P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Sheldon van der Linde fronted a 1-2 finish for BMW RLL during a fairly undramatic opening IMSA free practice session at Long Beach.
Action kicked off during the first sprint meeting of the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship schedule, featuring a 60-minute free practice session for Round 4 showcasing GTP and GTD class cars. BMW RLL demonstrated strong performance by securing the top two positions on the timesheets in a productive session despite minimal incidents. One brief disruption occurred due to debris at Turn 9 on the street circuit, resulting in a temporary red flag for two minutes before the session resumed for the final three minutes. S. van der Linde set the fastest lap time of 1:13.241 in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP car, leading Dries Vanthoor in the #24 BMW who followed closely with a 1:13.377 lap time, with Renger van der Zande in third position. In the GTD category, Laurens Vanthoor claimed the top spot in the #177 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R with a time of 1:18.584, ahead of Parker Thompson and Russell Ward. Tommy Milner secured the fourth position, while Franke Montecalvo rounded out the top five in the GTD class. For full results, visit the IMSA Grand Prix of Long Beach page featuring 27 entries.
