Whelen Engineering to defend title at Long Beach

Victorious last year at Long Beach, the Whelen Engineering team is taking part in this third round of the season.IMSA hoping to acquire a second victory in a row on the streets of California. For this, she still counts on the outgoing champion Pipo Derani. The Denver team has not yet won this season after two first rounds dominated by the Acura of Meyer Shank Racing and the Cadillac of Chip Ganassi Racing. Long Beach also marks the start of the sprint races in this exercise, with only 1h40 of racing on the program in the streets of California.

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“We have to go into the third round in Long Beach, after the two longest races we have on our calendar (24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring), with a completely different mentality, Derani said. It's a street course and it's a 100-minute race, which means there's no room for error. We must be ready from the start. On such a track it is very difficult to overtake, let alone try to recover from some difficulties if you have any, because the race is really short.

“I hope we can do as well as last year, adds the Brazilian pilot. We know we have a great Cadillac and it's strong on the streets of Long Beach. We will try to start the weekend strong from the first practice session and then hope to put it in pole position, which will make our lives a little easier for the race. I can't wait to go back. Last year it was a fantastic race. We dominated it. However, it's not going to be that easy. The peloton is very strong. But, hopefully, we can get our first win of the season. » Victorious with his compatriot Felipe Nasr in 2021, Pipo Derani will this year be associated with Tristan Nunez.