Reigning Grand Prix of Long Beach GTD winner Parker Thompson explained how the risk factor is essential for being fast at the street circuit.
When asked by Motorsport Week in a pre-event press conference, he said: “Well, I think there’s a lot of things, but I think it’s just it comes down to the amount of risk you’re willing to take and how close you can get to the walls – both on the entry and the exit.
“That’s probably the biggest difference between the GTP field and GTD, is it’s just [about] tightening up the corners.
“It’s getting as close as you can to the walls… All the grip gets close to the apex because that’s where a lot of the GTPs are running.
“And that generally determines the line as the race goes on.
“You know, [at] the start of the weekend when the track is dirty, you can get away with more creative open lines.
“But as we get to race weekend – especially with IndyCar there – as we get to the race on Saturday, you basically have to tighten everything up and get as close to the walls as you can.
“So in some cars, that’s easy. In a Lexus, that’s probably the toughest part is wrangling that big V8 as close to the walls as we can.”
The 27-year-old driver claimed pole position in last year’s event before taking victory with co-driver and 2023 GTD Pro champion Ben Barnicoat.
Barnicoat still recovering from his cycling injury which occurred closely before the 12 Hours of Sebring – the previous round of the 2025 IMSA schedule.
The #12 Lexus duo Thompson and Jack Hawksworth will race against 15 other GTD cars in the race on 12 April.
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