Castroneves, Acura Claim Pole at Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
• Helio Castroneves tops qualifying for Saturday’s Bubba burger Sports Car Grand Prix
• Second WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole of 2019 for Acura ARX-05 prototype
• Juan Pablo Montoya qualifies third in his Acura Team Penske entry
LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 12, 2019) – Helio Castroneves took his Acura ARX-05 prototypes to the pole for Saturday’s Bubba burger Sports Car Grand Prix in qualifying today at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, as ten of the 11 prototypes in the field bettered the existing lap record.
Acura Team Penske
Driving the #7 Acura ARX-05 prototype he will share with co-driver Ricky Taylor, Castroneves snared the second pole of the season for Acura with a new lap record time of 1:11.332, more than 1.5 seconds quicker than the existing mark, set by teammate Juan Pablo Montoya in 2018.
Montoya will start the Acura he shares with Dane Cameron from third after posting a time of 1:11.847, also under the mark of 1:12.922 he set just last year.
Both Team Penske Acuras have qualified in the top three in the opening three rounds of the 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. At the Daytona season opener, Taylor qualified second and Montoya third; while at Sebring last month, Cameron claimed the first pole of the season for Acura, while Castroneves qualified third.
Quote
Helio Castroneves (driver, #7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05) pole qualifier, second pole of 2019 for the Acura ARX-05 prototype: “Man, it was tough. The other competitors pushed very hard. But to be honest, I was very confident in my Acura Team Penske prototype. You have to enjoy the moment. Obviously, it’s not a [race] win, but it’s certainly a great start for the weekend. A great job by Team Penske and Acura, especially here in Southern California for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Can we start the race now? I’m ready!”
Where to watch
Television coverage from Long Beach begins at 5 p.m. EDT Saturday on the NBC Sports Network and the online NBC Gold App. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the NBC Sports App with NBCSN authentication.
Fans can listen to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.
Video recaps from this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be available on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel. Provided by the Carolinas Production Group, the video packages can be found at https://wwwyoutube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.
Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo
IMSA’s GTD category is not a part of the IMSA weekend at Long Beach, but the Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evos will return to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the May 3-5 Acura Sports Car Challenge at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.