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 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2018.[1] It was the sixth consecutive year it was part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the thirteenth 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. The BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix was the third of twelve scheduled sports car endurance races of 2019 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 in Long Beach, California on April 13, 2019.[3]
On 4 April 2019, IMSA released a technical bulletin regarding the Balance of Performance for the race. In the Daytona Prototype International (DPi) class, the Acura ARX-05 was made 20 kilograms lighter, and received an increase in turbo boost, along with the Nissan DPi. The Mazda RT24-P was restricted in its boost, while being made five kilograms lighter. The Cadillac DPi-V.R, which won the previous two events of the 2019 season, was given a 10 kilogram increase. In GT Le Mans (GTLM), there were less significant changes. The Porsche 911 RSR was lightened by 10 kilograms, while the Ford GT had a slight reduction in boost.[4]
A total of 19 cars took part in the event split across two classes. There were 11 cars in the Daytona Prototype International class, and eight entries in GT Le Mans (GTLM). The Le Mans Prototype (LMP2) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes would not be participating in the event. There were few changes to the full-season lineups in either class. Kyle Kaiser, who joined the No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R for the 24 Hours of Daytona, returned to the car alongside full-season driver Will Owen on a one-race deal.[6] The Thursday before the race, it was announced one of Ford Chip Ganassi Racing's full-season drivers, Joey Hand, would be unable to compete due to suffering symptoms of the flu. His place would be taken by one of their endurance-event drivers, Sébastien Bourdais, who would also be competing in the IndyCar event.[7]
Practice
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]
Friday's late afternoon qualification session into was broken two sessions that lasted 15 minutes each.[8] Cars in GTLM were sent out first and, after a ten-minute interval, DPi vehicles drove onto the track. All cars were required to be driven by one participant and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest lap.[15] IMSA then arranged the grid so that the DPi field started in front of all GTLM cars.
Hélio Castroneves in the No. 7 Acura set a new track record to clinch his first pole position of the season with a time of 1 minute and 11.332 seconds.[16][17] He was joined on the grid's front row by Nasr in the No. 31 Cadillac who was 0.218 seconds slower.[17] Following in third was the No. 6 Acura of Juan Pablo Montoya with the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac of João Barbosa in fourth.[16]Jonathan Bomarito's No. 55 Mazda set the fifth fastest time, but would start at the back of the DPi field after Mazda Team Joest rebuilt the car with a spare monocoque chassis as a result of Bomarito crashing at turn 6.[18]
In GTLM, Nick Tandy clinched his first pole position of the season, with his fastest lap being 0.064 seconds faster than his teammate Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 912 Porsche.[19] Following in third was Oliver Gavin's No. 4 Corvette with the No. 66 Ford GT of Sébastien Bourdais in fourth.[19]Antonio García completed the top five in the No. 3 Corvette followed by Ryan Briscoe's No. 67 Ford GT in sixth, and both BMW Team RLL entries rounded out the GTLM qualifiers.[16]
Qualifying Results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.
^ Car number 55 was moved to the back of the DPi field as a result of Jonathan Bomarito's crash in Turn 6 during qualifying. A crack was found in the car's monocoque chassis which required the team to rebuild the car using the team's spare tub. In accordance with Article 23.5.3 of the IMSA Sporting Regulations the car was moved to the back of the starting grid in its class.[18]
Race
Post-race
Sixth-place finishers Derani and Nasr took the lead of the DPi Drivers' Championship with 92 points while Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande dropped to fourth. Cameron and Montoya jumped to fifth after being seventh coming into Long Beach.[22] With a total of 91 points, Bamber and Vanthoor's victory allowed them to take the lead of the GTLM Drivers' Championship while the absent Eng dropped to ninth. García and Magnussen advanced from fifth to third.[22] Cadillac and Porsche continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Porsche GT Team continued kept their advantage in the GTLM Teams' Championships.[22]Whelen Engineering Racing took the lead of the DPi Teams' Championship with nine rounds left in the season.[22]
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