Acura’s long wait for a modern-era overall victory at Long Beach is finally over. In the 2026 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande delivered a breakthrough win for the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06, giving Acura and Honda Racing Corporation USA their first overall triumph on the streets of Long Beach since the manufacturer became title sponsor of the event in 2019.
The result carried major symbolic weight for Acura, which has deep roots in Southern California and had spent years chasing exactly this moment at what is effectively its home race. While the brand had previous prototype-class success at Long Beach in the American Le Mans Series era, including class wins in 2008 and a sweep of the LMP1 and LMP2 categories in 2009, it had never taken an overall victory in IMSA’s top prototype divisions during the Daytona Prototype international era or the current GTP era. That changed on Saturday, as the No. 93 entry converted Friday’s pole position into a controlled and hard-earned sprint-race win.
With a special 76 Gas Station livery on the car, Acura’s victory was especially meaningful for the manufacturer’s many local staff and partners in attendance. Meyer Shank Racing and HRC US executed a race that balanced speed, patience and tire management, ultimately allowing van der Zande to cross the finish line 0.818 seconds ahead of the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R.
Pole converted into control despite pressure and cautions
Nick Yelloly had already laid the foundation for the result by taking the Motul Pole Award on Friday, and he led the early stages of the 100-minute race. The opening phase was not entirely straightforward, however. Just 13 laps into the contest, Yelloly lost the lead to Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Cadillac after encountering traffic from the GTD field.
That setback did not derail Acura’s strategy. Instead of reacting early like some rivals, the No. 93 crew committed to running longer before making its driver change. While several competitors pitted only 10 minutes into the race, Acura stretched the stint and kept Yelloly out until the 38-minute mark before handing over to van der Zande.
That proved decisive. Almost immediately after the stop sequence, the third of five full-course cautions was deployed, reshaping the race once again. When the green flag returned with 47 minutes to go, van der Zande emerged in the lead. From there, the Dutchman had to absorb sustained pressure from Frederik Vesti in the Cadillac while carefully managing the rear tires over the closing stages.
Yelloly, watching from the pit wall, remained confident in his team-mate’s ability to finish the job. That faith was rewarded, as van der Zande held firm to secure one of the most significant victories of Acura’s recent sports car program.
Cadillac and Porsche stay close as title battle tightens
Although Acura took the headline result, the race also underlined the strength of its GTP rivals. The No. 31 Cadillac Whelen entry, driven by Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti, finished second after another highly competitive run. For Cadillac, the podium continued a strong sequence of results, following two wins to end 2025 and now three consecutive podiums to start the 2026 season.
Behind them, Porsche Penske Motorsport placed both of its Porsche 963s on the podium’s doorstep. The No. 6 car of Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor finished third, just ahead of the No. 7 machine of Felipe Nasr and Julien Andlauer in fourth. That No. 7 car had won the first two WeatherTech Championship races of the season and continues to set the pace in the standings.
An interesting subplot is emerging in the championship. Despite not being a full-time sprint-race regular at the start of the year, Laurin Heinrich has become the closest challenger to Nasr and Andlauer. After endurance-race success early in the season, Heinrich was confirmed in an expanded program with the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 and scored sixth at Long Beach alongside Tijmen van der Helm, the team’s best result since the 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona.
That result leaves Heinrich 35 points behind the championship-leading No. 7 Porsche crew, with Aitken another three points back and the No. 6 Porsche pairing also firmly in contention.
For Acura, however, Long Beach belonged to the No. 93 crew. Van der Zande’s proven street-circuit strength once again came to the fore, and this time it delivered the victory the manufacturer had chased for years. More than just another win, it was a breakthrough on home streets, at Acura’s own race, and a statement that the brand’s GTP project has now cleared one of its most meaningful remaining milestones.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship remains in California for its next round, the Monterey SportsCar Championship, scheduled for May 1-3 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.