The two Porsche 963s of the works team of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG will compete in the colors of Apple Music at the city race in Long Beach (April 18). After the two endurance classics at Daytona and Sebring, which Porsche Penske Motorsport won in each case, IMSA is moving from the US East Coast to California's West Coast. With a duration of only 100 minutes, the race in the narrow streets of Long Beach is one of the shortest appearances in the North American Sports Car Championship.

Porsche and Apple Music have been cooperating closely in the automotive sector since 2019: With the introduction of the Porsche Taycan, the German sports car manufacturer offered Apple Music "built-in" for the first time – the first fully integrated music streaming experience. Since then, customers have been able to enjoy convenient access to over 100 million music titles in the Porsche Advanced Cockpit.

The Porsche works team travels to Long Beach for round three of the season as the leader in the IMSA championship. The spectacular street circuit on the outskirts of Los Angeles is familiar territory for Porsche Penske Motorsport: In 2023, the Porsche 963 drove to its first ever race victory there, followed by another triumph at the Long Beach Grand Prix in 2025. The event attracts more than 200,000 spectators annually. In addition to the IMSA championship, the IndyCar series will also race in Long Beach next weekend. Porsche partner Team Penske will be in action there with three cars.

"The cooperation with Apple Music fills us with pride," explains Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. "The design of our two Porsche 963s looks fantastic. After our successful appearance in Mobil 1 colours at Sebring, we are thus setting the next highlight for the 75th anniversary of Porsche Motorsport. I'm very excited to see how the fans will react to our car design."

The 3.167-kilometre street circuit has eleven corners and is considered the American counterpart to the traditional Formula 1 circuit in Monaco. The Long Beach Street Course runs clockwise around the Convention Center. Its special features include the curved start-finish straight along the Pacific beach, the sharp right-hand bend at the end of the lap and the historic cruise ship "Queen Mary" in the background. The 100-minute sprint, together with the Detroit Grand Prix in May, forms the shortest race of the season.

Kévin Estre from France and Laurens Vanthoor from Belgium will compete in the No. 6 Porsche. The number 7 sister car, which won at Daytona and Sebring, will be driven by Frenchman Julien Andlauer and Brazilian Felipe Nasr. "After our two victories at the start of the season, we are of course in a great mood. However, we will have to fight hard in Long Beach," emphasizes Urs Kuratle, Leider Werksmotorsport LMDh. "After our successes, we will have to compete with a significantly increased vehicle weight in the coming race."

Works driver Laurin Heinrich at JDC-Miller MotorSports

In the first sprint race after the major endurance classics in Daytona and Sebring, two drivers each share a car. For Laurin Heinrich, however, the IMSA adventure continues at the wheel of the No. 7 works car after overall victories in the two Florida races: The German will contest the upcoming IMSA races alongside Tijmen van der Helm (Netherlands) in the Porsche 963 fielded by the JDC-Miller MotorSports customer team.

In Long Beach, the GTD-Pro class will take a break. The "Roxy" Porsche 911 GT3 R of AO Racing, which is popular with fans, will still be on site. As in the previous year, the team will make a guest appearance in the GTD category. In 2025, AO Racing's "Rexy" nine-eleven won the class at Long Beach. Britain's Harry King and Mikkel Pedersen from Denmark will alternate in the No. 177 car next weekend. The Wright Motorsport customer team is fielding another 911 GT3 R in the third race of the season.

The Porsche race cars at the Long Beach Grand Prix

GTP class (Porsche 963):
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport: Kévin Estre (FRA), Laurens Vanthoor (BEL)
#7 Porsche Penske Motorsport: Julien Andlauer (FRA), Felipe Nasr (BRA)
#5 JDC-Miller MotorSports: Laurin Heinrich (DEU), Tijmen van der Helm (NLD)

GTD class (Porsche 911 GT3 R):
#120 Wright Motorsports: Adam Adelson (USA), Callum Ilott (GBR)
#177 AO Racing: Harry King (GBR), Mikkel Pedersen (DNK)