The layout of the
Long Beach Street Circuit
The
2018 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix
was a
sports car race
sanctioned by the
International Motor Sports Association
(IMSA). It was held at
Long Beach street circuit
in
Long Beach, California
on 14 April 2018. The race was the third round of the
2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
.
The overall race was won by the #5
Action Express Racing
team of
Joao Barbosa
and
Filipe Albuquerque
, the duo's second win of the season. In GTLM,
Oliver Gavin
and
Tommy Milner
won for
Corvette Racing
, their second consecutive victory at the event.
[1]
Background
[
edit
]
The Long Beach Street Circuit
(pictured in 2009)
, where the race was held.
International Motor Sports Association
's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the
2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship
(IMSA SCC) in August 2017.
[2]
It was the fifth consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC, and the eleventh annual running of the race, counting the period between 2006 and 2013 when it was a round of the
Rolex Sports Car Series
and the
American Le Mans Series
respectively.
[2]
The 2018 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix was the third of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2018 by IMSA, the shortest of the season in terms of distance, and it was the first round not held as part of the North American Endurance Cup.
[2]
The race was held at the eleven-turn 1.968 mi (3.167 km)
Long Beach street circuit
on April 14, 2018.
[2]
The event was run as a support race to the
Grand Prix of Long Beach
, the annual
IndyCar Series
race held at the circuit. The
Pirelli World Challenge
and
Stadium Super Trucks
also ran during the weekend.
[3]
The race was also the joint-shortest of the season, at just 100 minutes, identical to the
Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
.
After the 12 hours of Sebring three weeks earlier,
Eric Curran
,
Felipe Nasr
, and
Mike Conway
led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 62 points, ahead of
Jon Bennett
,
Colin Braun
, and
Romain Dumas
with 58 points, and
Filipe Albuquerque
,
Joao Barbosa
, and
Christian Fittipaldi
with 56 points.
[4]
With 63 points, the GTLM Drivers' Championship was led by
Ryan Briscoe
,
Scott Dixon
, and
Richard Westbrook
with a five-point advantage over
Patrick Pilet
,
Nick Tandy
, and
Frederic Makowiecki
.
[4]
Cadillac and Ford were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships while
Whelen Engineering Racing
and
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing
each led their Teams' Championships.
[4]
The event was run as a support race to the
Grand Prix of Long Beach
, the annual
IndyCar Series
race held at the circuit. The
Pirelli World Challenge
and
Stadium Super Trucks
also ran during the weekend.
[5]
The race was also the joint-shortest of the season, at just 100 minutes, identical to the
Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
.
Entries
[
edit
]
A total of 22 cars took part in the event; 14 in the Prototype (
P
) class and 8 in the GT Le Mans (
GTLM
) class.
[6]
The GT Daytona (
GTD
) class did not take part in the event, owing to a lack of garage space at the circuit.
Spirit of Daytona Racing
withdrew from the event following a late accident in the previous month's
12 Hours of Sebring
. BAR1 Motorsports also withdrew after attending Daytona, but skipping Sebring. In GTLM, the lineup remained unchanged, apart from
Risi Competizione
's exit.
[7]
Practice
[
edit
]
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, one on Friday morning and one on Friday afternoon. The first session lasted two hours on Friday morning while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted 45 minutes.
[8]
Practice 1
[
edit
]
The first practice session took place at 7:40 AM
PT
on Friday and ended with
Felipe Nasr
topping the charts for
Whelen Engineering Racing
, with a lap time of 1:13.582.
[9]
Final Practice
[
edit
]
The second and final practice session took place at 4:45 PM
PT
on Friday and ended with
Juan Pablo Montoya
topping the charts for
Acura Team Penske
, with a lap time of 1:13.160.
[11]
Qualifying
[
edit
]
Friday afternoon's 35-minute qualifying session was divided into two groups.
