Meyer Shank Racing Finds Redemption in FP2 in Long Beach

GTP

After a disappointing finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring. The Meyer Shank Racing Acura top the overall table setting a 1m10.391s lap. Behind was the Konica Minolta Acura setting a 1m10.714s. This was a great showing for the Acura’s in their title grand prix. Rounding out the top 3 was the No. 25 of BMW Team RLL. Prior to the race weekend it was clear to the BMW side that they wanted to fight for podiums and if this FP2 result is any indication to how qualifying will go they appear to be in good form. The second RLL Racing BMW finished FP2 fifth fastest 1.618s behind the session leader. 12 Hour of Sebring winner Whelen Engineering No. 31 were only able to post a 1m11.816 leaving them 4th fastest.

GTD Pro

Vasser Sullivan were the fastest in the truncated GTD Pro class. Only 5 cars entered the competition this weekend leaving top point finishes up for grabs for all of the teams. Pfaff Motorsports who won the class in Sebring went 2nd fastest in GTD Pro setting a 1m18.300s. They were 1 tenth off of the class leader. The WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 was the sole GTD Pro car that failed to hang with the rest of the pack. The No. 79 finished 18th overall behind 5 GTD class cars.

GTD

Continuing the Acura success the GTD class was led by the Acura NSX GT3 of Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR setting a 1m18.516s; a time good enough for 13th overall. The Porsches seemingly are struggling with lap times with the Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 911 GT3 R finishing FP2 in 24th overall and 11th fastest in class. The sister Kellymoss with Riley car finished at the bottom of the table behind Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Full FP2 results are Below

Qualifying begins at 5:10pm local time.

The NTT IndyCar Series heads to Long Beach for the Long Beach Grand Prix this weekend in sunny California. Action kicks off tomorrow April 14th 2023 with free practice 1. This weekend is a co-sponsored event between the NTT IndyCar Series and the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. You can find the full weekend schedule below.

ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH WEEKEND START TIMES

(All times are Pacific Time)

Friday, April 14

7:45-8:15 am: Porsche Carrera Cup practice
9-10am: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice
10:15-10:35am: Historic Motor Sports Association (HMSA) practice
11:15am-11:55am: Porsche Carrera Cup practice
12:10-12:30 pm: Stadium Super Trucks practice
12:45-2:30 pm: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice
3-4:15 pm: NTT IndyCar Series practice
4:30-5 pm: Porsche Carrera Cup qualifying
5:10-6 pm: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying
6:30-6:50 pm: Super Drift Challenge practice
7-8:30 pm: Formula D Super Drift Challenge, Race 1

Saturday, April 15

7:45-8:05 am: HMSA practice
8:45 a.m.-9:45 pm: NTT IndyCar Series practice
11:20-11:40 pm: HMSA, Race 1
12:05-1:20 pm: NTT IndyCar Series qualifying
2-4 pm: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race
4:30-5 pm: Stadium Super Trucks, Race 1
5:15-5:55 pm: Porsche Carrera Cup, Race 1
6:30-6:50 pm: Super Drift Challenge practice
7:00-8:30 pm: Formula D Super Drift Challenge, Race 2

Sunday, April 16

9am-9:30 pm: IndyCar warmup
10:45-11:05 pm: HMSA, Race 2
Noon: Driver introductions
12:38 p.m. – Command to start engines
12:45 p.m. – Green flag for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (85 laps/167.28 miles)

For more information on tickets and news visit IndyCar or IMSA for their respective information.

After coming off of a dramatic 2nd place finish in the GTP class at the 12 hours of Sebring. RLL Racing has it’s sights set on winning their first race of 2023. What better place to achieve that than Long Beach, CA this weekend? RLL Racing have prepped both the No. 24 and No. 25 GTP class BMW M V8 Hybrids to compete this weekend.

