Race ends under caution with 2 laps to go

C8.R takes second place

Mathieu Jaminet & Nick Tandy delivered the first victory for the Porsche 963, having completed the entire race on a single set of Michelin tires in Saturday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The Porsche Penske Motorsport duo came out on top in the 100-minute street fight, which saw a fierce battle for the final podium positions in a comeback drive from the pole-sitting No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 of Ricky Taylor that ended up in the barriers with two laps to go.

Taylor’s co-driver Filipe Albuquerque held control in the opening stint until an issue with the driver change that cost the Konica Minolta-sponsored Acura ten seconds in the pit lane and dropped the car to fifth.

A call to double-stint tires on both Porsches put Jaminet and the No. 7 entry of Matt Campbell up front, although the Australian came under heavy pressure from a number of cars, including the No. 25 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 of Connor De Philippi, who dropped to fourth with 23 minutes to go after running into the Turn 1 runoff.

Taylor, whose car along with the two BMWs took four tires on their stops, made a bold move around Campbell in Turn 8 for second with nine minutes to go after previous contact between the two cars, and hunted down Jaminet for the lead.

WTR Andretti’s hopes of a comeback victory, however, were dashed when Taylor nosed the No. 10 Acura into the Turn 1 barriers after attempting to pass Jaminet for the lead with two laps to go.

It resulted in the race ending under full course caution for the stricken Acura, which was classified seventh.

Vasser Sullivan claimed top class honors in GTD Pro with a controlling run by Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat.

Barnicoat drove the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 to a narrow win over the No. 3 Chevy Corvette C8.R GTD of Jordan Taylor, who got around the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Klaus Bachler following the mid-race pit stops.

Hawksworth, who started from class pole, held control from the start, with Barnicoat expanding the lead.
It marked the duo’s first GTD Pro class win since last year’s season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans.

Taylor and co-driver Antonio Garcia were second, with Bachler and Patrick Pilet completing the class podium.