In IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship qualifying for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Porsche Penske Motorsport ended up in an unfavorable position. The winners at Daytona and Sebring closed the GTP session with Julien Andlauer in fifth and Kevin Estre in eighth, outside any favorable starting spot for a 100-minute race with no mandatory driver change. Nick Yelloly put the Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 No. 93 on pole with a 1:11.626, a lap that Marco Wittmann missed by three hundredths in the BMW M Hybrid V8 No. 25.

The session had on-track incidents. Louis Deletraz went off at turn 6, Dries Vanthoor did the same at turn 1, and Andlauer ran wide with just over a minute remaining. All three continued and set their times. Deletraz closed third in the Cadillac V-Series.R No. 40.

Photo By IMSA

Andlauer and Estre arrive on Saturday without the track advantage they had at Sebring, where both 963s topped the final result. Acura, which has sponsored this Grand Prix since 2019 and has its North American headquarters just a few miles from the circuit, starts from the front without having won here in the hybrid prototype era. Colin Braun hit the wall during second practice in the No. 60, and the team had to change the chassis, leaving Tom Blomqvist to start from 11th position.

Photo By IMSA

What would have been a Vasser Sullivan mark

Frankie Montecalvo put the Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 No. 89 at the front of the GTD session with a 1:18.411, which would have been the team's third consecutive pole at Long Beach in the class. Post-qualifying inspection found a ride-height violation on that car, and the time was disallowed. Robert Wickens earned pole in the DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R No. 36 with a 1:18.562, 0.151 seconds off Montecalvo's disallowed time. It is Wickens' first pole in the WeatherTech Championship. Wickens races with the Bosch manual control system, which he has used in the series' sprint races since last year. The No. 89 was sent to the back of the grid.

Photo By IMSA

Danny Formal will start second in the Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 No. 45, and Spencer Pumpelly third in the Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo No. 27. Orey Fidani went into the wall at the final corner five minutes into the session, drove to the pits in the wrong direction, and race control disqualified him from the remainder of qualifying. Fidani starts 17th in class.

Photo By IMSA

The race starts at 4 p.m. ET with international broadcast on IMSA.TV and the series' official YouTube channel.

Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach 2026 Clasificación

Pos	Pos. Clase	Clase	#	Pilotos	Equipo	Marca	Vehículo	Vueltas	Gap
1	1	GTP	#93	Renger van der Zande Nick Yelloly	Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian	Acura	Acura ARX-06	11	-
2	2	GTP	#25	Philipp Eng Marco Wittmann	BMW M Team WRT	BMW	BMW M Hybrid V8	12	+0.030
3	3	GTP	#40	Jordan Taylor Louis Deletraz	Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing	Cadillac	Cadillac V-Series.R	11	+0.207
4	4	GTP	#31	Frederik Vesti Jack Aitken	Cadillac Whelen	Cadillac	Cadillac V-Series.R	8	+0.218
5	5	GTP	#7	Felipe Nasr Julien Andlauer	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Porsche	Porsche 963	12	+0.319
6	6	GTP	#24	Sheldon van der Linde Dries Vanthoor	BMW M Team WRT	BMW	BMW M Hybrid V8	12	+0.369
7	7	GTP	#23	Ross Gunn Roman De Angelis	ASTON MARTIN THOR Team	Aston Martin	Aston Martin Valkyrie	12	+0.371
8	8	GTP	#6	Laurens Vanthoor Kevin Estre	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Porsche	Porsche 963	12	+0.388
9	9	GTP	#10	Ricky Taylor Filipe Albuquerque	Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing	Cadillac	Cadillac V-Series.R	12	+0.475
10	10	GTP	#5	Tijmen van der Helm Laurin Heinrich	JDC-Miller MotorSports	Porsche	Porsche 963	12	+0.938
11	1	GTD	#89	Jack Hawksworth Frankie Montecalvo	Vasser Sullivan Racing	Lexus	Lexus RC F GT3	9	+6.785
12	2	GTD	#36	Mason Filippi Robert Wickens	DXDT Racing	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	11	+6.936
13	3	GTD	#45	Danny Formal Trent Hindman	Wayne Taylor Racing	Lamborghini	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	9	+7.000
14	4	GTD	#27	Dudu Barrichello Spencer Pumpelly	Heart of Racing Team	Aston Martin	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	12	+7.078
15	5	GTD	#57	Russell Ward Philip Ellis	WINWARD RACING	Mercedes-AMG	Mercedes-AMG GT3	12	+7.079
16	6	GTD	#96	Patrick Gallagher Robby Foley	Turner Motorsport	BMW	BMW M4 GT3 EVO	12	+7.097
17	7	GTD	#12	Aaron Telitz Benjamin Pedersen	Vasser Sullivan Racing	Lexus	Lexus RC F GT3	8	+7.178
18	8	GTD	#34	Manny Franco Albert Costa	Conquest Racing	Ferrari	Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO	11	+7.239
19	9	GTD	#46	Andrea Caldarelli Zachary Vanier	Pfaff Motorsports	Lamborghini	Lamborghini Temerario GT3	9	+7.645
20	10	GTD	#177	Harry King Mikkel Pedersen	AO Racing	Porsche	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	11	+7.669
21	11	GTD	#66	Jake Walker Corey Lewis	Gradient Racing	Ford	Ford Mustang GT3	12	+7.684
22	12	GTD	#70	Brendan Iribe Frederik Schandorff	Inception Racing	Ferrari	Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO	10	+7.894
23	13	GTD	#19	Valentin Hasse Clot Rory van der Steur	van der Steur Racing	Aston Martin	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	11	+8.295
24	14	GTD	#120	Adam Adelson Callum Ilott	Wright Motorsports	Porsche	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	12	+8.445
25	15	GTD	#16	Sheena Monk Felipe Fraga	Myers Riley Motorsports	Ford	Ford Mustang GT3	10	+8.952
26	16	GTD	#81	Henrik Hedman Giacomo Altoè	DragonSpeed	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	11	+10.369
27	17	GTD	#13	Orey Fidani Matthew Bell	13 Autosport	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	5	+10.845
28	11	GTP	#60	Tom Blomqvist Colin Braun	Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian	Acura	Acura ARX-06	0	--