Sébastien Bourdais' victorious comeback in Long Beach

Sébastien Bourdais started from pole position for the second race in a row with the No. 01 Cadillac DPi for this third round of the season in Long Beach (California), the first in a sprint format. In qualifying, the Frenchman beat the No. 02 of Alex Lynn and the No. 60 Acura DPi of Meyer Shank Racing, victorious at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January. After the mechanical problems encountered during previous events, the Frenchman hoped this time to be able to enjoy a car in good shape for longer on the streets of Long Beach.

La catastrophe arrivait pourtant au sixième tour pour le Tricolore qui partait à la faute à la sortie du dernier virage en voulant dépasser une Porsche GTD. Bourdais laissait la place de leader à Alex Lynn et dégringolait au sixième rang, en dernière position des DPi. Une erreur qui aurait pu peser lourd sur le résultat final d’une course qui dure seulement une heure et quarante minutes.

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Wayne Taylor Racing, behind this weekend, was the first team to stop in the pits in the prototypes with Filipe Albuquerque at the wheel, after only less than twenty minutes of racing. This allowed Bourdais to regain a place. Le Manceau was launched at full speed into an incredible comeback, being the only driver to lap under one minute and eleven seconds per lap, once again improving the circuit record in the race, after having already done the same the day before in qualifying. .

His furious pace allowed Sébastien Bourdais to catch up with the leading trio where Pipo Derani was patient in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac behind the fight between Tom Blomqvist and Alex Lynn for the lead of the race. The four-time ChampCar champion took advantage of the Brazilian, who got rid of the No. 60 Acura, to get back on the podium. Derani could hardly resist an unleashed Frenchman much longer.

Bourdais only had the second Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac in his sights for first place, just over two seconds ahead of him. Building on their momentum, the Habs took advantage of the traffic to surprise Alex Lynn and regain the lead of the race with just over an hour to go! He could leave the wheel to Renger van der Zande for the last 50 minutes of the race.

The second half of the race was interrupted by Full Course Yellows. This did not disturb the Dutchman, who was able to complete his teammate's work and offer victory to the No. 01 Cadillac. Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn took second place in the #02. Richard Westbrook took advantage of a collision between Jarvis and Derani to place a third Cadillac on the podium with the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports car he shared with Frenchman Tristan Vautier.

Problems in the pits in GTD Pro

In GTD Pro, Jordan Taylor retained the lead in the No. 8 Corvette C3.R ahead of Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports car. The Frenchman nevertheless had to retire after 29 laps, a wheel nut lost by the Corvette having pierced the radiator of the Porsche. The American manufacturer's race took a turn in the pits as a loss of control of the equipment forced the #3 into a drive through. In the lead after an interminable stint from Connor De Phillippi, the No. 25 BMW of Team RLL lost its left door when passing through the pit and left in last position in its category.

These different problems allowed theAston Martin Vantage GT3 no. 23 of the Heart of Racing Team to win with Ross Gunn and Alex Ribeiras ahead of the Lexus RC F GT3 no. 14 of VasserSullivan with Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat. Corvette completed the podium with Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia.

In GTD, Madison Snow (Paul Miller Racing) retained the advantage of his pole position until his pit stop. The BMW M4 GT3 took the lead again with Bryan Sellers. The American duo beat Mario Farnbacher and Marc Miller in the No. 3 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT66. The No. 3 Lexus RC F GT12 of Frankie Montecalvo and Aaron Telitz took third place.

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