Parker Thompson claimed GTD class pole position for the 50th anniversary of the IMSA SportsCar Championship‘s Grand Prix of Long Beach.
After doing so for last year’s event, the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 driver did so once again for the fourth IMSA 2025 round.
Moreover, he narrowly beat reigning European Le Mans Series champion Jonny Edgar – piloting AO Racing’s ‘Rexy’ – by just 0.060 seconds.
The top-five finishers in GTD qualifying represented five different manufacturers, thus highlighting the outgoing competitive nature of the GT3 racing platform.
Surrounding street walls, selected run-off areas and 16 GTD cars combined for an important qualifying outing in the 15-minute session ahead of the shortest race duration on the calendar.
Thompson set a fastest lap time of 1:17.877 ahead of Edgar’s #177 Porsche 911 GT3.R which did a 1:17.937.
Tom Gamble went third fastest after having set a 1:17.939 in his #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo.
Manny Franco put the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 fourth (1:18.168) ahead of Turner Motorsport’s Patrick Gallagher and his #96 BMW M4 GT3 EVO (1:18.275).
Thompson’s team-mate in the other #89 Lexus secured sixth place after Franke Montecalvo drove a 1:18.372 lap time.
Reigning GTD champion Russell Ward finished seventh in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 (1:18.378), followed by Robert Wickens’ #36 DXDT Corvette Z06 GT3.R – considering its fastest time removed from causing a red flag in FP2 – and Adam Adelson’s #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche (1:18.592).
Seth Lucas rounded out the top-10 in the Korthoff Mercedes-AMG with a 1:19.062 lap time.
The #45 WTR Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 of Danny Formal only completed one installation lap following previous issues in FP2.
The 100-minute (1-hour and 40-minute) race will commence on Saturday 12 April at 14:05 local or 22:05 UTC.
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