2024 Grand Prix of Long Beach



The 2024 Grand Prix of Long Beach (formally known as the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach) was a sports car race held at Long Beach street circuit in Long Beach, California on April 20, 2024. It was the third round of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Preview
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2023. It will be the tenth year the event will be held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the fifteenth 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 2024 Grand Prix of Long Beach will be the third of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2024 by IMSA. The race will be held at the 1.968 mi Long Beach street circuit on April 20, 2024.

Balance of Performance
On April 8, 2024, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the GTP and GTD classes. In GTP, Acura will receive a 5-kilogram (kg) weight increase and a power increase of 3 kilowatts (kW). Cadillac keeps their 520 kW of power, but receives a 2 kg weight break compared to Sebring. BMW will also receive a 3 kW boost whilst keeping the same weight. Finally, Porsche receives a 3 kg weight increase, and 5 kW of additional power. There are no changes in BoP for the GTD class.

Standings before the race
Dane Cameron, Matt Campbell, and Felipe Nasr were leading the GTP Drivers' Championship with 706 points, with Louis Delétraz, Colton Herta, and Jordan Taylor level on points. In GTD, Indy Dontje, Philip Ellis, and Russell Ward led the championship with 725 points, 136 points ahead of Antonio Fuoco, Roberto Lacorte, and Giorgio Sernagiotto. Cadillac, Porsche, and Acura were all level on 710 points in the GTP Manufacturers' Championship, whilst Mercedes-AMG lead from Porsche and Lamborghini in GTD. Porsche Penske Motorsport and Winward Racing each led their respective Teams' Championships.

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 1 hour on Friday morning while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted 90 minutes.

Qualifying
Friday's afternoon qualifying session was broken into two sessions, with one session for the GTP and GTD classes, which lasted 15 minutes each. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTPs ahead of the GTD cars.

Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and with ‡.

Post-race
The final results kept Cameron and Nasr atop the GTP Drivers' Championship with 1032 points, 58 ahead of race winners Bourdais and van der Zande. The final results of GTD kept Ellis and Ward atop the Drivers' Championship with 987 points. Foley and Gallagher jumped from tenth to second with 802 points, 10 ahead of Thompson. Cadillac and Mercedes-AMG continued to top their respective Manufactures' Championships while Porsche Penske Motorsport and Winward Racing kept their respective advantages in their of Teams' Championships with eight rounds remaining.

Race results
Class winners are denoted in bold and with ‡.

Standings after the race

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


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


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