Grand Prix of Long Beach Report
Long Beach, Calif. (April 11, 2022) — Peregrine Racing’s Carbahn Motorsports prepped No. 39 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO finished in their starting position of 11th after an up-and-down 2022 Grand Prix of Long Beach. The team showed excellent pace in the first sprint race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship around their home-state street course, but were ultimately forced to retire from a potential top-five finish.
Robert Megennis took the green flag for Peregrine to begin the 100-minute sprint, gaining two positions in the opening minutes. He drove a flawless stint, handing the car to Jeff Westphal in a position to move forward.
Westphal ran in seventh position with 40 minutes remaining. The latter half of his stint was tumultuous, with a series of late cautions mixing up the order. Peregrine were in prime position for a top five with 15 minutes left on the clock, but a scrape with the wall forced them to pit and fall a number of laps down.
“Our season isn’t off to a good start. We really needed a little luck and it looked like we might have it until the last few minutes of the race,” said team owner Mark Siegel. “After a difficult qualifying, the team managed to keep improving the car and our drivers and crew executed flawlessly to get us from P11 to P5. An unfortunate incident resulted in damage and retirement of the car with 15 minutes to go. We know we have car and team to get to the podium, but it just hasn’t come together. I’m looking forward to some champagne at Laguna Seca!”
Peregrine Racing will continue the West Coast swing of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with their home race, the Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship Presented by MOTUL, on April 29-May 1. Green flag for the feature race waves at 12:00 p.m. PT and 3:00 p.m. ET, May 1. Full coverage can be streamed on Peacock with network coverage on NBC. Peregrine Racing’s Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign will resume on April 30 with the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120, streaming at 4:00 p.m. PT and 7:00 p.m. ET on Peacock Premium.
INSIGHT FROM THE GTD COCKPIT:
Robert Megennis
“A super disappointing finish to what was such a great race. To come from 11th to fifth, we had impressive pace in the car. Steve, the team and everyone did such a stellar job. There are so many good things to take away from this—so many positives heading into Laguna Seca. I know we have pace. I know we can run up front. We just have to go execute and do it. I’m proud of the crew, they did an amazing job. I feel bad for the team that we don’t have a solid result from this effort, but we’re going to keep it going because everyone here is working so hard and I know we’re going to get some results soon.”
Jeff Westphal
“The team did a fantastic job. The car was improving all weekend and we were definitely going in the right direction with it, so I’m really proud of them. Everyone in the box made good calls and Robert had a great start and was making moves up the field. I saw an opportunity late in the race with a McLaren who had just ran into a car in front of him, I got a run and tried to overtake him into Turn 9. The critical error on my part was trying to roll around the outside of a car that was willing to shove people around. I got into the marbles and, unfortunately, slid into the wall on the left side and bent the rear toe link, which ended our day.
“I am not super enthusiastic about the end result, but I’m really proud of the team for how far we’ve come in a short period of time and I’m looking forward to working with Robert in the remaining races.”
