An estimated 200,000 people descended onto the historic streets of Long Beach circuit to witness Round 3 of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. The weekend started on Friday with the practice and qualifying sessions for the GTP and GTD classes. At the end of Friday’s on track sessions, the Motul Pole Awards winners were crowned with Nick Yelloly claiming the GTP pole in the Acura Meyers Shank Racing car while Frankie Montecalvo’s pole position in the Lexus and Vasser Sullivan Racing car in the GTD class was short-lived as they failed post qualifying tech inspection handing the pole to the DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette of Robert Wickens. Motul USA VIPs were on hand to present the Motul Pole Awards and congratulate the drivers.
Throughout the weekend, over 3,000 race fans stopped by the Motul booth to learn more about the brand and to see the 3 special vehicles that were on display. These included the 2026 Formula Drift Hall of Fame Inductee Dai Yoshihara’s Subaru BRZ drift car, Milan Geis’ Motul liveried Ducati Panigale V4S and Ciaran Naran’s Mint 400 winning Hero Racing Ducati Desmo 450.Many fans were lucky enough to grab a limited edition Motul Long Beach GP poster featuring the 6Motulpartner GTD cars that entered into the race.
Motul also surprised fans with 3 autograph sessions during Friday’s family day with drivers from the Gradient Racing Ford Mustang and the Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario greeting attendees and signing hero cards and Motul posters. Dai Yoshihara joined the mix in the afternoon where he also signed autographs for fans.
When the green flag flew on Saturday afternoon, the Motul partnered cars were in the mix for podium positions within the GTD class. With just a few minutes to go, the Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini and Gradient Racing Mustang made contact with each other causing both cars to fall down the order which helped solidify Conquest Racing’s first podium of the 2026 season with Manny Franco and Albert Costa taking 3rdplace. Motul guests were on hand to celebrate with the Ferrari team.