LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long-awaited win droughts ended under sunny Southern California skies in Saturday’s 100-minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third round of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
Acura won overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), ending its pursuit of its first win at Long Beach since the manufacturer took over race title sponsorship in 2019. And in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD), Lexus snapped a two-year win drought since its last victory at Long Beach in 2024.
From the Motul Pole Award, the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 of Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande captured the victory. That sentence made the race seem simpler than it was.
The No. 93 car ran longer on the first stint to overcome a loss of track position from the lead, as Yelloly briefly lost the lead in traffic lapping a GT car to Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R.
But after staying out long enough and then just being on the right side of a full-course caution flag, the No. 93 regained the lead once the cycle of pit stops was complete.
Van der Zande then needed to withstand a final stint charge from Aitken’s teammate Frederik Vesti, making his Long Beach debut up against the multi-time Long Beach race winner. Vesti quickly got within a few tenths of a second of van der Zande.
A final green flag flew with just over six and a half minutes remaining, and while Vesti remained within several tenths of a second, he was unable to make a move on van der Zande.
The Dutchman won by 0.818 of a second over the Dane, en route to his second straight IMSA street race win (Detroit 2025), third Long Beach win in five years (2022, 2024) and sixth IMSA street race win in the last 10.
“Perfect scenario for me Saturday in Long Beach; we had to work for it,” van der Zande said, surrounded by his family in victory lane. “Cadillac seemed very fast and I was barely holding on. The rear tires were completely gone. But we did it!
“I was in the zone and pulling away in traffic. Traffic for me in IMSA is where my experience counts. The Cadillac came so close. But man, that was great!”
Behind the two up front, Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 6 Porsche 963 of Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor finished third ahead of the sister No. 7 Porsche 963.
The WeatherTech Championship resumes at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday, May 3.
The 36th Grand Prix event in the City’s history will return to the 1.7-mile, nine-turn Streets of Downtown Detroit circuit that runs along the award-winning Detroit Riverwalk, May 29-31, 2026. With exciting viewing options and entertainment packages, fans can purchase tickets at www.DetroitGP.com/Tickets or through the event’s Ticket Hotline at 888-811-PRIX (7749). For more information on the 2026 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, visit www.DetroitGP.com.
