Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

Date & Time
Sat 18th April 2026 1:05pm Local
Sat 18th April 2026 8:05pm UTC

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League
IMSA SportsCar Championship

Season
2026

Round
3

Status
FT

Location
Long Beach Street Circuit

Video Highlights

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Description

The third round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship took place on Saturday, April 18, 2026, on the iconic Long Beach Street Circuit. The primary challenge for the field was mastering the tight, 1.968-mile concrete canyon, which serves as the first "sprint" race of the season with a duration of just 100 minutes. The objective for the GTP class was to halt the dominance of Porsche and Cadillac, while Acura—headquartered nearby in Torrance—sought its first home-race victory in the GTP era.

Strategically, the goal was to capitalize on the Motul Pole Award performance of Nick Yelloly in the #93 Acura ARX-06, who broke the 1:12 barrier during qualifying. The tactical focus for the 11 GTP and 17 GTD entries was navigating the high-risk "Fountain" turn and the hairpin without sustaining damage that would necessitate a chassis change, as seen with the #60 Acura in practice. With 100 minutes on the clock, the ultimate goal was to execute a flawless single-stop strategy to secure a historic win for Acura’s 40th anniversary year.

Reports

Result List

Result Description

The #93 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 delivered a clinical performance to secure a long-awaited home victory for Acura. The primary objective for drivers Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande was to convert their pole position into a win, which they achieved after leading 53 of the 70 laps. Despite briefly losing the lead to Jack Aitken's Cadillac during a traffic-heavy opening stint, a well-timed full-course caution allowed the #93 to regain the front spot during the pit cycle. Van der Zande then withstood a late-race charge from Frederik Vesti to win by a margin of just 0.818 seconds.

In the GTD class, Vasser Sullivan Racing ended a two-year win drought as Aaron Telitz and Benjamin Pedersen steered the #12 Lexus RC F GT3 to victory. Telitz made the decisive pass on Mason Filippi’s Corvette with 40 minutes remaining following a restart. The podium was rounded out by the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW and the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari. The race featured several dramatic moments, including a significant impact for the #10 WTR Cadillac in the closing stages, but the day belonged to Acura and Honda, who completed a weekend sweep following Alex Palou's IndyCar victory the following day.

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