2026 IMSA Long Beach starting lineup: Nick Yelloly…

Nick Yelloly stormed to pole in a furious round of IMSA qualifying for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The Briton, who shares Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s #93 Acura ARX-06 with Renger van der Zande, blitzed the field with a flying lap of 1m11.626s around the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit.

BMW M Team WRT’s Marco Wittmann, in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8, ended up second by a slim 0.030s lap. Louis Deletraz overcame a late off to take third int he #40 Cadillac V-Series.R for Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing.

Porsche Penske Motorsport, winners of the opening two rounds at Daytona and Sebring, respectively, struggled in qualifying with Julien Andlauer putting the #7 Porsche 963 fifth, with Kevin Estre ending up eighth in the #6 sister car.

GTP

#25 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8: Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann, Frederik Vesti (Photo by: Jake Galstad / Lumen via Getty Images)

Nick Yelloly fired the first shot with a 1m11.756s flyer in Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s #93 Acura ARX-06 with roughly seven minutes remaining.

With four minutes left, the likes of Deletraz went off in Turn 6, while Dries Vanthoor (BMW M Team WRT) went off in 1. Both continued on. Meanwhile, Yelloly went even quicker at 1m11.626s lap to retain first.

The #7 Porsche 963 for Porsche Penske Motorsport of Andlauer went off in Turn 6 with just over a minute remaining, but also continued on.

GTD -- Lexus P1 before technical infraction

#89 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3: Jack Hawksworth, Frankie Montecalvo, Patrick Gallagher (Photo by: Jake Galstad / Lumen via Getty Images)

Vasser Sullivan’s Frankie Montecalvo delivered a last-gasp qualifying effort and nipped the top spot at the every end, delivering a 1m18.411s flying lap to take pole in the #89 Lexus RC F GT3. It marks the third consecutive year Vasser Sullivan has claimed the class pole in Long Beach.

In his first GTD appearance of the season, Robert Wickens will line up on the front row. Driving the #36 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R for DXDT Racing, the Canadian took the top spot in the final seconds before being nipped by Montecalvo by 0.151s.

UPDATE: However, the #89 was found to have a ground clearance violation in post-qualifying inspection, sending the Lexus to the rear of the grid. That means DXDT Racing and Wickens inherit the pole position.

Danny Formal, who was the first driver to deliver a sub-1m19s lap in the session, will start second in Wayne Taylor Racing’s #45 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

Heart of Racing’s Spencer Pumpelly was third in the #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, followed Winward Racing’s Russell Ward in the #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Orey Fidani nearly threw it away by crashing five minutes into the session, spinning the 13 Autosport #13 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R in the final corner. Fortunately, he was able to keep it off the wall and darted straight to pit lane for service that included a tire change.

Race Control deemed he drove the opposite way to get to pit lane and black flagged him, disqualifying him from the remainder of the session and leaving him to start 17th in class.

Note: Every GTD entry behind the #89 moves up one position

Qualifying

All Stats

Cla	Drivers	#	Chassis	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	R. van der Zande N. Yelloly Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian	93	Acura ARX-06	11	1'11.626		98.944
2	P. Eng M. Wittmann BMW M Team WRT	25	BMW M Hybrid V8	12	+0.030 1'11.656	0.030	98.903
3	J. Taylor L. Deletraz Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing	40	Cadillac V-Series.R	11	+0.207 1'11.833	0.177	98.659
4	F. Vesti J. Aitken Cadillac Whelen	31	Cadillac V-Series.R	8	+0.218 1'11.844	0.011	98.644
5	F. Nasr J. Andlauer Porsche Penske Motorsport	7	Porsche 963	12	+0.319 1'11.945	0.101	98.505
6	S. Van Der Linde D. Vanthoor BMW M Team WRT	24	BMW M Hybrid V8	12	+0.369 1'11.995	0.050	98.437
7	R. Gunn R. De Angelis Aston Martin THOR Team	23	Aston Martin Valkyrie	12	+0.371 1'11.997	0.002	98.434
8	L. Vanthoor K. Estre Porsche Penske Motorsport	6	Porsche 963	12	+0.388 1'12.014	0.017	98.411
9	R. Taylor F. Albuquerque Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing	10	Cadillac V-Series.R	12	+0.475 1'12.101	0.087	98.292
10	T. van der Helm L. Heinrich JDC/Miller Motorsports	5	Porsche 963	12	+0.938 1'12.564	0.463	97.665
11	J. Hawksworth F. Montecalvo Vasser Sullivan Racing	89	Lexus RC F GT3	9	+6.785 1'18.411	5.847	90.382
12	M. Filippi R. Wickens DXDT Racing	36	Corvette Z06 GT3.R	11	+6.936 1'18.562	0.151	90.208
13	D. Formal T. Hindman Wayne Taylor Racing	45	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	9	+7.000 1'18.626	0.064	90.135
14	D. Barrichello S. Pumpelly Heart Of Racing Team	27	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	12	+7.078 1'18.704	0.078	90.046
15	R. Ward P. Ellis Winward Racing	57	Mercedes-AMG GT3	12	+7.079 1'18.705	0.001	90.045
16	P. Gallagher R. Foley Turner Motorsport	96	BMW M4 GT3 EVO	12	+7.097 1'18.723	0.018	90.024
17	A. Telitz B. Pedersen Vasser Sullivan Racing	12	Lexus RC F GT3	8	+7.178 1'18.804	0.081	89.931
18	M. Franco A. Costa Conquest Racing	34	Ferrari 296 GT3	11	+7.239 1'18.865	0.061	89.862
19	A. Caldarelli Z. Vanier Pfaff Motorsports	46	Lamborghini Temerario GT3	9	+7.645 1'19.271	0.406	89.402
20	H. King M. Pedersen AO Racing	177	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	11	+7.669 1'19.295	0.024	89.375
21	J. Walker C. Lewis Gradient Racing	66	Ford Mustang GT3	12	+7.684 1'19.310	0.015	89.358
22	B. Iribe F. Schandorff Inception Racing	70	Ferrari 296 GT3	10	+7.894 1'19.520	0.210	89.122
23	V. Hasse-Clot R. van der Steur van der Steur Racing	19	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	11	+8.295 1'19.921	0.401	88.675
24	A. Adelson C. Ilott Wright Motorsports	120	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	12	+8.445 1'20.071	0.150	88.508
25	S. Monk F. Fraga Myers Riley Motorsports	16	Ford Mustang GT3	10	+8.952 1'20.578	0.507	87.952
26	H. Hedman G. Altoè DragonSpeed	81	Corvette Z06 GT3.R	11	+10.369 1'21.995	1.417	86.432
27	O. Fidani M. Bell 13 Autosport	13	Corvette Z06 GT3.R	5	+10.845 1'22.471	0.476	85.933
28	T. Blomqvist C. Braun Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian	60	Acura ARX-06	0
View full results