Entry List Notebook – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

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First Sprint Race for GTP, GTD Highlights 50th Anniversary Race Weekend

April 2, 2025

By Tony DiZinno IMSA Wire Service

Entry List (Click Here)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – IMSA’s annual April pivot in direction (cross-country from Florida to California), race length (24 and 12 hours down to 100 minutes), circuit type (infield road course/oval and former airfield to a downtown street circuit) and class structure (all four IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship classes down to two) occurs once more in 2025 with the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend.

IMSA’s history on the famed 1.968-mile streets of Long Beach – a race weekend often called “America’s Fastest Beach Party” – spans to the early 1990s with GTO and GTU racing before being part of the weekend docket consistently since 2006. Since the WeatherTech Championship unified in 2014, Long Beach has been a part of the calendar all years except 2020 when the race didn’t happen due to the global pandemic.

A field of 27 cars from 11 manufacturers are set to tackle the 100-minute race, where pit strategy is one of the biggest keys to win, split among 11 Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) cars and 16 Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) cars. The 14 full-season GTD entries expand to include additional one-off entries for Vasser Sullivan Racing and AO Racing.

Robert Wickens’ debut in a GTD entry also stands out; aided by Bosch’s new electronic hand control braking package installed in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R, Wickens advances into the WeatherTech Championship for the first time since a one-off appearance in the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona. He’ll share his car with Corvette Racing factory ace Tommy Milner, a four-time Long Beach winner available to drive alongside with Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) off this weekend.

Weekend fast facts and entry notes are below:

Fast Facts

Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

Long Beach Street Course – Long Beach, California

April 11-12, 2025

Race Day/Time: Saturday, April 12 – 5:00 p.m. ET

NBC Sports Coverage: USA Network and Peacock from 5:00-7:00 p.m. (IMSA.com/TVLive, YouTube.com/@IMSAOfficial outside the U.S.)

Live Qualifying Stream: Friday, April 11 – 8:05 p.m. ET (Peacock, IMSA.com/TVLive in the U.S., YouTube.com/@IMSAOfficial outside the U.S.)

IMSA Radio Coverage: Audio via XM 206, Web/App 996

Circuit Type: 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street course

Race Length: 100 minutes

Classes Competing: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Grand Touring Daytona (GTD)

Track Social Media:

X/Twitter: Twitter.com/GPLongBeach
Instagram: Instagram.com/GPLongBeach
Facebook: Facebook.com/GrandPrixLB

Event Hashtags: #IMSA, #AcuraGPLB

WeatherTech Championship Track Records

GTP: Filipe Albuquerque, Acura ARX-06, 1:09.909 / 101.343 mph, April 2023

GTD: Parker Thompson, Lexus RC F GT3, 1:17.357 / 91.585 mph, April 2024

2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Winners:

GTP: Renger van der Zande/Sebastien Bourdais, No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R

GTD: Parker Thompson/Ben Barnicoat, No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3

2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Motul Pole Award Winners:

GTP: Pipo Derani, No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R

GTD: Parker Thompson, No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3

Storylines

The Hard Pivot to the Streets: With the “36 Hours of Florida” in the books, IMSA heads west to Long Beach to the one of the two shortest races on the calendar: the 100-minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. There are five Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and nine Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) manufacturers, with three manufacturers (Aston Martin, BMW, Porsche) competing in both classes.
Wickens’ Corvette Debut: One of the most anticipated WeatherTech Championship GTD debuts comes as Robert Wickens makes his first start in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which carries a special Bosch electronic hand control braking package. Never satisfied and focused on his driving return since his 2018 accident that left him partially paralyzed, the 2023 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Touring Car (TCR) class champion races at a track where he raced 18 years ago in Formula Atlantic in 2007, seven years ago in IndyCar in 2018, and where he’s coached IndyCar drivers since.
To Change or Not To Change?: The last two GTP winners at Long Beach have opted for the same winning strategy: no tire change on the one scheduled pit stop in the 100-minute race. In both 2023 for Porsche Penske Motorsports and 2024 for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing, that decision to double stint the starting set of Michelin tires to the finish has proved pivotal to victory. As in 2024, Michelin has brought its soft compound tires for GTP teams to use in the 2025 race.
A Half Century of Awesomeness: The Long Beach event celebrates both its 50th running and 50th anniversary in 2025, and sports car racing has been a part of the weekend for more than 20 years. IMSA held races here in the 1990s, while GRAND-AM staged a single race in 2006, the American Le Mans Series competed from 2007 through 2013 and IMSA has raced here since 2014. Who will win this historic trip to “The Beach?”
Shriek on the Streets: It’s been more than a decade since the last time an Aston Martin V12 engine’s note echoed off the buildings in Long Beach in ALMS. Simon Pagenaud’s HRC ARX-01c passed Adrian Fernandez’s Lola B09/60 Aston Martin on the last lap for the overall win in 2010. Aston Martin got its win a year later in the hands of Muscle Milk Pickett Racing, in a Lola B08/62 Aston Martin. Now, the new Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie will make its street course debut and its sound will be worth the price of admission.

Who’s Hot?

No. 7 Porsche: It’s been a picture-perfect start for the Nick Tandy and Felipe Nasr pairing in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, with back-to-back overall and GTP wins in Florida. The Porsche 963 won its first race globally at Long Beach in 2023 with Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet.
Winward, Heart of Racing, Turner, Wright: Through two GTD races, four cars: the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO and No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) are the only cars in class with two top-six finishes in both races.

Who’s Good Here?

Tommy Milner: With GTD PRO off this race, Corvette Racing customer program DXDT Racing enlists Milner’s services to share the No. 36 Corvette Z06 GT3.R with Robert Wickens. Milner is the active leader in Long Beach wins with four, all in the former GT Le Mans class.
Cadillac: Although Acura is the race weekend entitlement partner, Cadillac has made Long Beach victory lane feel like home. Cadillac has won six of the last seven top-class prototype races at Long Beach since 2017, losing only in 2023.
Lexus: The Vasser Sullivan Racing team goes for its third straight Long Beach win, with its first two split between GTD PRO in 2023 and GTD in 2024.

Previous Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Winners in 2025 Field (15)