The Long Beach Grand Prix always brings its own levels of unpredictability, and this year was no exception. Ryan Dalziel and the No. 2 CRP Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 finished sixth in the third round of the Pirelli World Challenge, which suffered a mid-race red flag before restarting to run the final 30 minutes.
The No. 2 Mercedes AMG GT3 ran strong in the opening practice sessions, topping the charts on Friday. The team had a difficult qualifying run in a highly competitive field, earning a sixth place starting position. The field took the green flag Sunday morning, and contact form behind damaged the right rear bodywork on Dalziel’s car. He was able to continue without stopping, and held on to his sixth place position. In the laps to follow, the field spread out, each car earning a comfortable gap.
With 35 minutes remaining, the race was red flagged after an overhead water main pipe broke over the back straight, flooding over that area of the street course. Once track officials stopped the leak and dried the track, the field restarted with 20 minutes remaining. The entire field again spread out, with minimal passing occurring before the checker flag flew. Dalziel and the No. 2 Mercedes AMG GT3 finished sixth position.
“It was a positive weekend for us,” said Dalziel. “We definitely learned what direction we need to go in with the Mercedes AMG GT3. From the minute we rolled off the truck, we were good. It was a relatively dull race for us. We may have had something for a top five, but we had some damage to our car. We learned a lot in this last race. I’m glad we are leaving the street courses because this car will excel on road courses.”
VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) will host the next rounds of the Pirelli World Challenge April 28-30, returning to its normal double header format. The event will feature the first rounds of the SprintX Championship, where Dalziel and another driver will share the driving duties for the expanded 60 minute race. An announcement on the second driver will be made in the coming weeks.