2017 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix: Taylor Brothers Win a Crash-Filled Long Beach Race

The 2017 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix was an IMSA sports car race held at the Long Beach Street Circuit in California on 8 April 2017. It formed part of the Long Beach Grand Prix weekend and was the third of twelve rounds in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Jordan and Ricky Taylor won it in a Cadillac, while a late multi-car crash in the hairpin decided the class results.

What was the 2017 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix?

The race was the shortest event on the 2017 WeatherTech calendar and was run on the eleven-turn, 1.968 mile (3.167 km) street circuit at Long Beach. It was the fourth consecutive year the event had been part of the championship, and the tenth annual running of the race.

The event was also the first round of the year that was not part of the North American Endurance Cup. IMSA president Scott Atherton had confirmed in August 2016 that the Long Beach race would stay on the 2017 schedule.

Ricky Taylor's record pole and a last-lap pile-up at the hairpin made Long Beach 2017 one of the most chaotic rounds of the season.

How did the championship stand going into Long Beach?

After the 12 Hours of Sebring three weeks earlier, Jordan and Ricky Taylor led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 70 points. Filipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi were next on 65 points, and Dane Cameron, Mike Conway and Eric Curran were third with 56.

In the GT Le Mans class, Sebastien Bourdais, Joey Hand and Dirk Muller led with 67 points, four clear of Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller. In GT Daytona, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Mario Farnbacher and Ben Keating led on 66 points, six clear of Jules Gounon, Christopher Mies and Connor De Phillippi. Cadillac, Ford and Mercedes-AMG led their manufacturers' standings.

IMSA changed the balance of performance for the third time that season to narrow the gaps between cars. The Cadillac DPi-V.Rs lost 2 L of fuel tank capacity and had their refuelling restrictors tightened, while the Mazda and Nissan prototypes had their turbo boost raised. The Porsche 911 RSR was made heavier and lost air restrictor size and fuel capacity, and the Porsche 991 GT3 R was made lighter by 20 kg.

Who was entered for Long Beach?

Thirty-five cars were officially entered, most of them in the two Grand Touring categories. Because the paddock was small, IMSA accepted only premium entrants, meaning teams that competed in the whole championship. Teams ran their regular driver pairings for the first time that season.

Seven Daytona Prototype International chassis took part in the Prototype class, including three Cadillac DPi-V.R cars, two Nissan Onroak DPi cars and a pair of Mazda RT24-P entries. They were joined by three Le Mans Prototype 2 cars, made by Oreca, Ligier and Riley. The Prototype Challenge class was absent, which left three racing classes on the grid.

Nine cars represented the GT Le Mans class from manufacturers including Corvette, Ford, Porsche, Ferrari and BMW. Sixteen GT3 cars from eight manufacturers appeared in GT Daytona. The Racer's Group Porsche 911 GT3 R returned after it was withdrawn from Daytona because of a run of flat tyres, while a Dream Racing Lamborghini Huracan was listed but did not start.

How did practice go at Long Beach?

A two-hour practice session was held on the Friday morning. Jordan Taylor set the fastest time in the No. 10 Cadillac at 1 minute 14.982 seconds on his final attempt, and the No. 2 Nissan of Ryan Dalziel was second quickest. Fittipaldi was third, with Jonathan Bomarito and Cameron completing the top five.

The session was stopped three times for accidents. Renger van der Zande lost his brakes in the No. 90 VisitFlorida Racing Riley and hit the tyre wall and concrete barrier at turn one. William Owen then locked up the No. 52 PR1 Ligier at the first corner, and Scott Pruett crashed the No. 14 3GT Lexus at the fifth corner. After practice VisitFlorida withdrew the No. 90 car, because its tub was too badly damaged to repair and no spare chassis had been brought.

Ricky Taylor led the second practice session, while Bomarito's Mazda was six-tenths of a second behind. Fittipaldi spun in the closing minutes and finished third. Andy Lally's Michael Shank Racing Acura was heavily damaged in a wall impact, and Pilet picked up rear suspension damage on his Porsche when he touched the barrier at turn nine.

Who took pole position in qualifying?

Qualifying was held on the Thursday afternoon, lasting 90 minutes across three groups. GT Daytona went out first for fifteen minutes, and the Prototype and GT Le Mans cars then ran identically timed sessions. Each team nominated one driver, and the grid was arranged so that Prototypes started ahead of GT Le Mans cars, which started ahead of GT Daytona.

Ricky Taylor took pole in the No. 10 Cadillac with a time of 1 minute 13.549 seconds. It was his second pole at Long Beach and the 14th of his career, and it beat his own lap record for the circuit, set in 2014. Fittipaldi qualified second, 0.204 seconds slower, and Tristan Nunez put the No. 55 Mazda third. The highest-placed LMP2 car was Mikhail Goikhberg's JDC-Miller Oreca in fourth.

