2018 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix

The 2018 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). It was held at Long Beach Street Circuit in Long Beach, California on 14 April 2018. The race was the third round of the 2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The overall race was won by the #5 Action Express Racing team of João Barbosa and Filipe Albuquerque, the duo's second win of the season. In GTLM, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner won for Corvette Racing, their second consecutive victory at the event.

Background

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2017. It was the fifth consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC, and the eleventh 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 2018 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix was the third of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2018 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. The race was held at the eleven-turn Long Beach street circuit on April 14, 2018.

The event was run as a support race to the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the annual IndyCar Series race held at the circuit. The Pirelli World Challenge and Stadium Super Trucks also ran during the weekend. The race was also the joint-shortest of the season, at just 100 minutes, identical to the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

After the 12 hours of Sebring three weeks earlier, Eric Curran, Felipe Nasr, and Mike Conway led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 62 points, ahead of Jon Bennett, Colin Braun, and Romain Dumas with 58 points, and Filipe Albuquerque, João Barbosa, and Christian Fittipaldi with 56 points. With 63 points, the GTLM Drivers' Championship was led by Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, and Richard Westbrook with a five-point advantage over Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy, and Frédéric Makowiecki. Cadillac and Ford were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships while Whelen Engineering Racing and Ford Chip Ganassi Racing each led their Teams' Championships.

The event was run as a support race to the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the annual IndyCar Series race held at the circuit. The Pirelli World Challenge and Stadium Super Trucks also ran during the weekend. The race was also the joint-shortest of the season, at just 100 minutes, identical to the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

Entries

A total of 22 cars took part in the event; 14 in the Prototype (P) class and 8 in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. The GT Daytona (GTD) class did not take part in the event, owing to a lack of garage space at the circuit. Spirit of Daytona Racing withdrew from the event following a late accident in the previous month's 12 Hours of Sebring. BAR1 Motorsports also withdrew after attending Daytona, but skipping Sebring. In GTLM, the lineup remained unchanged, apart from Risi Competizione's exit.

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.

Practice 1 The first practice session took place at 7:40 AM PT on Friday and ended with Felipe Nasr topping the charts for Whelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:13.582. ClassTeamDriverTime1P31Whelen Engineering RacingFelipe Nasr1:13.582_2P5Mustang Sampling RacingFilipe Albuquerque1:13.675 +0.0933P7Acura Team PenskeHélio Castroneves1:13.735 +0.133Source:

Final Practice The second and final practice session took place at 4:45 PM PT on Friday and ended with Juan Pablo Montoya topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:13.160. ClassTeamDriverTime1P6Acura Team PenskeJuan Pablo Montoya1:13.160_2P31Whelen Engineering RacingFelipe Nasr1:13.210 +0.0503P7Acura Team PenskeRicky Taylor1:13.217 +0.057Source:

Qualifying Friday afternoon's 35-minute qualifying session was divided into two groups. Both categories had 15-minute individual sessions, and regulations stipulated teams to nominate a single driver to qualify their cars. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order with the grid arranged to put the Prototype cars ahead of all the GTLM entries.

Qualifying results Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by . ClassTeamDriverTime1P6 Acura Team Penske Juan Pablo Montoya1:12.922 —12P31 Whelen Engineering Racing Felipe Nasr1:13.109+0.18723P55 Mazda Team Joest Harry Tincknell1:13.156+0.23434P7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves1:13.346+0.42445P5 Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa1:13.733+0.81156P10 Wayne Taylor Racing Renger van der Zande1:13.880+0.95867P77 Mazda Team Joest Tristan Nunez1:13.929+1.00778P2 Tequila Patrón ESM Scott Sharp1:14.177+1.25589P52 AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Gustavo Yacamán1:14.622+1.700910P22 Tequila Patrón ESM Johannes van Overbeek1:14.821+1.8991011P38 Performance Tech Motorsports Kyle Masson1:15.764+2.8421112P99 JDC-Miller MotorSports Misha Goikhberg1:15.807+2.8851213GTLM66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Joey Hand1:16.869 +3.9471514GTLM912 Porsche GT Team Laurens Vanthoor1:17.013+4.0911615GTLM911 Porsche GT Team Patrick Pilet1:17.263+4.3411716GTLM3 Corvette Racing Jan Magnussen1:17.293+4.3711817GTLM4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin1:17.533+4.6111918GTLM67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Richard Westbrook1:17.549+4.6272019P54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett1:17.672+4.7501320GTLM25 BMW Team RLL Connor De Phillippi1:18.153+5.2312121GTLM24 BMW Team RLL Jesse Krohn1:18.224+5.3022222P85 JDC-Miller MotorSportsDid Not Participate14Sources:

Race

Post-race As a result of winning the race, Albuquerque and Barbosa took the lead of the Prototype Drivers' Championship. Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande advanced from seventh to fourth. Goikhberg and Simpson moved to fifth after being eighth coming into Long Beach. The result kept Briscoe and Westbrook atop the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 95 points. By winning the race, Gavin and Milner advanced from seventh to second while Pilet and Tandy dropped from second to fourth. Cadillac and Ford continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Ford Chip Ganassi Racing kept their respective advantage in the GTLM Teams' Championship. Mustang Sampling Racing took the lead of the Prototype Teams' Championship with nine rounds left in the season.

