The2019 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix was asports car race sanctioned by theInternational Motor Sports Association (IMSA). It was held atLong Beach street circuit inLong Beach, California on 13 April 2019. The race was the third round of the2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
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International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2018.[1] It was the sixth consecutive year it was part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the thirteenth annual running of the race, counting the period between 2006 and 2013 when it was a round of theRolex Sports Car Series and theAmerican Le Mans Series respectively. The BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix was the third of twelve scheduled sports carendurance races of 2019 by IMSA, the shortest of the season in terms of distance, and it was the first round not held as part of the North American Endurance Cup.[2] The race was held at the eleven-turn 1.968 mi (3.167 km)Long Beach street circuit inLong Beach, California on April 13, 2019.[3]
On 4 April 2019, IMSA released a technical bulletin regarding the Balance of Performance for the race. In the Daytona Prototype International (DPi) class, theAcura ARX-05 was made 20 kilograms lighter, and received an increase in turbo boost, along with the Nissan DPi. TheMazda RT24-P was restricted in its boost, while being made five kilograms lighter. TheCadillac DPi-V.R, which won the previous two events of the 2019 season, was given a 10 kilogram increase. In GT Le Mans (GTLM), there were less significant changes. The Porsche 911 RSR was lightened by 10 kilograms, while the Ford GT had a slight reduction in boost.[4]
Before the race,Jordan Taylor andRenger van der Zande led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 67 points, ahead ofPipo Derani,Felipe Nasr, andEric Curran on countback followed byHélio Castroneves,Ricky Taylor, andAlexander Rossi in third position with 58 points.[5] With 63 points,Philipp Eng led the GTLM Drivers' Championship by 2 points ahead ofPatrick Pilet,Nick Tandy, andFrédéric Makowiecki in second position followed byConnor De Phillippi andColton Herta with 59 points in third position.[5]Cadillac andPorsche were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships whileKonica Minolta Cadillac andPorsche GT Team each led their own Teams' Championships.[5]
A total of 19 cars took part in the event split across two classes. There were 11 cars in theDaytona Prototype International class, and eight entries inGT Le Mans (GTLM). TheLe Mans Prototype (LMP2) andGT Daytona (GTD) classes would not be participating in the event. There were few changes to the full-season lineups in either class.Kyle Kaiser, who joined the No. 50Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R for the 24 Hours of Daytona, returned to the car alongside full-season driverWill Owen on a one-race deal.[6] The Thursday before the race, it was announced one ofFord Chip Ganassi Racing's full-season drivers,Joey Hand, would be unable to compete due to suffering symptoms of the flu. His place would be taken by one of their endurance-event drivers,Sébastien Bourdais, who would also be competing in the IndyCar event.[7]
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, one on Friday morning and one on Friday afternoon. The first session lasted two hours on Friday morning while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted 45 minutes.[8]
In the first practice session,Felipe Nasr set the fastest lap in the No. 31Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac, with a time of 1:12.394.Ricky Taylor's No. 7 Acura was second fastest followed byJuan Pablo Montoya in the sister No. 6Acura Team Penske entry.[9] The GTLM class was topped by the No. 911Porsche GT TeamPorsche 911 RSR ofNick Tandy with a time of 1:17.549, ahead of teammateEarl Bamber in the sister No. 912 Porsche.Oliver Gavin was third fastest in the No. 4 Corvette followed byJesse Krohn in the No. 24 BMW andAntonio García rounded out the top five.[10][11] The session wasred flagged twice for on-track accidents. 50 minutes into the session,Misha Goikhberg crashed the No. 85JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac at the turn 4 barrier.[9] 17 minutes later,Simon Trummer spun the No. 84JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac before hitting the turn 1 tire wall and causing the second red flag.[12]
Hélio Castroneves led the final session in the No. 7 Acura, with a lap time of 1:11.918.Felipe Nasr's No. 31 Cadillac was second fastest followed byJonathan Bomarito in the No. 55 Mazda.[13] The GTLM class was topped by the No. 912Porsche GT TeamPorsche 911 RSR ofLaurens Vanthoor with a time of 1:16.710.Nick Tandy in the sister No. 911 Porsche was second fastest followed byOliver Gavin in the No. 4 Corvette.[14]
Friday's late afternoon qualification session into was broken two sessions that lasted 15 minutes each.[8] Cars in GTLM were sent out first and, after a ten-minute interval, DPi vehicles drove onto the track. All cars were required to be driven by one participant and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest lap.[15] IMSA then arranged the grid so that the DPi field started in front of all GTLM cars.
Hélio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura set a new track record to clinch his firstpole position of the season with a time of 1 minute and 11.332 seconds.[16][17] He was joined on thegrid's front row by Nasr in the No. 31 Cadillac who was 0.218 seconds slower.[17] Following in third was the No. 6 Acura ofJuan Pablo Montoya with the No. 5Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac ofJoão Barbosa in fourth.[16]Jonathan Bomarito's No. 55 Mazda set the fifth fastest time, but would start at the back of the DPi field afterMazda Team Joest rebuilt the car with a spare monocoque chassis as a result of Bomarito crashing at turn 6.[18]
In GTLM,Nick Tandy clinched his first pole position of the season, with his fastest lap being 0.064 seconds faster than his teammate Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 912 Porsche.[19] Following in third wasOliver Gavin's No. 4 Corvette with the No. 66 Ford GT ofSébastien Bourdais in fourth.[19]Antonio García completed the top five in the No. 3 Corvette followed byRyan Briscoe's No. 67 Ford GT in sixth, and bothBMW Team RLL entries rounded out the GTLM qualifiers.[16]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold and by ‡.
Sixth-place finishers Derani and Nasr took the lead of the DPi Drivers' Championship with 92 points while Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande dropped to fourth. Cameron and Montoya jumped to fifth after being seventh coming into Long Beach.[22] With a total of 91 points, Bamber and Vanthoor's victory allowed them to take the lead of the GTLM Drivers' Championship while the absent Eng dropped to ninth. García and Magnussen advanced from fifth to third.[22] Cadillac and Porsche continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Porsche GT Team continued kept their advantage in the GTLM Teams' Championships.[22]Whelen Engineering Racing took the lead of the DPi Teams' Championship with nine rounds left in the season.[22]
Class winners are denoted inbold and ‡.
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| IMSA SportsCar Championship | ||
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| Previous race: 12 Hours of Sebring | 2019 season | Next race: Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio |