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be held on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit on April 15. The race is the shortest on the calendar and will run for 100 minutes which is stark contract to the Rolex 24 and 12 Hours of Sebring. All errors, pit spots, safety cars and other on track incidents will be amplified due to the reduced race time. Cars are only expected to make on pit stop in this grand prix. Qualifying is also very important in Long Beach. The tight streets and track limit proximity to the track walls make passing difficult. Given the short amount of time between qualifying and the race; teams will have very limited time to make any repairs or alterations that may result from incidents prior to the race.

Team Principal at RLL Racing, Bobby Rahal stated in a press release, “Long Beach is always a great event and we’ve had very good success there in past seasons with BMW. This year, with the BMW M Hybrid V8, it’s an entirely different animal. But as always, at a tight street circuit, where it’s tough to pass, a good qualifying effort is paramount.”

Connor De Phillippi, driver No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8:

“Long Beach is always a special event for us. It’s the shortest race of the year, our only street course, and the strategic possibilities are endless. On top of that, we have a nice wave of momentum from our Sebring podium and the entire team is making a big push to bring a lot of improvements from every department. We don’t have prototype experience there but I’m confident we can learn from last year and fight for another podium.”

Nick Yelloly, driver No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8:

“I am really looking forward to racing at Long Beach. It will be my first time there, as with most of the tracks in the US. After having watched it for many years on TV, to be finally driving is a dream come true, as I love street circuits. We will be looking to continue to make progress as we did in Sebring with our BMW V8 Hybrid and hopefully be at the sharp end of the field.”

Philipp Eng, driver No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8: 

“I am very much looking forward to racing at Long Beach, which is a new track for me. I have done a million laps around there on the simulator, so I can’t wait to race there in real life. We took some major steps in Sebring and our whole team is working very diligently so we keep improving.”

Augusto Farfus, driver No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8: 

“Long Beach will be a challenge for both me and Philipp. I believe we may be the only pair to have never driven this circuit. It is certainly a race I have been looking forward to and looks to be a very exciting event. I have been watching many videos. We will push hard to get up to speed. The team made some good improvements to our BMW at Sebring, and we will look to continue to close the gap to our competition.”

RLL Racing currently sits in 4th (586 points) in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship series. Ahead are Whelen Engineering Racing (1st; 670 points), Konica Minolta Racing (2nd; 660 points)and #01 Cadillac Racing (3rd: 600).

FP1 for the WeatherTech Championship kicks off at 12:00pm local time on April 14 2023. Check out the action at here.

The latest installment of the Win the Weekend series hosted by IMSA has been released. Episode 4 covers the events that led to the dramatic and epic finish of the 12 Hours of Sebring. You can read more about the 12 Hours of Sebring in our previous Post Race Recap. Check out Episode 4 below.

The Long Beach Grand Prix is the third installment of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. The event will serve as the first sprint race on the 2023 calendar. The Long Beach Grand Prix is a 1.968 mile long street course that features 11 turns formed on a temporary street course. The race length is 100 minutes and will only feature the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), GT Daytona (GTD) classes unlike the two previous 2023 events the Rolex 24 and the 12 Hours of Sebring which featured LMP2 and LMP3 cars. Last week IMSA released a technical bulletin that will affect some of the cars on grid. You can read more about that here: IMSA Technical Bulletin: Long Beach.

Today IMSA released the 28 car entry list representing 26 teams for the Long Beach Grand Prix. The entrants are as follows:

GTP

Porsche Penske Motorsport/Porsche 963 (2 cars will be entered)
Meyer Shank Racing/Acura ARX-06
Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing/Cadillac VSeries.R
BMW M Team RLL/BMW M Hybrid V8 (2 cars will be entered)
Konica Minolta Acura (Wayne Taylor Racing)/Acura ARX-06
Cadillac Racing/Cadillac VSeries.R

GTD Pro

The GTD Pro field is a bit thinned out for this race. Only 50% of the teams for 2023 season are included on the official pre-event entry roster

Corvette Racing/Corvette C8.R GTD
Pfaff Motorsports/Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
Vasser Sullivan/Lexus RC F GT3
Heart of Racing Team/Aston Martin Vantage GT3
WeatherTech Racing No. 79 Mercedes AMG GT3

GTD

Paul Miller Racing/BMW M4 GT3 Michelin BMW
Vasser Sullivan/Lexus RC F GT3
Heart of Racing Team/Aston Martin Vantage GT3
Team Korthoff Motorsports/Mercedes AMG GT3
Winward Racing/Mercedes AMG GT3
Gradient Racing/HPD Acura NSX GT3
Inception Racing/McLaren 720S GT3 EVO
Wright Motorsports/Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
Forte Racing/Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2
AO Racing/Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
Kellymoss with Riley/Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
Kellymoss with Riley (Thu Brule’ Skincare)/Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
Racers Edge Motorsports/Acura NSX GT3
Turner Motorsport Liqui Moly/BMW M4 GT3
Turner Motorsport McIntosh/BMW M4 GT3

You can catch the race by tuning in:

Race Day/Time:  Saturday, April 15 – 5:05 p.m. ET
NBC Sports Coverage: USA Network and Peacock from 5-7 p.m.
IMSA.com/TVLive Live Qualifying Stream:  Friday, April 14 – 8:10 p.m. ET
IMSA Radio:  All sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins Saturday, April 15 at 5 p.m. (Sirius 217, XM 207, Web/App 992)

Event Hashtags:  #IMSA, #AcuraGPLB, #AcuraGP, #LBGP, #GPLB

IMSA has recently posted the full broadcast of the 2023 12 hours of Sebring endurance race that took place March 18 2023. You can review our coverage of the event at 2023 Super Sebring Weekend WEC/IMSA Part 2. You can check out the video broadcast for the event here:

Part 1

12 Hours of Sebring Part 1

Part 2

12 Hours of Sebring Part 2

The WeatherTech Sportscar Championship heads to Long Beach, California for the Long Beach Grand Prix April 15th 2023. Be sure to tune in to catch the live broadcast.

Late last week IMSA release a technical bulletin outlining balances of performance changes ahead of the Long Beach Grand Prix which kicks off next week. In the bulletin GTP, GTD and GTD Pro cars are affected. The changes are as follows:

GTP

All 4 manufacturers in the GTP class were given minimum weight reductions. The smallest reduction was applied to the BMW M V8 Hybrids where they will be able to reduce weight by 4kg. Cadillac V-Series.R cars may reduce weight by 7kg and the Acura ARX-006s will received a 9kg reduction. The biggest reduction is applied to the Porsche 963s on grid. Porsche are allotted an overall reduction of 12kg which could have a major impact on pace at the Long Beach Street circuit based on its topography.

Maximum power output has also been changed for the BMW M V8 Hybrids and the Porsche 963s on grid. The BMWs received a 2 kilowatt (+2.7 horsepower or hp) increase in maximum output and a 2 MJ (+0.75hp) increase in stint energy. The Porsches were penalized with a 2 kilowatt (-2.7hp) reduction in max power and a 7MJ (-2.6hp) reduction in maximum stint energy. All car but the BMWs will see a slightly lower stint energy recapture rate compared to Sebring. It is yet to be determined if these changes will have a lasting effect on performance. Our first indication will be first free practice 1 for the WeatherTech Championship set to start for 9:00am PST on April 14th 2023.

GTD and GTD Pro

In the GTD and GTD Pro class the biggest changes come for the Lamborghini Huracan GT3s. They stand to receive a 21hp gain in average power output. The McLaren 720s GTE EVOs will see an increase of just under a 16.5hp gain. The Acura NSX GT3s will receive an 8.3hp increase. Amongst those with average power restrictions are the Corvette C8.R GTDs and the Mercedes AMG GT3s. Both will lose around 13hp in average power.

The Long Beach Grand Prix is a 1.968 mile long street course that features 11 turns. The Long Beach grand prix serves as the only street circuit on the IMSA calendar in 2023.

