Laurin Heinrich paced the JDC‑Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 to the fastest lap in opening practice for the 2026 IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Running on the 1.968‑mile temporary street circuit laid out around the Long Beach Convention Center, the 60‑minute session saw GTP and GTD machines thread through some of the tightest and most technical corners on the IMSA calendar, as teams shook down their setups ahead of the abbreviated 100‑minute race.
Laurin Heinrich who was on his debut session for the customer No. 5 JDC‑Miller Porsche 963 delivered a blistering laptime of 1:13.240 in the closing minutes, edging out early leader Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX‑06.
Behind them, Filipe Albuquerque slotted the WTR‑Andretti Cadillac V‑Series.R into third, just 0.162 seconds off the benchmark.
Porsche Penske Motorsport entries were slightly off the headline pace after they were hit with 45 kilograms of additional weight as part of a pre-event Balance of Performance adjustment following their dominant 1-2 finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Laurens Vanthoor, nevertheless, set the fourth-fastest lap in the No. 6 Porsche 963 despite a late session incident where Kevin Estre brushed the wall at Turn 1, while the sister No. 7 Porsche of Felipe Nasr finished further back in eighth, 0.508s off Heinrich.
Jack Aitken rounded out the top five in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R, followed by the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura in sixth and the second Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac in seventh.
Shifting to GTD, Matthew Bell put the 13 Autosport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R atop IMSA Long Beach practice 1 timesheets with a late 1:19.226, beating Jack Hawksworth in the No. 89 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 which is making one-off cameo appearance.
Philip Ellis was third-fastest in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, followed by Giacomo Altoè in the No. 81 DragonSpeed Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
READ MORE:
2026 IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend schedule: Times, TV, streaming
2026 IMSA Long Beach entry list: 28 cars confirmed with several driver lineup changes
