Gradient Racing Shines in the California Sun at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

• Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 finishes fourth in spectacular race at Long Beach
• Wayne Taylor Racing #10 Acura finishes P8 after a tough day at the beach
• Record weekend crowd expected at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

Gradient Racing stormed the sunny streets of Long Beach, where #66 Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 co-drivers Sheena Monk and Stevan McAleer qualified fourth after starting 17th on the grid.

Starting 17th following an engine change on Friday, Monk worked systematically to make up positions during his 100-minute IMSA Sprint session before handing the car over to McAleer—starting as a full-time driver for Gradient Racing. .

McAleer continued to build on Monk’s progress, before a late-race pile-up at a hairpin gave him the opportunity to leapfrog a number of cars in his class, expertly weaving his way out of the traffic into his final fourth place.

The fourth-place result matches Monk’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship finish. The duo also finished as the top Bronze Cup drivers at today’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

In the GTP power division, Wayne Taylor Racing and Andretti Global cars faced a tough day. The #40 Acura ARX-06 of Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor went out early in the race, hitting the wall in Turn 1 just before the halfway mark.

The sister #10 WTRAndretti Acura of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque started eighth and recovered from a driving penalty to finish where they started the race, in eighth.

Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Acura Race Results

• Finished 4th in GTD – #66 Steven McAleer; Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22
• He finished 8th overall – #10 Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor; Wayne Taylor Racing with the Andretti Acura ARX-06
• Finished 10th in GTP – #40 Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor; Wayne Taylor Racing with the Andretti Acura ARX-06 (not applicable – communication)

Quote
Ricky Taylor (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing and Andretti Acura ARX-06) Finished 8: “This was a difficult weekend for the team. In terms of the number 10 Konica Minolta car, we were in a position where we could take risks, but it didn’t quite work out today. I took risks that led to penalties, and that was just up to me, taking very little risks but I think we improved the car last weekend we had very high expectations ‘We don’t have the same performance. The team worked hard to improve more all week, and I think we ended up racing the best car we had all weekend with the result behind us and a good third for the season.”

Steven McAleer (#66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22) 4 in GTD: “I’m very happy with this result in my first race as a full-time driver for Gradient Racing. We had an engine change last night, and we had a dead start yesterday. From 17th to fourth on the street circuit, I’m just better. I’m very happy by Sheena You can see the excitement in this Gradient Racing team. They’ve had a few races where they’ve struggled, but now we’re fourth and we’re going to push on. This car was definitely fast enough to get on the podium today, I’m happy for Laguna.

Sheena Monk (#66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22) 4 in GTD: “I’m very happy for JG Wentworth and also for Acura at their home Grand Prix. It’s a testament to this whole program and the drivers from the dead end, to be patient and pick the places. We were able to go from 17th. to fourth. It seemed as if for a minute we were so close to a podium finish—which we would love for Acura at the Long Beach Grand Prix I hope to get the JG Wentworth Acura in victory lane sometime soon.”

David Salters (President, HRC USA) on this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar race at Long Beach: “Not a good day at the office. We’re going to regroup and focus our energy forward. We win as a team and we lose as a team. That’s a race. Moving on.”

Quick Things

• This weekend marks the fifth year of Acura’s title sponsorship of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, and the 49th running of the oldest and most successful road circuit event in North America.
• Acura and its performance division, Honda Racing Corporation USA, have recorded a total of nine sports car victories at the Long Beach Grand Prix, second only to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for Acura and HRC US.
• HPD was renamed HRC US in January to reflect the company’s new role in Honda’s global racing efforts. With this change, HRC US will play a larger role in Honda’s global motorsports activities.

The next one
The 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship remains on the west coast, moving north to the Monterey Peninsula for the Motul Course de Monterey, May 10-12 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.