Super Sebring weekend at Sebring International Raceway is an iconic event that motorsports fans from around the world flock to see. Sebring International Raceway has hosted the legendary IMSA 12 hours of Sebring for 70 years. Some of the most iconic cars and drivers have forged their legacy here. This past weekend the 71^st Annual Mobil 1 12 hours of Sebring coincided with the FIA WEC 1000 miles of Sebring event for Super Sebring Weekend. Here is the Speed Trap Recap for Super Sebring Weekend 2023 – IMSA). Check out part 1 here for our review of the WEC 1000 Miles of Sebring.

IMSA

The WeatherTech Sportscar Championship kicked off Round 2 of the season at Sebring international Raceway in Florida. After 12 hours of racing the results were as follows:

GTP

After controversy ensued at the Rolex 24 with Meyer Shank Racing dropping points and being penalized for tire pressure data manipulation all eyes were pointed towards Sebring to determine if Meyer Shank Racing could redeem themselves on the track. Unfortunately, for the team, Sebring was a weekend to forget after the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura contemplated retiring from the race after an issue with the left rear wheel nut saw them lose a wheel with 80 minutes left in the race. The team would eventually return to the race but were 21 laps down with 30 minutes to go and were not able to amount an offensive to secure a second podium on the season.

However, where there is misfortune for one team there is victory for another and that team was Whelen Engineering Racing. Whelen’s No. 31 Cadillac V Series R cross the finish line in first place after a dramatic ending to the 12 hours of Sebring. With less than 20 minutes until the end of the race the top 3 cars in GTP; two of Porsche’s factory-run Penske 963s and the No. 10 Acura ARX-06 of Wayne Taylor Racing were all involved in a racing incident. Disaster struck after the No. 10 Acura was nudged off track and tried to rejoin ending in a collision.

This crash left the door wide open for the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V Series R and the No. 25 RLL Racing BMW M Hybrid to claim P1 and P2. P3 was awarded to the Porsche Penske No. 06 car as they were not able to continue and were leading the pack of the 3 crashed cars on the prior lap. It was a heart breaker for the Team Penske where were looking set to finish with a double podium had they been able to avoid this incident. Due to the fact that the other three cars in GTP had already previously retired there was no other movement in the field standings as the No. 31 time Whelen Engineering Cadillac crossed the line.

LMP2

The top spot in LMP2 was claimed by the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07. After an earlier seemingly race ending incident which saw the No. 8 car crash into the tire wall and destroy the front wing. The car was able to limp to the pits, replace the wing and work its way all the way to P1. The glory of endurance racing is that the race isn’t over until the checkered flag flies and Tower Motorsports took this to heart winning the LMP2 class by just 0.834s over TDS Racing. A margin that could have changed at any point on the final lap of the race. Tower Motorsports will look to continue to build off of this momentum to make a bid at consecutive LMP2 championships having won the title in 2022. LMP2 finished with 5 out of the 8 cars on the lead lap.

LMP3

LMP3 was a comfortable finish 1.601s with the No. 74 Riley Ligier JS P320 taking first place logging 309 laps and finishing one lap ahead of the LMP3 second and third place runners; AWA and JDC motorsports respectively. The No. 30 car JR III Ligier of had a previous commanding lead but was taken out of the race after making contact with a loose wheel that had came off of the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing LMP2 car and that ended their race. It was a very unlucky situation and in endurance racing you need a little luck to make it to the end. This was the first race of the season where LMP3 cars are awarded points so the JR III Racing team will sit atop the LMP3 class with 380 points.

