The2022 Grand Prix of Long Beach (formally known as theAcura Grand Prix of Long Beach) was asports car race held atLong Beach street circuit inLong Beach, California on April 9, 2022. It was the third round of the2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship and the first round of the 2022 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.
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International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2021.[1] It was the eighth year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the fourteenth 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 2022 Grand Prix of Long Beach was the third of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2022 by IMSA, the shortest of the season in terms of distance, and it was the first round held as part of the WeatherTech Sprint 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 9, 2022.[3]
On March 31, 2022, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outliningBalance of Performance for the DPi, GTD Pro, and GTD classes. In DPi, theAcura ARX-05 received a 10 kilogram weight break. In GTD Pro and GTD, theChevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD received a 10 kilogram weight increase, a 0.4mm smaller air restrictor, and a fuel capacity reduction of 4 liters. TheBMW M4 GT3 lost 17 horsepower as well a 20 kilogram weight break and a fuel capacity reduction of 8 liters. ThePorsche 911 GT3 R was given a 2mm larger air restrictor while theAcura NSX GT3 Evo22 received an increase in turbo boost pressure. TheMcLaren 720S GT3 was given a 15 kilogram weight break.[4]
Before the race,Tristan Vautier,Richard Westbrook, andLoïc Duval led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 676 points, 11 points ahead ofFilipe Albuquerque,Ricky Taylor, andWill Stevens in second followed byTom Blomqvist andOliver Jarvis in third with 663 points.[5] With 668 points, the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship was led byMatt Campbell,Mathieu Jaminet, andFelipe Nasr with a thirteen-point advantage overAntonio García,Jordan Taylor, andNicky Catsburg.[5] With 672 points,Stevan McAleer andMike Skeen led the GTD Drivers' Championship, 53 points ahead ofLuís Pérez Companc,Simon Mann, andToni Vilander in second followed by Ryan Hardwick,Jan Heylen, andZacharie Robichon in third with 615 points.[5]Cadillac,Porsche, andFerrari were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, whileJDC-Miller MotorSports, Pfaff Motorsports, and Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports each led their own Teams' Championships.[5]
A total of 26 cars took part in the event, split across three classes. 6 were entered inDPi, 6 inGTD Pro, and 15 inGTD.[6] The only change from the previous round in DPi was the absence ofAlly Cadillac Racing. In GTD Pro,Risi Competizione,TR3 Racing, and Racers Edge Motorsports withWTR were absent.BMW M Team RLL scaled down to 1 car in order to focus on development for LMDh in 2023.[7]WeatherTech Racing also scaled down to 1 car and changed its full season entry from using thePorsche 911 GT3 R to theMercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.[8] In GTD, NTE Sport skipped after its transporter suffered a tire blowout en route to the event.[9]GMG Racing made its first appearance since the 2021 Long Beach round while Crucial Motorsports made its sprint debut at this event.[10]Rick Ware Racing made its season debut with driversRyan Eversley and Aidan Read.
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 90 minutes on Friday morning while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted 105 minutes.[11]
Friday's afternoon qualifying was broken into two sessions, with one session for the DPi, GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions.[11] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (GTD) classes requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put DPis ahead of the GTD Pro and GTD cars.[12]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold and by ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 01 |  Cadillac Racing |  Sébastien Bourdais | 1:09.472 | - | 1‡ |
| 2 | DPi | 02 | Cadillac Racing |  Alex Lynn | 1:09.833 | +0.361 | 2 |
| 3 | DPi | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing withCurb-Agajanian | Tom Blomqvist | 1:09.939 | +0.467 | 3 |
| 4 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing |  Pipo Derani | 1:10.001 | +0.529 | 4 |
| 5 | DPi | 5 | JDC-Miller MotorSports | Tristan Vautier | 1:10.376 | +0.904 | 5 |
| 6 | DPi | 10 | WTR - Konica Minolta Acura |  Filipe Albuquerque | 1:10.576 | +1.104 | 6 |
| 7 | GTD Pro | 3 | Corvette Racing | Jordan Taylor | 1:18.048 | +8.576 | 7‡ |
| 8 | GTD Pro | 25 | BMW M Team RLL | Connor De Phillippi | 1:18.115 | +8.643 | 25[a] |
| 9 | GTD Pro | 9 |  Pfaff Motorsports | Mathieu Jaminet | 1:18.173 | +8.701 | 8 |
| 10 | GTD Pro | 23 | Heart of Racing Team | Ross Gunn | 1:18.437 | +8.965 | 9 |
| 11 | GTD | 1 | Paul Miller Racing | Madison Snow | 1:18.487 | +9.015 | 10‡ |
| 12 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport | Robby Foley | 1:18.599 | +9.127 | 18[b] |
| 13 | GTD Pro | 14 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Jack Hawksworth | 1:18.627 | +9.155 | 11 |
| 14 | GTD | 32 | Team Korthoff Motorsports | Mike Skeen | 1:18.918 | +9.446 | 12 |
| 15 | GTD | 59 | Crucial Motorsports | Jon Miller | 1:18.932 | +9.460 | 13 |
| 16 | GTD | 57 | Winward Racing | Russell Ward | 1:18.973 | +9.501 | 14 |
| 17 | GTD | 66 | Gradient Racing | Marc Miller | 1:19.146 | +9.674 | 15 |
| 18 | GTD | 27 | Heart of Racing Team | Roman De Angelis | 1:19.181 | +9.709 | 16 |
| 19 | GTD | 12 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Frankie Montecalvo | 1:19.181 | +9.709 | 17 |
| 20 | GTD | 51 |  RWR Eurasia Motorsport |  Aidan Read | 1:19.366 | +9.894 | 19 |
| 21 | GTD | 70 | Inception Racing withOptimum Motorsport | Brendan Iribe | 1:19.385 | +9.913 | 20 |
| 22 | GTD | 39 | CarBahn with Peregrine Racing | Robert Megennis | 1:19.742 | +10.270 | 21 |
| 23 | GTD Pro | 79 | WeatherTech Racing | Cooper MacNeil | 1:19.743 | +10.271 | 22 |
| 24 | GTD | 16 | Wright Motorsports | Ryan Hardwick | 1:20.072 | +10.600 | 23 |
| 25 | GTD | 99 | Team Hardpoint | Rob Ferriol | 1:21.079 | +11.607 | 24 |
| 26 | GTD | 34 | GMG Racing | Kyle Washington | 1:23.938 | +14.466 | 26 |
| QUALIFYING RESULTSSTARTING GRID | |||||||
As a result of finishing second place, Bamber and Lynn took the lead of the DPi Drivers' Championship with 1005 points. Bourdais and van der Zande advanced from seventh to fifth while Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor dropped from second to fourth.[13] As a result of winning the race, Gunn and Riberas advanced from tenth to fifth in the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship. Jordan Taylor and Antonio García jumped from second to first while MacNeil advanced from ninth to fourth.[13] GTD drivers, teams, and manufactures did not score full season points due to the event only counting towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. Cadillac continued to top the DPi Manufactures' Championship while Chevrolet took the lead of the GTD Pro Manufactures' Championship. Cadillac Racing and Corvette Racing leaders of their respective class Teams' Championships with ten rounds remaining.[13]
Class winners are denoted inbold and ‡.
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| IMSA SportsCar Championship | ||
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| Previous race: 2022 12 Hours of Sebring | 2022 season | Next race: 2022 Hyundai Monterey SportsCar Championship |
