# 2015 Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase

The 2015 Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). It was held at Long Beach street circuit in Long Beach, California on 18 April 2015. The race was the third round of the 2015 Tudor United SportsCar Championship.

## Background

The event was run as a support race to the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the annual IndyCar Series race held at the circuit. The Pirelli World Challenge and Stadium Super Trucks also ran during the weekend. The race was also the joint-shortest of the season, at just 100 minutes, identical to the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic.

### Entries

A total of 17 cars took part in the event; 9 in the Prototype (P) class and 8 in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. The Prototype Challenge (PC) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes would not be participating in the event. After only competing on permanent circuits since its competition debut in 2012, The DeltaWing would make its first appearance at a street course. Due to scheduling conflicts for full-season drivers Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber, who were preparing for their LMP1 debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship, drivers Frédéric Makowiecki and Richard Lietz would replace them for the Long Beach event.

## Practice

There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, both on Friday. The first session lasted two hours on Friday morning while the second session on Friday afternoon lasted 35 minutes.

### Practice 1

The first practice session at 7:45 am PT on Friday and ended with Dane Cameron topping the charts for Action Express Racing, with a lap time of 1:16.063.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
| 1 | P | 31 | Action Express Racing | Dane Cameron | 1:16.063 | _ |
| 2 | P | 90 | VisitFlorida.com Racing | Richard Westbrook | 1:16.141 | +0.078 |
| 3 | P | 5 | Action Express Racing | João Barbosa | 1:16.159 | +0.096 |
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### Final Practice

The second and final practice session took place at 4:45 pm PT on Friday and ended with Ricky Taylor topping the charts for Wayne Taylor Racing, with a lap time of 1:15.879.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
| 1 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing | Ricky Taylor | 1:15.879 | _ |
| 2 | P | 01 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Scott Pruett | 1:16.165 | +0.286 |
| 3 | P | 90 | VisitFlorida.com Racing | Eric Curran | 1:16.447 | +0.568 |
| Source: |||||||

## Qualifying

Qualifying was broken into two sessions. The first session of qualifying was for the GTLM class. Bill Auberlen qualified on pole in GTLM driving the No. 25 BMW Team RLL entry.
The final session of qualifying was for the P class. Ricky Taylor qualified on pole driving the No. 10 car for Wayne Taylor Racing.

### Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
| 1 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing | Ricky Taylor | 1:14.790 | _ | 1‡ |
| 2 | P | 01 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Scott Pruett | 1:15.048 | +0.258 | 2 |
| 3 | P | 5 | Action Express Racing | Christian Fittipaldi | 1:15.274 | +0.484 | 3 |
| 4 | P | 90 | VisitFlorida.com Racing | Michael Valiante | 1:15.553 | +0.763 | 4 |
| 5 | P | 31 | Action Express Racing | Eric Curran | 1:15.915 | +1.125 | 5 |
| 6 | GTLM | 25 | BMW Team RLL | Bill Auberlen | 1:17.268 | +2.478 | 6‡ |
| 7 | P | 0 | DeltaWing Racing Cars with Claro/TracFone | Memo Rojas | 1:17.405 | +2.615 | 7 |
| 8 | P | 60 | Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian | John Pew | 1:17.427 | +2.637 | 8 |
| 9 | GTLM | 24 | BMW Team RLL | John Edwards | 1:17.516 | +2.726 | 9 |
| 10 | GTLM | 62 | Risi Competizione | Giancarlo Fisichella | 1:17.709 | +2.919 | 10 |
| 11 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing | Jan Magnussen | 1:17.739 | +2.949 | 11 |
| 12 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing | Oliver Gavin | 1:17.756 | +2.966 | 12 |
| 13 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche North America | Richard Lietz | 1:17.932 | +3.142 | 16 |
| 14 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche North America | Patrick Pilet | 1:18.185 | +3.395 | 17 |
| 15 | GTLM | 17 | Team Falken Tire | Bryan Sellers | 1:18.728 | +3.938 | 13 |
| 16 | P | 70 | SpeedSource | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | 14 |
| 17 | P | 07 | SpeedSource | did not participate | did not participate | did not participate | 15 |
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## Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.
Final race classification :
| Pos | Class | No. | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Tire | Laps | Time/Retired |
| Pos | Class | No. | Team | Drivers | Engine | Tire | Laps | Time/Retired |
| 1 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing | Jordan Taylor Ricky Taylor | Corvette Daytona Prototype | C | 78 | 1:40:59.571‡ |
| 1 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing | Jordan Taylor Ricky Taylor | Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 | C | 78 | 1:40:59.571‡ |
| 2 | P | 01 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Joey Hand Scott Pruett | Ford EcoBoost Riley DP | C | 78 | +3.300 |
| 2 | P | 01 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Joey Hand Scott Pruett | Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L V6 Turbo | C | 78 | +3.300 |
| 3 | P | 90 | VisitFlorida.com Racing | Richard Westbrook Michael Valiante | Corvette Daytona Prototype | C | 78 | +18.242 |
| 3 | P | 90 | VisitFlorida.com Racing | Richard Westbrook Michael Valiante | Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 | C | 78 | +18.242 |
| 4 | P | 31 | Action Express Racing | Eric Curran Dane Cameron | Corvette Daytona Prototype | C | 78 | +21.864 |
| 4 | P | 31 | Action Express Racing | Eric Curran Dane Cameron | Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 | C | 78 | +21.864 |
| 5 | P | 5 | Action Express Racing | João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi | Corvette Daytona Prototype | C | 78 | +50.468 |
| 5 | P | 5 | Action Express Racing | João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi | Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 | C | 78 | +50.468 |
| 6 | P | 60 | Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian | John Pew Oswaldo Negri Jr. | Ligier JS P2 | C | 76 | +2 laps |
| 6 | P | 60 | Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian | John Pew Oswaldo Negri Jr. | Honda HR28TT 2.8 L V6 Turbo | C | 76 | +2 laps |
| 7 | GTLM | 25 | BMW Team RLL | Bill Auberlen Dirk Werner | BMW Z4 GTE | M | 76 | +2 Laps ‡ |
| 7 | GTLM | 25 | BMW Team RLL | Bill Auberlen Dirk Werner | BMW 4.4 L V8 | M | 76 | +2 Laps ‡ |
| 8 | GTLM | 62 | Risi Competizione | Pierre Kaffer Giancarlo Fisichella | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | M | 76 | +2 Laps |
| 8 | GTLM | 62 | Risi Competizione | Pierre Kaffer Giancarlo Fisichella | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | M | 76 | +2 Laps |
| 9 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing | Antonio García Jan Magnussen | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | M | 75 | +3 Laps |
| 9 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing | Antonio García Jan Magnussen | Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8 | M | 75 | +3 Laps |
| 10 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche North America | Frédéric Makowiecki Patrick Pilet | Porsche 911 RSR | M | 75 | +3 Laps |
| 10 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche North America | Frédéric Makowiecki Patrick Pilet | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | M | 75 | +3 Laps |
| 11 | GTLM | 24 | BMW Team RLL | John Edwards Lucas Luhr | BMW Z4 GTE | M | 75 | +3 laps |
| 11 | GTLM | 24 | BMW Team RLL | John Edwards Lucas Luhr | BMW 4.4 L V8 | M | 75 | +3 laps |
| 12 | GTLM | 17 | Team Falken Tire | Bryan Sellers Wolf Henzler | Porsche 911 RSR | F | 75 | +3 Laps |
| 12 | GTLM | 17 | Team Falken Tire | Bryan Sellers Wolf Henzler | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | F | 75 | +3 Laps |
| 13 | P | 07 | SpeedSource | Tom Long Joel Miller | Mazda Prototype | C | 75 | +3 Laps |
| 13 | P | 07 | SpeedSource | Tom Long Joel Miller | Mazda Skyactiv-D 2.2 L Turbo I4 (Diesel) | C | 75 | +3 Laps |
| 14 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing | Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R | M | 74 | +4 Laps |
| 14 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing | Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner | Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8 | M | 74 | +4 Laps |
| 15 | P | 70 | SpeedSource | Jonathan Bomarito Tristan Nunez | Mazda Prototype | C | 74 | +4 Laps |
| 15 | P | 70 | SpeedSource | Jonathan Bomarito Tristan Nunez | Mazda Skyactiv-D 2.2 L Turbo I4 (Diesel) | C | 74 | +4 Laps |
| 16 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche North America | Jörg Bergmeister Richard Lietz | Porsche 911 RSR | M | 60 | +18 Laps |
| 16 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche North America | Jörg Bergmeister Richard Lietz | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | M | 60 | +18 Laps |
| 17 | P | 0 | DeltaWing Racing Cars with Claro/TracFone | Memo Rojas Katherine Legge | DeltaWing DWC13 | C | 9 | Did not finish |
| 17 | P | 0 | DeltaWing Racing Cars with Claro/TracFone | Memo Rojas Katherine Legge | Élan (Mazda) 1.9 L I4 Turbo | C | 9 | Did not finish |
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Tyre manufacturers :
| Key ||
| Symbol | Tyre manufacturer |
| C | Continental |
| M | Michelin |
| F | Falken Tire |