Sean Creech Motorsports also had a frustrating day with a lap one crash and an electrical issue related to a short in the wiring harness loom that prevented any 1st gear shifts. “Tough day all around,” said team principal Sean Creech. “We were able to recover from the lap one incident well, but then had the electrical issue. We’ve had it before, so we tried what worked before, and it didn’t work. When you plug into the car, there’s a list of items to check and it turned out to be something not even on that list – just a bad wiring harness. After that, it was about getting as many points as possible. I thought Billy (Glavin, Jr lll team owner) and the 30 car was going to win but they got taken out and we got past them on that last lap, the hard way. But this crew, they’re the best. They work tirelessly, every one of them.”

GTD Pro

The GTD Pro race was fill with mishaps, runoff, mechanical failures and traffic woes on track. For winner Pfaff Motorsports their weekend seemingly had come to an end after vicious crash in qualifying left the car mangled and unable to rejoin the session. It is a testament to the crew at Pfaff that the car was able to be rebuilt over night and back out on grid to come away with the No. 9 Pfaff motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) finishing in first place at the end of 12 hours of grueling racing.

Driver Patrick Pilet managed to stretch one tank of fuel for one hour, 51 minutes to keep the No. 9 out of the pits and atop the leaderboard. The team benefited from multiple cautions that helped them implement a fuel-saving strategies while also making up for lost positions in qualifying. The No. 9 car was able to successfully avoid the carnage from the GTP crash with just under 20 minutes remaining in the race and the team cruised to victory with a 2.706s lead over the Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. The team released this video with displays of team triumph after the race weekend .

GTD

Lastly the Rolex 24 GTD The Heart of Racing Team had hoped to build on the momentum they had from the Rolex 24 win in Sebring for the 12, but things just did not go their way. Drivers Roman De Angelis, Marco Sorensen, and Ian James teamed in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTD and started off in 7th James drove through the first three hours of the race and turned the car over to  Sorensen and then De Angelis before turning the Aston Martin back to Sorensen, who drove the car into the lead on lap 185. The car was hit from behind and was later forced off track which ended the race for the Heart of Racing Team. The driver had a few comments regarding the events on the day.

Roman De Angelis — “The race was pretty chaotic, we went from the front to the back a couple of times. I thought we had a really good change at the end leading the last few hours, but some pretty stupid driving from somebody else put us in a bad position and the car couldn’t finish due to a broken suspension. That was not the way we wanted to end, at least we could have grabbed some good points at the end with the way our strategy turned out, but that’s racing. Hopefully we can come back and get some points in Long Beach.”

Marco Sorensen — “To end the weekend like we did just now was definitely not the plan. There isn’t a whole lot that I could have done differently when a car just cuts across the track. It shows a little bit of lack of perspective in general in the paddock, but it is what it is now. We can’t change it. We just have to come back at Long Beach. The team did a really really good job and the car was actually better than what we expected to have here at Sebring. It’s been a pleasure all weekend and we have a good car, it was just unfortunate.”  

Ian James — “I think the team performed really well, it was a pleasure to drive with Roman and Marco here at Sebring. I had three pretty good stints to start there and I really thought we were on for a good result, but unfortunately somebody else’s stupidity took us out. That is all part of racing, you have the highs and the lows. Our high was Daytona and now we are seeing a low. The most frustrating part is we had a car that could have won, but that’s okay because we will bounce back.” 

The No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 from Paul Miller Racing ended up finishing in first with the No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 from Turner Motorsports finishing in second. All in all it was a good day for BMW as a manufacturer securing two cars on podium in GTD and one in the GTP class with RLL Racing.

Pre-testing for the 1000 miles of Sebring is underway in Florida. In its 11^th season the World Endurance Championship (WEC) heads to Sebring International Raceway this weekend for The Prologue pre season test. The race will showcase nine different car manufacturers. The WEC entry list can be found here. The IMSA entry can be found here.

In addition, IMSA will also be hosting the 12 hours of Sebring next week. The full event week schedule is below.

