LONG BEACH, Calif. — Robert Wickens will have the best possible vantage point for his return to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition on Saturday in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The co-driver of the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R, now adorned in a new blue and gold Wealthspire livery, initially qualified second in the car he shares with Mason Filippi. However, a ride-height infraction revealed in post-qualifying technical inspection moved the No. 89 car to the rear of the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) grid and Wickens’ Corvette to the head of the class grid.
It is Wickens’ first pole in WeatherTech Championship competition, coming in his seventh series start and first since the Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway last August. He raced in a specially equipped Bosch hand control Corvette starting last year and does so again this year in the series’ five sprint races.
In each of the last five GTD races at Long Beach, the winning entry has started within the top three. The winner has come from pole in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Only in 2017 has the GTD winner come from outside the top three, and that was from 13th.
“A bit of a redemption from last year, even making it through FP2 and having a clean weekend this year compared to last,” Wickens said after the 15-minute session concluded, but before technical inspection had occurred. “DXDT Racing and Corvette Racing are doing an amazing job. The car is so nice to drive.
“Hopefully with a little more experience, I can get a little more from the car and from the hand control system from Bosch. Going into this weekend, if you told me I’d be on the front row, I would have taken it.”
Early session leader Danny Formal rolls off second in the No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 he shares with Trent Hindman. The No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, which won the first two poles of the year by Zacharie Robichon in Daytona and Eduardo “Dudu” Barrichello in Sebring, respectively, will start third Saturday with Barrichello sharing his car with Spencer Pumpelly.
Two-time defending GTD champions Winward Racing, with Russell Ward and Philip Ellis in the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3, and Turner Motorsport with Patrick Gallagher and Robby Foley in the No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO, complete the top five.
