2022 Grand Prix of Long Beach
The 2022 Grand Prix of Long Beach (formally known as the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach) was a sports car race held at Long Beach street circuit in Long Beach, California on April 9, 2022. It was the third round of the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship and the first round of the 2022 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.
Background
On March 31, 2022, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the DPi, GTD Pro, and GTD classes. In DPi, the Acura ARX-05 received a 10 kilogram weight break. In GTD Pro and GTD, the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD received a 10 kilogram weight increase, a 0.4mm smaller air restrictor, and a fuel capacity reduction of 4 liters. The BMW M4 GT3 lost 17 horsepower as well a 20 kilogram weight break and a fuel capacity reduction of 8 liters. The Porsche 911 GT3 R was given a 2mm larger air restrictor while the Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 received an increase in turbo boost pressure. The McLaren 720S GT3 was given a 15 kilogram weight break.[1]
Entries
A total of 26 cars took part in the event, split across three classes. 6 were entered in DPi, 6 in GTD Pro, and 15 in GTD.[2] The only change from the previous round in DPi was the absence of Ally Cadillac Racing. In GTD Pro, Risi Competizione, TR3 Racing, and Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR were absent. BMW M Team RLL scaled down to 1 car in order to focus on development for LMDh in 2023.[3] WeatherTech Racing also scaled down to 1 car and changed its full season entry from using the Porsche 911 GT3 R to the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.[4] In GTD, NTE Sport skipped after its transporter suffered a tire blowout en route to the event.[5] GMG Racing made its first appearance since the 2021 Long Beach round while Crucial Motorsports made its sprint debut at this event.[6] Rick Ware Racing made its season debut with drivers Ryan Eversley and Aidan Read.
Qualifying
Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold 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 with Curb-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[lower-alpha 1] |
| 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[lower-alpha 2] |
| 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 with Optimum 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 RESULTS STARTING GRID | |||||||
- The no. 25 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports qualifying time was invalidated post-session due to a technical infraction, and remaining valid time of 1:21.425 was used for grid instead.
- The no. 96 Turner Motorsport qualifying time was invalidated post-session due to a technical infraction, and remaining valid time of 1:19.254 was used for grid instead.
Race
Results
Class winners are denoted in bold and .
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- 1 The #25 BMW M Team RLL entry was demoted to last in the GTD Pro class as Connor De Phillippi exceeded maximum drive time for the race.[7]
References
- Dagys, John (March 31, 2022). "Corvette, BMW Hit With BoP Changes Ahead of Long Beach". sportscar365.com. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
- Dagys, John (March 30, 2022). "26 Entries for Long Beach". sportscar365.com. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
- Dagys, John (March 18, 2022). "BMW Team RLL to Focus on Single Entry Post-Sebring". sportscar365.com. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
- Dagys, John (March 29, 2022). "WeatherTech Racing Switches to Mercedes for Rest of Season". sportscar365.com. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
- Dagys, John (April 7, 2022). "Long Beach Thursday Notebook". sportscar365.com. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
- Dagys, John (March 23, 2022). "Crucial to Make Sprint Cup Debut at Long Beach". sportscar365.com. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
- SP 22-20