept the Nos. 66 and 67 from landing on the podium.

Using their reception in Florida as a guide, the Ford GTs could become instant fan favorites this weekend. More speed is expected from the Blue Oval’s halo cars, although with yet another new track for the GTs to master – this time a low-grip street circuit – the team will face a steep learning curve. Unlike the pre-season testing the FCGR program conducted at Daytona and Sebring, both cars will be starting from scratch in Long Beach. If there’s one saving grace, it’s the Ganassi team’s experience racing Daytona Prototypes and Indy cars on the beachside track. Data from those cars won’t directly translate to the GTs, but look for the team to find optimized setups faster than normal.

And with the team’s four Indy cars present for the Verizon IndyCar Series race, the total car count for Chip Ganassi Racing entries at Long Beach is six – the most the Indianapolis-based organization has ever brought to Shoreline Drive.

3. PROTOTYPE SHUFFLE

The points-leading Tequila Patron ESM team won’t be in attendance in Long Beach, leaving the full-time contenders to move ahead of the Honda-powered Ligier JS P2 program in the standings. With the ESM program in Silverstone concentrating on the opening FIA World Endurance Championship event of the year, Prototype’s regular contingent of four DPs, two Mazda P2s, Michael Shank’s Ligier-Honda, and the DeltaWing will view for the top spot in the championship.

Defending overall winners Wayne Taylor Racing will look to rebound from a poor showing at Sebring, and the de facto championship leaders, Action Express Racing, are focused on creating some distance from VisitFlorida Racing, which has IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay pulling double duty this weekend.

Mazda, with its national headquarters located in Southern California, is looking to Long Beach for an uninterrupted run, and the DeltaWing team hopes to make use of its information from the DWC13’s 2015 debut to intermingle with the bigger, heavier prototypes.

Not only will the championship-leading team be absent from the race, but the next driver in line is also parked for the event.

4. FIRST RACE WITHOUT SCOOTER

Scott Pruett sits directly behind the ESM drivers in the standings after placing fourth in the No. 5 AXR Corvette DP at Daytona and second in the No. 31 AXR car at Sebring. The 56-year-old California native has transitioned from the Prototype class to helping Lexus prepare for its pending debut in GTD. While Pruett will be at Long Beach, it will be strange to have the top driver in the standings (after ESM) walking around without a car to drive.