Fort Lauderdale, Fla., (September 21, 2021) – Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) and Mathieu Jaminet (France) are ready for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race through the streets of Long Beach this weekend, Sept. 24-25.
MacNeil and the Proton Competition team are coming into their third consecutive weekend of racing. Having competed at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Spa-Francorchamps in the ELMS and now Long Beach in consecutive weekends. The race will be just 100 minutes long starting at 5 p.m. ET.
MacNeil is a former race winner on the 1.9-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit that runs around the Long Beach Aquarium. In 2017 he and teammate Gunnar Jeannette took the win in the team’s Mercedes GT3 GTD entry. Jaminet will turn his first laps on the southern California track on Friday.
“I like the Long Beach weekend. It’s a great event,” MacNeil said. “As street races go it is the biggest and best. I am fortunate to have won there in 2017, so I am looking for another great run this weekend. The race is short, just 100 minutes, so we will have to be on our strategy, have good solid pit stops and, of course, Mathieu and I will have to run clean stints. I am excited to put in my first laps in the Porsche RSR on Friday. We will need every second of practice to get the car setup and to get Mathieu familiar with a circuit that is new to him.”
Jaminet is excited about his first visit to the concrete-lined street course.
“I am really looking forward to Long Beach,” Jaminet said. “It will be my first time racing there. I have been watching the IndyCar and IMSA races for a couple of years and have always wanted to compete there as well. Porsche, in the past, has been competitive at Long Beach. I expect us to be on the pace. I like racing on street courses. I can’t wait to turn my first laps there in the WeatherTech Racing Porsche RSR.”
The IMSA WeatherTech Championship Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be broadcast live on NBCSN Saturday, Sept. 25 starting at 5 p.m. ET. Flag-to-flag coverage is also live on TrackPass and the NBC Sports App with the radio broadcast available on RadioLeMans.com.