The 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary course laid out on the streets of Long Beach is the shortest event of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season and the 100-minute event is the first “sprint” race of the 2022 season. Porsche is tied for most sports car wins by a manufacturer on the Southern California circuit with nine victories, the most recent in 2019. Through the first 10 minutes of the 15-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying session, Taylor’s No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD traded fast times with Connor De Phillippi’s No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW M4 GT3 and the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche GT3 R of Mathieu Jaminet. All were within a tenth of a second of De Phillippi’s hot lap of 1 minute, 18.115 seconds. Figuring there was no more left in the BMW, De Phillippi pitted with under three minutes left in the session. Jaminet followed suit a minute later resulting in Jordan Taylor in the Corvette taking the GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) Motul Pole Award on Friday at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

De Phillippi finished second in qualifying, but the No. 25 BMW’s fastest laps were nullified for violating the maximum engine speed permitted by GTD Technical Regulations. That moved Jaminet to second on the class grid, with Ross Gunn slotting into third in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

The pole was the first for Corvette Racing in the new GTD PRO class, though Taylor did take qualifying honors last year at Long Beach in the No. 3 Corvette in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class that preceded GTD PRO. Taylor and co-driver Antonio Garcia (along with endurance driver Nicky Catsburg) are coming off a class win last month in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts.

Wright Motorsports found the record heat temperatures a little challenging at Long Beach, but stated that they are feeling strong for the start of the race with race day temperatures looking slightly cooler with highs hitting the mid-70s.

Team Hardpoint also stated that the high temperatures made qualifying that little bit more difficult saying We were really feeling the heat on the streets of LongBeach today. Practice and qualifying flew by, with us getting quicker and quicker each session. We’re excited to get back on track tomorrow for race day!

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach marks the first of eight races constituting the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup portion of the schedule for the GTD class. Saturday’s race is one of two races that awards points only toward the Sprint Cup and not the season championship as well. The other Sprint Cup-only race is the Sportscar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in July.

Saturday’s race airs live at 5 p.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and IMSA Radio.