Daytona 24 winners come away with competitive qualifying session in Long BeachLONG BEACH, CA (8 April 2022) – Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) will start from the inside of the second row for Saturday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Round 3 of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The sprint event is the third race of the season, and marks a dramatic departure from the opening two races of the year that featured 24 and 12 hour formats.
MSR driver Tom Blomqvist was third fastest with a lap of 1:09.939-seconds in the Rolex 24 At Daytona-winning No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing AutoNation / SiriusXM Acura ARX-05 DPi, a slim 0.467-seconds behind the pole-winning car.
Oliver Jarvis will co-drive in the 47th running of America’s oldest street race (USA, 5:00 PM ET)
The qualifying result followed an up and down session that saw Blomqvist continue to push through nearly the full session and make the most of all the grip on offer from the Michelins despite high temperatures.
Blomqvist improved to second midway through the 15-minute qualifying session on the tight 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit. Bumped off the front row, he regained second with a lap of 1:09.939-seconds with three minutes remaining as the time ultimately resulted in third on the starting grid for Saturday’s 100-minute race.
“The result here today is a testament to the work that we’ve done between Sebring and now,” said Blomqvist. “We’ve been working really hard to improve the car. Although the car is a few years old now, there is still potential in it. This weekend we made steps forward in every session and the car really came alive in qualifying. I had a lot of confidence in it and I was able to extract some good performance.”
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach takes the green flag at 5:05 p.m. PT. The race televised live on the USA Network, beginning at 5 p.m. ET, and will be streamed live on NBC Peacock. The race will also be broadcast live on SiriusXM Channel 202.