One of the days I look forward to every year is when the ALMS comes to town for the Long Beach Toyota Grand Prix. This year, ALMS had their qualifying on friday and race on Saturday. Although I finished my comic book work, I still had a couple of body kit designs I had to finish as well as a speculative rendering which should be posted this week. But I already missed last week’s Formula D and I’m not about to miss the Round 2 of ALMS. So out my wife and I go to sneak out for a few hours to hear, feel and smell the motorsport-filled air in the streets of Long Beach.

My buddy John P of ID Agency who handles Formula Drift hooked us up once again with couple of passes. Thanks John! Dude, this year is gonna be crazy. That’s me in the left and John in the right.

We got there around 2:30pm and headed straight to the ALMS garages. Saw the Lifestyle Expo on our right, passed it. The IndyCar racecars were qualifying at the track, passed it.

I wanted to catch the GT cars in their garages before they roll out so we kept on. We even bumped into Albert and the Auto-Technica crew with Jay (JDMEGO) and Karen. They were going the opposite way so we said our hellos and heys and kept on. Once inside, it’s like no other. Personally, it’s like Christmas in April for me.

First GT cars we saw were a pair of Corvette ZR1. These to me are the “bad boys” of the GT class. That Season Finale finish from last year in Laguna Seca tangling with the Porsche from Flying Lizard Motorsport was epic.

Speaking of the devil, here are the Flying Lizard Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RSR quietly waiting in their garage.

One of the most dominant team in the GT class is the RISI Competizione Ferrari F430 GT. I almost missed it with all the new cars entered in the series.

Regarding the new cars, Tequila PATRON now have sponsored cars entered in every category in ALMS.

This is their LMP car, overall winner of the series last year.

Here is their Porsche GTC car.

And here is their brand new Ferrari F430 GT entered in the GT class entered by Extreme Speed Motorsports. These cars were freaking ear-piercing loud. It was nuts.

We passed by couple of LMP cars. Here’s the Porsche RS Spyder.

and here’s the one of the coolest liveried LMP cars – #007 Aston Martin Racing Lola B09 60 Aston Martin driven by Adrian Fernandez and Harold Primat.

The Jaguar XKRS looks surprisingly awesome. Look at them fenders!!

But you all know, the team my heart belongs to is the Rahal/Letterman racing (RLR) team with a pair of BMW M3 GT.

Here’s the #90 M3 GT driven by Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand which finished in the podium in round 1 I believe.

And the car that placed 2nd in the GT Class last year was this #92 M3 GT currently driven by Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner.

We were there just in time as they roll in to prepare to enter the tracks.

This is when everything starts to really get crowded in the garage as all the 4 classes lined up to start their entry.

few more pics

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So after all the cars rolled in, we bumped into Albert and the guys, and Jay once again. Albert and Phil hooked us up with a couple of VIP passes for the Tequila PATRON booth.

Inside the VIP booth, they had free food and drinks. We grabbed a couple of hamburgers and spicy chicken wings (YUM!) and watched the race from the multiple flat screens all around the tent.

Here’s Albert snapping some shots. Thanks again mang!

The booth was literally next to the track so my ears were bleeding for a while.

But people still partying it up.

We took off on lap 17. Here’s a quick snap of us before we split. From left to right – Jay (JDMEGO), Albert and yours truly.

Had a blast. Great day spending it with my lovely wife and friends in sunny 75 degree weather feeling like a vip all the way home LOL.

Big thanks again to John, Albert, Phil, Jun! And Tony, Rod, and Karen, great to see all yall again.

Here’s the official results of the Round 2 from ALMS:

Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach

1. (2) David Brabham, Maidenhead; Simon Pagenaud, Montmorrillon; HPD ARX-01c (1, LMP), 67.
2. (1) Harold Primat, Switzerland; Adrian Fernandez, Paradise Valley, AZ; Lola B09 60/Aston Martin (2, LMP), 67.
3. (4) Greg Pickett, Crystal Bay, NV; Klaus Graf, Dornham; Porsche RS Spyder (3, LMP), 67.
4. (3) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, Bracken, Yorkshire; Lola B09 86/Mazda (4, LMP), 67.
5. (8) Elton Julian, Los Angeles, CA; Gunnar Jeannette, Salt Lake City, UT; Oreca FLM09 (1, LMPC), 66.
6. (7) Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Christophe Bouchut, France; Oreca FLM09 (2, LMPC), 65.
7. (10) JR Hildebrand; Tom Sutherland, Los Gatos, CA; Oreca FLM09 (3, LMPC), 65.
8. (15) Joerg Bergmeister, Langenfield; Patrick Long, Bellaire, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (4, GT), 65.
9. (9) Tomy Drissi, Los Angeles, CA; Ken Davis, Escondido, CA; Lola B06 10/AER (5, LMP), 65.
10. (14) Johnny O’Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Jan Magnussen, Roskilde; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (6, GT), 65.
11. (17) Bill Auberlen, Redondo Beach, CA; Tommy Milner, Leesburg, VA; BMW E92 M3 (7, GT), 65.
12. (12) Gianmaria Bruni, Rome; Jaime Melo, Milan; Ferrari 430 GT (8, GT), 65.
13. (18) Dirk Mueller, Monte Carlo; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; BMW E92 M3 (9, GT), 65.
14. (13) Wolf Henzler, Nuertingen; Bryan Sellers, Braselton, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (10, GT), 65.
15. (21) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Ferrari 430 GT (11, GT), 65.
16. (19) Ed Brown, Las Vegas, NV; Guy Cosmo, West Palm Beach, FL; Ferrari 430 GT (12, GT), 64.
17. (24) Brian Wong, Newport Beach, CA; Mitch Pagerey, Deerfield Beach, FL; Oreca FLM09 (13, LMPC), 63.
18. (16) Olivier Beretta, Monte Carlo; Oliver Gavin, Yardley Hastings; Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (14, GT), 63.
19. (29) Juan Gonzalez; Butch Leitzinger, Rebersburg, PA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (1, GTC), 63.
20. (28) Bret Curtis, Valencia, CA; James Sofronas, Newport Beach, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (2, GTC), 63.
21. (30) Bill Sweedler, Westport, CT; Romeo Kapudija, Lincolnwood, IL; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (3, GTC), 63.
22. (11) Gerardo Bonilla, Celebration, FL; Kyle Marcelli; Oreca FLM09 (15, LMPC), 62.
23. (23) David Murry, Atlanta, GA; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Design Ford GT (16, GT), 62.
24. (31) Jerry Vento, West Palm Beach, FL; Shane Lewis, Jupiter, FL; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (4, GTC), 62.
25. (6) Paul Drayson, London; Jonny Cocker, Guisborough; Lola B09 60/Judd (5, LMP), 62.
26. (32) John McMullen, Spring Lake, NJ; Bryce Miller, Summit, NJ; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (6, GTC), 61.
27. (33) Robert Rodriguez, Zephyr Cove, NY; Galen Bieker, Burbank, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (7, GTC), 61.
28. (35) Luis Diaz, Mexico City; Ricardo Gonzalez, Mexico; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (8, GTC), 60.
29. (36) Tim Pappas, Boston, MA; Joeren Bleekemolen, Netherlands; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (9, GTC), 60.
30. (5) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Nikolas Konstant, Los Angeles, CA; Lola B06/10 AER (10, LMP), 48.
31. (27) Henri Richard, Los Altos Hills, CA; Andy Lally, New York, NY; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (11, GTC), 48.
32. (25) Paul Gentilozzi, Grand Ledge, MI; Ryan Dalziel, Orlando, FL; Jaguar XKRS (12, GT), 45.
33. (22) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (13, GT), 28, Mechanical.
34. (34) Loren Beggs, Montclair, CA; Doug Baron, Pacific Palisades, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (14, GTC), 6, Mechanical.
35. (26) Tom Papadopoulos, Long Island, NY; Johnny Mowlem, London; Oreca FLM09 (17, LMPC), 3, Accident.
36. (20) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Boca Raton; Scott Tucker, Leawood, KS; Oreca FLM09 (18, LMPC), 0.

Congrats to all the winners!! Flying Lizard Motorsports took the win again. 2nd place was Corvette ZR1, 3rd place was by #92 BMW M3 GT (woohoo)!

Round 3 happens in California once again but much up north from us, in Laguna Sea Raceway. One of the best track in the series.

Just as a reminder, this was how it went down last year in the Laguna Seca track. Must see!