Grand Prix of Long Beach: Porsche Penske continues GTP dominance in IMSA race

LONG BEACH — The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach had its share of bumps and scrapes, with Felipe Nasr steering clear of all of it and winning the GTP portion comfortably ahead of Matt Campbell on Saturday.

Nasr, driving a Porsche 963 for Porsche Penske Motorsports, finished 3.068 seconds ahead of his teammate in the 100-minute race and won his third race in a row. Nick Tandy and Nasr won the first three races of the 2025 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup season.

“Another big day for the team,” Nasr said. “The execution level that Porsche Penske has been able to show in these past three events has been outstanding.”

Nasr and Tandy won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January and the 12 Hours of Sebring in March and lead the IMSA GTP standings with 1,140 points. Fellow Porsche Penske drivers Mathieu Jaminet and Campbell are in second place, 23 points behind Nasr and Tandy.

“We’ve always got two bullets in the gun,” Tandy said. “Both sides of the garage are operating flawlessly. The car has proved reliable. This is a key point.”

Laurens Vanthoor, driving a Porsche 911 GT3 R for AO Racing, won the GT Daytona race. He crossed the finish line 2.378 seconds ahead of Jack Hawksworth in a Lexus RC F GT3 for Vasser Sullivan Racing.

“I knew if I just do everything right and not make any mistakes, I believe we will be alright,” Vanthoor said. “That’s how it turned out.”

Philipp Eng driving for BMW M Team RLL with Dries Vanthoor, was third.

Laurens Vanthoor and Johnny Edgar started the race on the front row, in second position, next to Thompson, Hawksworth’s partner.

It was Edgar’s first win in an IMSA race and Laurens Vanthoor’s fourth.

“It’s great to win my first GT race in IMSA,” Edgar said. “I had a lot to learn yesterday. But the team and Laurens really helped me get up to speed.”

Aaron Telitz, driving for Vasser Sullivan Racing in a Lexus RC F GT3, was third.

Russell Ward and Philip Ellis lead the GT Daytona standings after three races with 994 points. Thompson and Hawkins are in second, 91 points behind Ward and Ellis.

The drivers completed 75 laps in the race with two caution periods.

The first caution came out about 20 minutes into the race with Dries Vanthoor in the lead of the GTP teams. Thompson was leading the GT Daytona teams when the caution came out.

The first caution period lasted about 10 minutes, with several teams making driver swaps.

When the caution period ended, Nasr was leading the GTP teams and Thompson was leading the GT Daytona teams.

Nasr maintained his lead in the GTP race at the midway point after 50 minutes. Laurens Vanthoor moved to the front of the GT Daytona field at the midway point.

Another caution came out with 46 minutes left in the race. The Porsche 963 driven by Gianmaria Bruni clipped the Aston Martin driven by Casper Stevenson and lost the rear wing of the car. It brought out a caution that lasted 10 minutes. When racing resumed, Nasr was leading the GTP teams and Laurens Vanthoor was leading the GT Daytona teams.

“The car was really quick when it needed to be,” Nasr said. “Amazing to win a race here at Long Beach. The crowd was amazing. The 50th anniversary of the Grand Prix. Pretty incredible.”

The next IMSA race is the Monterey SportsCar Championship at Laguna Seca May 9-11.