No. 89 Lexus Flunks Tech; Wickens Corvette on GTD Pole

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

The No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 has been stripped of its GTD class pole position for Saturday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, handing the top spot to Robert Wickens.

The Lexus, driven by Frankie Montecalvo to the initial pole, was found to have had a ground clearance lower than the minimum per the technical regulations and will start from the rear of the 17-car class as a result.

Wickens, who had been out of the cockpit since last year’s final IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sprint round at Virginia International Raceway last August, has now claimed his first career GTD pole.

“We’ve been having some radio issues here and there so I heard I went P1 at the checkered. And then I didn’t hear anything for the rest of the lap because of the static,” said Wickens before finding out about the penalty for the Lexus.

“As soon as I heard that I missed it by a tenth, I knew exactly where I could have found that to snag P1. DXDT Racing gives me a good race car, and the Corvette Z06 GT3.R is a dream around here.”

The No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Danny Formal has been promoted to the front row of the GTD grid.

“Leading the whole session, I really left it all out on the table,” said Formal. “The team gave me one of the best cars I’ve had at WTR in the three years of GTD – it was just phenomenal! It’s unexpected.

“We came into the weekend having top five or top seven in mind for qualifying, and for leading the whole qualifying session it just felt fantastic. Missed it by a tenth and a half.”

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach gets underway Saturday at 1:05 p.m. PST (4:05 p.m. EST) with live coverage on network NBC, as well as Peacock and IMSA’s YouTube channel for international viewers.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John