Results Class winners are denoted in bold and .

+Final race classificationClassTeamDriversChassisTireTime/Retired Engine 1 P 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Filipe Albuquerque João Barbosa Cadillac DPi-V.R 70 1:41:03.988 Cadillac 5.5 L V8 2 P 2 Tequila Patrón ESM Ryan Dalziel Scott Sharp Ligier Nissan DPi 70 +4.766 Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6 3 P 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Jordan Taylor Renger van der Zande Cadillac DPi-V.R 70 +5.249 Cadillac 5.5 L V8 4 P 77 Mazda Team Joest Oliver Jarvis Tristan Nunez Mazda RT24-P 70 +6.748 Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 5 P 6 Acura Team Penske Dane Cameron Juan Pablo Montoya Acura ARX-05 70 +10.537 Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6 6 P 7 Acura Team Penske Hélio Castroneves Ricky Taylor Acura ARX-05 70 +15.532 Acura AR35TT 3.5 L Turbo V6 7 P 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Eric Curran Felipe Nasr Cadillac DPi-V.R 70 +16.340 Cadillac 5.5 L V8 8 P 99 JDC-Miller MotorSports Misha Goikhberg Stephen Simpson Oreca 07 70 +19.686 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 9 P 55 Mazda Team Joest Jonathan Bomarito Harry Tincknell Mazda RT24-P 70 +19.986 Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 10 P 54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett Colin Braun Oreca 07 70 +1:09.441 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 11 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Chevrolet Corvette C7.R 69 +1 Lap Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 12 GTLM 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook Ford GT 69 +1 Lap Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6 13 GTLM 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Joey Hand Dirk Müller Ford GT 69 +1 Lap Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Turbo V6 14 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Antonio García Jan Magnussen Chevrolet Corvette C7.R 69 +1 Lap Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 15 GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL John Edwards Jesse Krohn BMW M8 GTE 69 +1 Lap BMW S63 4.0 L Twin-turbo V8 16 GTLM 911 Porsche GT Team Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy Porsche 911 RSR 69 +1 Lap Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 17 P 52 AFS / PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Sebastián Saavedra Gustavo Yacamán Ligier JS P217 68 +2 Laps Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 18 DNF GTLM 912 Porsche GT Team Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor Porsche 911 RSR 52 Suspension Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 19 DNF GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Connor De Phillippi Alexander Sims BMW M8 GTE 37 Did Not Finish BMW S63 4.0 L Twin-turbo V8 20 DNF P 22 Tequila Patrón ESM Pipo Derani Johannes van Overbeek Ligier Nissan DPi 32 Transmission Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6 21 DNF P 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Robert Alon Simon Trummer Oreca 07 20 Did Not Finish Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 22 DNF P 38 Performance Tech Motorsports James French Kyle Masson Oreca 07 0 Crash Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8Sources:+ Tyre manufacturers Key Symbol Tyre manufacturer Continental Michelin

Standings after the race

+Prototype Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 2 Filipe Albuquerque João Barbosa 91 2 1 Eric Curran Felipe Nasr 86 3 1 Jon Bennett Colin Braun 79 4 3 Jordan Taylor Renger van der Zande 78 5 3 Misha Goikhberg Stephen Simpson 71

+GTLM Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook 95 2 5 Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner 88 3 1 Joey Hand Dirk Müller 84 4 2 Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy 83 5 1 Antonio García Jan Magnussen 81

+GTD Drivers' Championship standings +/– Driver Points 1 Bryan Sellers Madison Snow 65 2 Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating Luca Stolz 58 3 Katherine Legge Álvaro Parente Trent Hindman 55 4 Cooper MacNeil Gunnar Jeannette Alessandro Balzan 53 5 Sheldon van der Linde Christopher Mies 52

Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

+Prototype Teams' Championship standings +/– Team Points 1 2 No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing 91 2 1 No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing 86 3 2 No. 54 CORE Autosport 79 4 2 No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing 78 5 2 No. 99 JDC-Miller Motorsports 71

+GTLM Teams' Championship standings +/– Team Points 1 No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing 95 2 5 No. 4 Corvette Racing 88 3 1 No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing 84 4 2 No. 911 Porsche GT Team 83 5 1 No. 3 Corvette Racing 81

+GTD Teams' Championship standings +/– Team Points 1 No. 48 Paul Miller Racing 65 2 No. 33 Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports 58 3 No. 86 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian 55 4 No. 63 Scuderia Corsa 53 5 No. 29 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport 52

Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

+Prototype Manufacturers' Championship standings +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Cadillac 102 2 Nissan 95 3 1 Mazda 90 4 1 Acura 88

+GTLM Manufacturers' Championship standings +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Ford 97 2 1 Chevrolet 93 3 1 Porsche 91 4 BMW 88 5 Ferrari 58

+GTD Manufacturers' Championship standings +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Lamborghini 70 2 Ferrari 60 3 Mercedes-AMG 60 4 Acura 56 5 Audi 54

Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

References

External links IMSA Entry List Notebook