2023 Super Sebring Event Schedule

Wednesday, March 15

8:55-9:25 a.m. — Practice No. 1 – Porsche Carrera Cup
9:40-10:40 a.m. — Practice No. 1 – Michelin Pilot Challenge
10:55-11:55 a.m. — Free Practice No. 1 – FIA WEC
12:10-12:50 p.m. — Practice No. 2 – Porsche Carrera Cup
1:05-2:05 p.m. — Practice No. 2 – Michelin Pilot Challenge
3:05-3:35 p.m. — Qualifying – Porsche Carrera Cup
3:50-4:05 p.m. — Qualifying – Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR
4:10-4:25 p.m. — Qualifying – Michelin Pilot Challenge GS
4:35-5:35 p.m. — Free Practice No. 2 – FIA WEC

Thursday, March 16

9:15-9:55 a.m. — Race No. 1 – Porsche Carrera Cup
10:10-11:40 a.m. — Practice No. 1 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
11-11:30 a.m. — Autograph Session – Michelin Pilot Challenge – Michelin Village on the Midway
11:55 Am-12:55 p.m. — Free Practice No. 3 – FIA WEC
1:20-3:20 p.m. — Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
3:25-3:45 p.m. — Corvette Car Corral Parade Laps – First 100 Cars
3:50-5:05 p.m. — Practice No. 2 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTD/LMP2/LMP3)
4:05-5:20 p.m. — Practice No. 2 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTP/GTD Pro)
5:35-6:15 p.m. — Race No. 2 – Porsche Carrera Cup
6:30-6:45 p.m. — Qualifying – FIA WEC (GTE Am)
6:55-7:10 p.m. — Qualifying – FIA WEC (LMP2)
7:20-7:35 p.m. — Qualifying – FIA WEC (Hypercar)
7:45-9:15 p.m. — Practice No. 3 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

Friday, March 17
8:55-9:05 a.m. — Practice No. 4 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
9:15-9:30 a.m. — Qualifying – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTD/GTD Pro)

9:30-10 a.m. — Autograph Session – FIA WEC – FIA WEC Paddock
9:40-9:55 a.m. — Qualifying – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (LMP2/LMP3)
10:05-10:25 a.m. — Qualifying – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTP)
10:30-10:55 a.m. — Lexus Car Corral Parade Laps
10:45-11:45 a.m. — Autograph Session – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – IMSA Paddock
11:10-11:30 a.m. — Grid Walk Opening – FIA WEC VIP By Invitation Only
12-8 p.m. — 1000 Miles of Sebring (or 8 Hours) for the FIA World Endurance Championship Saturday,

March 18
8-8:20 a.m. — Warm Up – WeatherTech SporsCar Championship
8:25-8:45 a.m. — Porscheplatz Car Corral Parade Laps – First 100 Cars
9-9:50 a.m. — Grid Walk and Driver Introductions – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
10:10 a.m.-10:10 p.m. — 71st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

After the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura crossed the finish line for the final time at the Rolex 24 the team garage was full of celebration and excitement. Unfortunately 5 weeks later that celebration was accompanied by a dark cloud. On March 8^th 2023, IMSA revealed that the Meyer Shank Racing team had run their tire below the minimum threshold set by Michelin and the team was actively manipulating tire pressure data during the race that is reported to IMSA. The tire pressure data manipulation was reported by Honda Performance Development themselves which may have impacted the punishment that followed.

The penalties were as follows:

-Loss of 200 team and driver points in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship
-Loss of all team and driver IMA Michelin Endurance Cup points
-Loss of Rolex 24 prize money coupled with a $50,000 fine
-Mike Shank placed on probation through June 30 2023
-Team Engineer Ryan McCarthy had his IMSA annual credentials revoked and IMSA membership suspended indefinitely

Meyer Shank Racing has accepted full responsibility for the issue and is looking forward to the 12 hours of Sebring to put this incident behind them. Fortunately for Meyer Shank Racing the win was not stripped and the drivers will get to keep their Daytona Rolex timepieces. Rival Acura team Wayne Taylor Racing assumes first place in the GTP championship standings and all other teams move up one place leaving Meyer Shank Racing in last place with 0 points.