[8]
Both categories had 15-minute individual sessions, and regulations stipulated teams to nominate a single driver to qualify their cars. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order with the grid arranged to put the Prototype cars ahead of all the GTLM entries.
[13]
Qualifying results
[
edit
]
Pole positions
in each class are indicated in
bold
and by ‡.
Race
[
edit
]
Post-race
[
edit
]
As a result of winning the race, Albuquerque and Barbosa took the lead of the Prototype Drivers' Championship. Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande advanced from seventh to fourth. Goikhberg and Simpson moved to fifth after being eighth coming into Long Beach.
[16]
The result kept Briscoe and Westbrook atop the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 95 points. By winning the race, Gavin and Milner advanced from seventh to second while Pilet and Tandy dropped from second to fourth.
[16]
Cadillac and Ford continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Ford Chip Ganassi Racing kept their respective advantage in the GTLM Teams' Championship. Mustang Sampling Racing took the lead of the Prototype Teams' Championship with nine rounds left in the season.
[16]
Results
[
edit
]
Class winners are denoted in
bold
and ‡.
Standings after the race
[
edit
]
- Note
: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
- Note
: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
- Note
: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Long Beach IMSA results: Cadillac, Chevrolet take WeatherTech SportsCar class wins in Prototype, GTLM"
.
autoweek.com
. 14 April 2018
. Retrieved
4 March
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Goodwin, Graham (August 6, 2017).
"IMSA Announce 2018 Calendar"
. DailySportsCar.
Archived
from the original on June 12, 2018
. Retrieved
July 25,
2023
.
- ^
"2018 Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach Schedule"
.
the562.org
. 14 April 2018
. Retrieved
4 March
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
"00_Championship Points - Official.pdf"
(PDF)
.
results.imsa.com
. March 20, 2018
. Retrieved
July 25,
2023
.
- ^
"2018 Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach Schedule"
.
the562.org
. 14 April 2018
. Retrieved
4 March
2021
.
- ^
"IMSA Long Beach entry list released"
.
racer.com
. 4 April 2018
. Retrieved
4 March
2021
.
- ^
"22 Car Entry List Released for 2018 IMSA Long Beach Contest"
.
thedrive.com
. 5 April 2018
. Retrieved
4 March
2021
.
- ^
a
b
"Continental Tire Keys to the Race: Long Beach"
.
sportscar365.com
. April 12, 2018
. Retrieved
July 25,
2023
.
- ^
Dagys, John (April 13, 2018).
"Nasr Tops Opening Practice at Long Beach"
.
sportscar365.com
. Retrieved
July 9,
2023
.
- ^
"03_Results.PDF"
(PDF)
.
results.imsa.com
. April 13, 2018
. Retrieved
July 9,
2023
.
- ^
O'Malley, J.J (April 14, 2018).
"Montoya, Gavin pace second IMSA practice"
.
racer.com
. Retrieved
July 9,
2023
.
- ^
"03_Results.PDF"
(PDF)
.
results.imsa.com
. April 13, 2018
. Retrieved
July 9,
2023
.
- ^
"2018 IMSA Sporting Regulations & Series Supplementary Regulations of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship"
(PDF)
.
International Motor Sports Association
. May 16, 2018.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on June 29, 2018
. Retrieved
June 14,
2018
.
- ^
"03_Results.PDF"
(PDF)
.
results.imsa.com
. Retrieved
5 March
2021
.
- ^
"01_Starting Grid - Official.PDF"
(PDF)
.
results.imsa.com
. April 14, 2018
. Retrieved
November 13,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
"00_Championship Points - Official.pdf"
(PDF)
.
results.imsa.com
. April 17, 2018
. Retrieved
July 25,
2023
.
- ^
"03_Results - Official.PDF"
(PDF)
.
results.imsa.com
. Retrieved
5 March
2021
.
- ^
"2018 BUBBA Burger Grand Prix at Long Beach"
.
racing-reference.info
. Retrieved
November 13,
2023
.
External links
[
edit
]