2021 Grand Prix of Long Beach
The 2021 Grand Prix of Long Beach (formally known as the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach) was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Long Beach street circuit in Long Beach, California on September 25, 2021. It was the tenth round of the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and seventh the round of 2021 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.
Background
The race marked IMSA's return to Long Beach after the previous year's edition was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally scheduled to be run on April 17, 2021, the race was to kick off the two "West Coast Swing" rounds also consisting of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, however, the event postponed to September 25, 2021, due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic in California.[1] As a result of getting postponed, the race was set to clash with the 6 Hours of Fuji WEC race at Fuji, however the WEC event would get cancelled.[2] The race marked the first time since the 2021 Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio where spectators and fans were mandated to wear masks.[3] GTD Would be returning to Long Beach for the first time since 2017.
On September 17, 2021, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event.[4] In GTD, the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 received a 10 kilogram weight increase while the Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo got a fuel capacity reduction of 2 liters. No changes were made in DPi and GTLM.
Entries
A total of 26 cars took part in the event, split across 3 classes. 6 cars were entered in DPi, 3 in GTLM, 17 and in GTD.[5][6] In GTLM, Cooper MacNeil would be joined by Mathieu Jaminet in the #79 WeatherTech Racing entry. GTD saw Scuderia Corsa return for the first time since Daytona. GMG Racing would be competing in the series for the first time since 2014 featuring drivers Kyle Washington and James Sofronas.[7] US RaceTronics also made their IMSA SportsCar Championship debut at this event.[8]
Qualifying
Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by 
.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing | Felipe Nasr | 1:11.620 | _ | 1 |
| 2 | DPi | 01 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Kevin Magnussen | 1:11.724 | +0.104 | 2 |
| 3 | DPi | 5 | JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing | Loïc Duval | 1:11.827 | +0.207 | 3 |
| 4 | DPi | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian | Dane Cameron | 1:12.440 | +0.820 | 4 |
| 5 | DPi | 10 | Konica Minolta Acura | Filipe Albuquerque | 1:12.461 | +0.841 | 5 |
| 6 | DPi | 55 | Mazda Motorsports | Oliver Jarvis | 1:13.179 | +1.559 | 6 |
| 7 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing | Jordan Taylor | 1:16.801 | +5.181 | 7 |
| 8 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing | Tommy Milner | 1:17.098 | +5.478 | 8 |
| 9 | GTD | 1 | Paul Miller Racing | Madison Snow | 1:19.475 | +7.855 | 9 |
| 10 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport | Robby Foley | 1:19.609 | +7.989 | 10 |
| 11 | GTLM | 79 | WeatherTech Racing | Cooper MacNeil | 1:19.686 | +8.066 | 11 |
| 12 | GTD | 39 | CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing | Richard Heistand | 1:19.707 | +8.087 | 12 |
| 13 | GTD | 9 | Pfaff Motorsports | Zacharie Robichon | 1:19.772 | +8.152 | 16 |
| 14 | GTD | 63 | Scuderia Corsa | Daniel Mancinelli | 1:19.849 | +8.229 | 17 |
| 15 | GTD | 16 | Wright Motorsports | Trent Hindman | 1:20.018 | +8.398 | 13 |
| 16 | GTD | 14 | Vasser-Sullivan Racing | Aaron Telitz | 1:20.083 | +8.463 | 14 |
| 17 | GTD | 23 | Heart of Racing Team | Roman De Angelis | 1:20.196 | +8.576 | 15 |
| 18 | GTD | 12 | Vasser-Sullivan Racing | Frankie Montecalvo | 1:20.221 | +8.601 | 18 |
| 19 | GTD | 66 | Gradient Racing | Till Bechtolsheimer | 1:20.272 | +8.652 | 19 |
| 20 | GTD | 26 | O'Gara Motorsport - USRT | Steven Aghakhani | 1:20.283 | +8.663 | 20 |
| 21 | GTD | 19 | GRT Grasser Racing Team | Misha Goikhberg | 1:20.498 | +8.878 | 21 |
| 22 | GTD | 76 | Compass Racing | Matt McMurry | 1:20.635 | +9.015 | 22 |
| 23 | GTD | 27 | Heart of Racing Team | Ian James | 1:21.133 | +9.513 | 23 |
| 24 | GTD | 88 | Team Hardpoint | Rob Ferriol | 1:21.167 | +9.547 | 24 |
| 25 | GTD | 44 | Magnus Racing with Archangel Motorsports | John Potter | 1:21.697 | +10.077 | 25 |
| 26 | GTD | 34 | GMG Racing | Kyle Washington | 1:22.435 | +10.815 | 26 |
| Sources:[9][10][11] | |||||||
Results
Class winners are denoted in bold and .
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References
- "Long Beach, Laguna Seca Rounds Moved to September". sportscar365.com. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- Llyod, Daniel (7 July 2021). "6H Fuji Canceled, Replaced with Second Bahrain Date". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- Dagys, John (20 September 2021). "Revised COVID-19 Protocol for Long Beach". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- Dagys, John (17 September 2021). "Ferrari 488 GT3 Gets Weight Increase for Long Beach". sportscar365.com.
- "GTD Additions See Long Beach Entry Boosted To 26 Cars". dailysportscar.com. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- Dagys, John (15 September 2021). "GMG, Scuderia Corsa Boost Long Beach Entry to 26 Cars". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- Dagys, John (21 September 2021). "Washington to Join Sofronas in GMG Porsche at Long Beach". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- Dagys, John (1 September 2021). "Aghakhani, Eidson Set for Mercedes Entry in Long Beach". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- "DPi-qualifying.pdf" (PDF). motorsports.nbcsports.com. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
- "Long-Beach_Results_Qualifying-GTD-Points-GTLM-Position-and-Points.pdf" (PDF). motorsports.nbcsports.com. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
- "Long-Beach_Results_Qualifying-GTD-Position.pdf" (PDF). motorsports.nbcsports.com. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
- "03_Results_Race_Unofficial.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved April 6, 2023.