With Daytona in the rearview mirror, the VSCA SportsCar Championship is travelling to sunny Long Beach, California for the second round of the 2025 season.
A first in the history of the series, all classes will not compete in this championship round. Instead, the MV Skinlab Grand Prix of Long Beach will only feature GTP and GT PRO class teams, while LMP2 and GT AM class teams return to action at Sebring later this month.
Long Beach has seen its share of dramatic racing in VSCA these past two years. Last year’s edition of the 1-hour and 40-minute event saw the #111 HAC Racing Cadillac take victory in GTP Class with drivers Christophe Demay and Matthew Routon. The team has since folded and departed the series, so there will be a new winner in Long Beach’s winner’s circle this time around.
Last year’s win in GT PRO class went to the #21 GSE Racing eSports Audi driven by Kevin Mueller and John-Pascale Arnold, who led the entire race’s 64 laps en route to their lone series victory, before this team, too, folded and departed the series later that year.
Two years ago it was Champion Motorsports winning the race in GTP class and the #67 Kinetic Racing team win in GTD class.
With a grid of 27 cars total, chances are the third annual edition of this race Long Beach may be less wild than last year’s edition, when the first full course yellow came out only 12 minutes in for a huge pileup in turn one. Another big incident triggered the second FCY just after the one-hour mark.
Amongst the 27-car grid there is a new entry in GTP class: The #70 Soleil Racing Project Porsche 963 GTP. After missing Daytona the team looks to make its series debut in the streets of Long Beach.
Meanwhile, missing from the grid is the #37 W2 e-ProGP Ferrari 499P. After leading early in last month’s 24 Hours of Daytona, the team retired from the same event after only 42 laps and will now miss Long Beach.
Championship standings going into Long Beach
In GTP class 24 Hours of Daytona champions #48 Velocity Racing Ferrar 499P go into Long Beach holding a 36-point lead in the championship over the #32 Wastegate Racing Cadillac. Despite a soul-crushing crash at Daytona, three laps before the finish, the #79 Digital Chicane Acura sits third going into the second race of the season, only 38 points out of the lead.
In GT PRO, Sim City Racing’s #71 Porsche team will look to build on their strong Daytona win and extend their championship lead further. Putting the competition at a 60-point distance right now, things are looking good for the team to possibly come out of Long Beach still in first place. Digital Chiane’s #93 Acura is currently second, with defending GT PRO series and Sprint Cup champions #44 Fischer Motorsport Porsche right behind, 68 points out of first place.
Long Beach event schedule
Track activities begin Thursday with Free Practice 1, followed by Free Practice 2 on Friday. On Saturday the MV Skinlab Grand Prix of Long Beach will take the green flag at 1600 GMT.