Cadillac Dominates Long Beach Race

Cadillac took the top two spots in an exhilarating third round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship on the streets of Long Beach, thanks to standout performances by Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande from Chip Ganassi Racing. The duo opted not to change tires during the race, allowing them to move ahead of the Cadillac V-Series.R operated by Action Express's Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken.

Pipo Derani, who started from pole position and had a mishap at the end of qualifying, initially led the race. Bourdais, also starting from the front, managed to overtake Nick Yelloly at the first turn. Meanwhile, Nick Tandy stayed close, holding fourth place in his Porsche from Penske Motorsport.

Derani maintained solid leadership, despite previous challenges at Sebring. Bourdais, on the other hand, was pressured by Yelloly and Tandy, especially as the prototypes reached GTD class traffic.

After a yellow flag caused by an accident in the GTD class, the race resumed with Derani in the lead. Tire strategy played a crucial role at this point. Tandy was the first GTP driver to stop, followed by other competitors who also chose to partially change tires.

The Cadillac #01, then driven by Van der Zande, chose not to change tires at all, resulting in a significant time and position gain. Despite the risk of tire wear, this strategic decision kept them in the lead.

Towards the end, the competition was fierce, with several incidents reshuffling positions. Van der Zande managed to maintain his advantage and crossed the finish line first, closely followed by Aitken.

In the GTD class, Parker Thompson and Ben Barnicoat dominated in their Lexus RC F #89, leading their category from start to finish despite various challenges and penalties on the track.