#24: BMW M Team RLL, BMW M Hybrid V8, GTP: Philipp Eng, Dries Vanthoor leads at the start

Entry List Notebook – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

April 8, 2026

28 Cars Including Handful of GTD Extra Entries Set for First Street Race of IMSA Season

By Tony DiZinno

Entry List (Click Here)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s annual trip out West commences with this year’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which is one of the shortest races of the season at 100 minutes. The field of 28 cars split between the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) classes traditionally puts on a good show in front of the car culture crazy crowd in Southern California.

There are two changes among the 11 GTP entries as each car goes down to its two full-season drivers for the first non-endurance event of the year. Frederik Vesti fills in for Earl Bamber alongside Jack Aitken aboard the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R. Meanwhile, Laurin Heinrich shifts to the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 alongside Tijmen van der Helm; Heinrich has won the first two races of the year in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 and will be making his first appearance on the streets of Long Beach.

Several changes occur among the 17 GTD cars. Robert Wickens returns to the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R for his second season in the program, now alongside Mason Filippi. Corey Lewis makes his first sprint race and second season start in Gradient Racing’s No. 66 Ford Mustang GT3 alongside Jake Walker. And Spencer Pumpelly fills in for Tom Gamble alongside Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

Two cars that have run GTD extras here in the past do so again in 2026. AO Racing will field Harry King and Mikkel Pedersen in its No. 177 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), as the team seeks a repeat win after Jonny Edgar and Laurens Vanthoor won in 2025. The 2024 GTD race winners, Vasser Sullivan Racing, bring back the No. 89 Lexus RC F GT3 for Jack Hawksworth and Frankie Montecalvo. Additionally, Pfaff Motorsports will run a GTD car for Andrea Caldarelli and Zachary Vanier, the No. 46 Lamborghini Temerario GT3 following the Temerario GT3’s worldwide competition debut last month at Sebring.

Fast Facts
Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Long Beach Street Course – Long Beach, California
April 17-18, 2026

Race Day/Time: Saturday, April 18 – 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT and local time)
NBC Sports Coverage: NBC and Peacock from 4-6 p.m. (IMSA Official YouTube channel outside the U.S.)
Live Qualifying Stream: Friday, April 17 – 8:20 p.m. ET (Peacock in U.S.; IMSA Official YouTube channel and IMSA.TV globally)
IMSA Radio Coverage: 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: 

Event Hashtags: #IMSA, #AGPLB

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

2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Winners:
GTP: Felipe Nasr/Nick Tandy, No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963
GTD: Laurens Vanthoor/Jonny Edgar, No. 177 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)

2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Motul Pole Award Winners:
GTP: Dries Vanthoor, No. 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8
GTD: Parker Thompson, No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3

Storylines

  • Porsche Goes for Three, Again: History doesn’t always repeat itself but sometimes it rhymes. And for the second straight year, Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 7 Porsche 963 enters Long Beach with a chance to win its third straight race to start the year. The only difference is the driver lineup on this occasion, with Felipe Nasr sharing the No. 7 car with Long Beach debutant Julien Andlauer.
  • Street Sprint: After 36 hours of racing in Florida, IMSA begins its sprint season with its annual first of two 100-minute street races of the season. Five Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and nine Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) manufacturers are set to compete, with three manufacturers (Aston Martin, BMW, Porsche) active in both classes. General Motors brands are also entered across both, with Cadillacs in GTP and Chevrolets in GTD.
  • Home Race for Acura: Long Beach always marks an important race for Acura with its Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian program. Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US) is located in nearby Santa Clarita, California, and the Long Beach weekend features a host of HRC US stakeholders in attendance. Acura won the American Le Mans Series P2 class at Long Beach in 2008 and swept the P1 and P2 classes in 2009. Honda won ALMS races overall at Long Beach in 2010, 2012 and 2013.
  • Wickens Is Back: After racing the sprint races in 2025, Robert Wickens will reprise that role as part of DXDT Racing’s No. 36 Corvette Z06 GT3.R he’ll share with new teammate Mason Filippi. Wickens led a practice session at Long Beach last year and looks for his first GTD podium, if not win, racing an entry with a special Bosch electronic hand control package.

Who’s Hot?

  • No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Porsche and Long Beach go together well. The Porsche 963 won its first race globally in 2023 here with Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet. Tandy and Felipe Nasr won here last year. And Nasr enters Long Beach seeking his third straight season-opening win for a second year in a row, having won both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring to start the 2026 season.
  • No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo: Absent a win, two podiums have positioned the Heart of Racing Team’s Aston Martin firmly atop the GTD field. Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello makes his Long Beach debut alongside new co-driver Spencer Pumpelly, who fills in for Tom Gamble with both Gamble and third driver Zacharie Robichon unavailable due to a schedule conflict.

Who’s Good Here?

  • Taylor Brothers: Brothers Jordan and Ricky Taylor won three straight overall races at Long Beach as co-drivers from 2015 through 2017, though neither one has been back to victory lane here since.
  • Porsche: The Porsche 963 has won two of three GTP races at Long Beach since the class’ introduction in 2023 and last year, the manufacturer won both in GTP and GTD.