IMSA: PC class plays well at Long Beach

IMSA's inclusion of its Prototype Challenge class for last weekend's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Long Beach added seven cars to the grid and earned a generally positive impression of having improved the quality of the 100-minute event.

Pre-event concerns over driving standards for the Pro-Am class on the unforgiving city streets proved to be unfounded as contact was kept to a minimum by the PC drivers. Only one brief caution period was required when impatience fostered contact between a PC and GTLM car, and the race's biggest crash – which took place on the final lap involving the No. 38 Performance Tech PC driven by Kyle Marcelli – did not involve other cars or influence the event's outcome.

"The one problem – and the worry we had – was the separation in lap time between the Prototypes and PC was very close," overall race winner (LEFT) Jordan Taylor told RACER. "So that was a pro and a con – if we'd caught them in a pack it could have been a problem, but that yellow prevented us from bunching up and kept it cleaner.

"They did do a good job. Every time I caught [a PC], they didn't do anything unexpected. It was cool to see them have a clean race."

IMSA President Scott Atherton was also pleased with how the PC class performed.

"We were confident that the addition of Prototype Challenge to the BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach would enhance an already terrific event with the Prototype and GT Le Mans classes," Atherton told RACER. "Our PC teams and drivers have been upping their game, and with the latest technical enhancements to their racecars, we expected them to perform admirably. Looking back on the race now, it's clear that they delivered. This was a fantastic opportunity to showcase even more IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship content to a very strong Southern California audience and they didn't disappoint."

The next race for IMSA's PC cars – and the entire WeatherTech Championship paddock – takes place on April 29-May 1 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.