Blomqvist posts a 1:10.583-second to put the No. 60 Acura second in qualifying
Long Beach, Calif. (14 April 2023) – Tom Blomqvist put the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 on the front row for Saturday’s 100-minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (5:00pm ET, USA Network, SiriusXM Ch, 207).
Getting off to a quick start, MSR drivers Blomqvist and Colin Braun kicked off the Long Beach weekend with the fastest lap in practice just ahead of Friday’s qualifying. The team focused on securing a balance that complimented the cooler temperatures and new Michelin compound tire.
With even cooler temperatures arriving for the 5:40pm PST qualifying session, Blomqvist was aiming to best his third place qualifying run last season with the MSR DPi.
Blomqvist worked the get the Michelin tires up to temperature with the 2022 IMSA champion putting the No. 60 Acura at the top of the charts on three occasions during qualifying. He went to provisional pole with 5:15 remaining, but was bumped by 0.674-seconds to make an all-Acura front row.
“We didn’t judge quite right for the track conditions, maybe looking a bit too much at the data from last year, and that didn’t really work on this car” said Blomqvist. “The balance went away from us in the cool conditions and we struggled out there. P2 is a good result for Acura, especially at Acura’s home event. We’ve struggled here in the past, so hats off to everyone at HPD and MSR – they’ve done a great job. The race pace is strong, we just need to stay out of trouble and see what that brings us.”
MSR will head into its eighth Long Beach IMSA event with the team making it’s debut on the 1.968-mile street circuit in 2006. MSR will be looking to improve on its best Long Beach finish of fourth (2022) in Saturday’s 100-minute race.
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be aired live on USA Network starting at 5:00pm ET on Saturday. SiriusXM will also host live IMSA Radio coverage on XM Ch. 207.