Van der Zande’s Street Course Prowess Continues with Yelloly in No. 93 ARX-06
By John Oreovicz
LONG BEACH, Calif. – It was a long time coming, but Acura and Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US) claimed their first overall victory on the streets of Long Beach during the modern era of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – and more importantly, for the first time since Acura became the title sponsor of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2019.
Nick Yelloly sped to the Motul Pole Award on Friday, then teamed with Renger van der Zande Saturday to guide the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 to the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) first-place trophy in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. They largely controlled the 100-minute sprint race to end several years of frustration for Acura and HRC, which both have headquarters in Southern California.
The Acura marque triumphed at Long Beach in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class in 2008 under American Le Mans Series sanction and swept the LMP1 and LMP2 classes in 2009. But until Saturday, Acura had not taken overall victory at the legendary 1.968-mile, 11-turn track in IMSA’s Daytona Prototype international (2017-22) and GTP (2023-present) top classes.
It was reminiscent of the wait Honda endured from 1998 to 2003 in IndyCar racing as it tried to no avail to win in front of home fans on Japanese soil at Twin Ring Motegi. When Dan Wheldon finally broke through in 2004, it triggered a joyful celebration that longtime HRC and Acura associates still talk about.
With the No. 93 Acura carrying a new 76 Gas Station livery, van der Zande crossed the finish line 0.818 seconds ahead of the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R shared this weekend by Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti, in his Long Beach debut filling in for Earl Bamber.
The Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963s took third and fourth places, with the No. 6 car of Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor just ahead of the No. 7 team car of Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer that won the first two WeatherTech Championship races of the 2026 season.
Acura’s status as the title sponsor for the Grand Prix of Long Beach, and the “home race” win for van der Zande and Yelloly produced another outpouring of gratitude and excitement from the many Honda and Acura associates who attended the race.
“That’s the main topic from the day,” said van der Zande, who has now earned 21 race wins in top-level IMSA sports car competition, including six of the last 10 street races in the WeatherTech Championship. “Winning the Acura Grand Prix for Acura as an Acura driver, that makes it very, very special.
“We were brought into this program, almost to win this one. There’s a lot of effort around Los Angeles to promote the Grand Prix, and this is home ground for Acura, so it’s fantastic to take the win we just did.”
Chuck Schifsky, National Motorsport Manager for Honda and Acura, was over the moon.
“A spectacular win for Acura!” he exclaimed. “Not only is it on our home ground, near HRC’s US headquarters in Santa Clarita, but the HRC group is responsible for the trackside engineering on the No. 93 car. It’s a huge win for that group.
“We haven’t won since 2008 (and 2009) at Long Beach and haven’t won here in IMSA’s modern prototype era, so it’s great to be able to finally present ourselves with the trophy from the Acura Grand Prix.”
Yelloly led from the start, but lost the top spot to Aitken when he was balked by a Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class competitor just 13 laps in. While some competitors made pit stops for driver changes as little as 10 minutes into the race, the No. 93 ran longest, with Yelloly handing over to van der Zande after 38 minutes.
Almost simultaneously, the third of the five full-course cautions that punctuated the race fell, and van der Zande emerged in the lead when racing resumed with 47 minutes remaining. From there, he was able to hold off Vesti despite concerns about conserving his rear tires. On the pit wall, Yelloly remained confident.
“It was a nail-biting finish, but I knew the guy behind the wheel could do the job, so I wasn’t too worried,” Yelloly said.
The No. 31 Cadillac has started the season with three consecutive podiums after closing out 2025 with a pair of victories.
“We had a really good day,” said Aitken. “There’s a few key things you need to do on a street track like this – you need to have a good start, don’t make mistakes, and I think the No. 31 team ticked all those boxes. It was a really good run so I can’t complain too much, but definitely hungry for that win this year.”
Nasr, Andlauer, and the No. 7 Porsche continue to lead the GTP standings, with an interesting twist: their closest competitor early in the 2026 season is Laurin Heinrich.
Heinrich is the No. 7 car’s third driver for Motul Petit Le Mans after winning at the first two IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds, the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Heading into Long Beach, he was announced with an extended program in the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963, running the remaining sprint races and the Michelin Endurance Cup race at Road America.
Heinrich and Tijmen van der Helm finished sixth at Long Beach, for the JDC-Miller team’s best result since the 2025 Rolex 24, which was also a sixth-place run. This puts Heinrich 35 points behind Andlauer and Nasr. Aitken is a further three points back, followed by the No. 6 Porsche duo.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship remains in California for its next race, the Monterey SportsCar Championship, May 1-3 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.