In GT Le Mans Magnussen set a new category record of 1 minute 16.909 seconds on his tenth attempt, his first pole since the 2016 Oak Tree Grand Prix and the 19th of his career. Joey Hand was second, 0.092 seconds behind, and Toni Vilander took the third row in the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488. In GT Daytona Sellers took his second straight pole on a street circuit, with a time of 1 minute 19.243 seconds, and Jack Hawksworth's Lexus was second.

Two cars did not take part in qualifying after practice crashes. The No. 14 3GT Racing Lexus and the No. 911 Porsche were both left unable to run, and the No. 90 was withdrawn entirely.

How did the race start?

The weather was dry and clear, with air temperatures between 17.9 and 19.2 C (64.2 to 66.6 F). Singer-songwriter Chester Bennington, the grand marshal, waved the green flag at 13:05 Pacific time. Ricky Taylor held the lead into the first corner while Nunez got ahead of Fittipaldi on the inside for second.

Exiting turn five, Vilander's Ferrari hit the right rear of Brown's Nissan and spun it round, and Hand's Ford, which was close behind, was also caught up. Magnussen clipped the back of Hand's car and dropped from the class lead to sixth. Both Vilander's Ferrari and Brown's Nissan retired from the race after heavy damage, and a full-course caution followed.

When racing resumed, Ricky Taylor kept the lead and Vanthoor led the eight-car GT Le Mans field. Goikhberg locked his brakes running on the bumpy surface and dropped to 32nd overall after rejoining. A second full-course yellow followed on lap eleven, after carbon fibre debris from Hand's Ford was found on the racing line.

What were the main incidents during the race?

On the 21st lap Jeannette's Riley Mercedes-AMG was struck from behind by the rear of Fittipaldi's Cadillac, which had just lapped him, and Fittipaldi spun into the turn nine tyre barrier. He returned to the pits for a rear bodywork replacement, and a third full-course caution was called to clear debris.

Later, Porsche's No. 911 of Werner dived inside Muller's Ford at the turn eleven hairpin and hit its right-rear quarter. Muller spun through a full circle, lost his rear wing against the outside barrier and created a traffic jam, which brought out the fourth caution.

On lap 40 Cameron's Cadillac passed Jordan Taylor for second in the Prototype class, but traffic on the back straight allowed Taylor to retake the place on the next lap. On lap 42 the final caution came out after Cameron made an error at turn eight, went into the outside wall and was injured. His car retired, and Tomczyk led the restart on lap 48.

How did the lead change in the final stint?

Dalziel took the overall lead on lap 48 by passing Tomczyk, but Taylor closed to within a second per lap. Tomczyk later slowed with a suspected engine control unit failure, which handed the GT Le Mans lead to Antonio Garcia's Corvette.

With six minutes to go, Dalziel was held up by slower GT Daytona traffic, and Taylor took advantage by passing him around the outside into the first corner. Dalziel tried to retake the lead, but Taylor held on to win.

Who won the 2017 race at Long Beach?

Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor won in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, their third straight win of the season and their third Long Beach victory. Ryan Dalziel followed 6.349 seconds back in the Nissan Onroak DPi he shared with Scott Sharp, the best finish of their season so far.

The podium was completed by Tristan Nunez and Jonathan Bomarito in the No. 55 Mazda RT24-P. In GT Le Mans, the Corvette of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner took the class win after Magnussen and Garcia lost their position. In GT Daytona the No. 50 Riley Mercedes-AMG of Cooper MacNeil and Gunnar Jeannette took the class win after an early fuel stop.

What happened on the final lap?

Three GT Daytona cars crashed into the outside wall at the turn eleven hairpin on the last lap. The debris and cars partly blocked the track, and Magnussen and Garcia, who had been first in class, finished tenth overall and fifth in class after the incident.

IMSA officials decided that the passing had been done to avoid fully blocking the track. The same view had been taken earlier, when another crash at the hairpin had caused a partial blockage, and no penalties were given after the race.

How did the standings change after Long Beach?

The Taylors' win extended their Prototype championship lead to 16 points over Fittipaldi and Barbosa. Goikhberg and Stephen Simpson moved from fifth to third in the standings. In GT Le Mans, Muller and Hand extended their lead to four points over Garcia and Magnussen, while Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe moved up to third after their finishing positions.

In GT Daytona, Keating and Bleekemolen increased their advantage to nineteen points, with Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen moving into second. Cadillac, Ford and Mercedes-AMG kept the manufacturers' lead, and Wayne Taylor Racing, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing and Riley Motorsports kept their team championship advantages, with nine races left in the season.

Race winners and class results