LONG BEACH, Calif. Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver Tom Sargent made the most of his stand-in Porsche Carrera Cup North America start on the streets of Long Beach, earning a pair of Mobil Pro Class wins for GMG Racing. Patrick Mulcahy swept the Solairus Pro-Am class for ACI Motorsports, while Marco Cirone (ACI Motorsports) and Rob Walker (JTR Motorsports Engineering) split the Solairus Masters class.
The championship returned to the streets of Long Beach for the first time since 2023, this time with the Type 992.2 Porsche 911 Cup cars on Pirelli P Zero tires.
Mulcahy and Cirone used wins to hold their respective class leads after four of 16 races, while in the Pro class Tyler Maxson (TOPP Racing) saw his lead shrink to just five points ahead of Kellymoss driver Aaron Jeansonne.
Race 1: Saturday, April 18
Tom Sargent’s success in Porsche machinery continued with a first-place finish during the Porsche Carrera Cup North America opening race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Sargent led flag-to-flag overall and in the Pro class en route to the win with hometown team GMG Racing – extending his recent successes including a Sebring IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship podium, a GT World Challenge by AWS class win at Sonoma and a European Le Mans Series victory in Barcelona in the past month.
The Australian admitted Saturday’s victory aboard the new Porsche 911 Cup was particularly sweet after his last trip to the 1.968-mile circuit just a few years ago.
“I had a little bit of redemption after coming here in 2023,” Sargent said. “Unfortunately, I was leading and hit the wall and lost the lead. It feels good to overcome that now because that’s been three years.”
Finishing second was Aaron Jeansonne (Kellymoss) after gaining the spot on lap one over Callum Hedge (JDX Racing). The latter narrowly survived a last-minute battle with Tyler Maxson (TOPP Racing) by 0.338 seconds for the final podium position.
In the Pro-Am category, Patrick Mulcahy sailed to his third consecutive win of the season. Mulcahy wound up as the sixth-fastest driver overall on the circuit and built a substantial lead over the remaining cars in his class. That lead was beneficial when Mulcahy ran off course in Turn 1 with 17 minutes remaining before continuing.
Behind Mulcahy was the Kellymoss duo of Steve Wetterau and Josh Conley in second and third, respectively.
In Masters, Marco Cirone mirrored his ACI Motorsports teammate’s winning run by starting and finishing first for the third time this season. Cirone grabbed the pole position over multi-time Porsche single-make champion Scott Blind (Ruckus Racing) on Friday and maintained the spot over his competitor during Saturday’s 40-minute dash.
Cirone earned the win by 2.677 seconds over Blind, and Chris Bellomo (Kellymoss) finished third for his first podium in 2026.
Race 2: Sunday, April 19
Tom Sargent concluded a successful Porsche Carrera Cup North America one-off weekend with a Race 2 victory on Sunday morning at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Having been behind the wheel of multiple Porsche racecars throughout his career, the new-for-2026 Porsche 911 Cup (Type 992.2) has proved to be a fit for the Australian driver.
After winning the Carrera Cup Race 1 on Saturday, Sargent – filling in for GMG’s Kyle Washington at the team’s hometown circuit – crossed the finish line on Sunday nearly a second ahead of runner-up Aaron Jeansonne.
“It’s really good, we achieved what we came here to do,” said the Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver. “It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure. I really had to work for that one. Aaron had some really good speed there towards the end. I’m really fortunate I was able to build a big enough of a gap that I could maintain that and keep ahead.
Jeansonne (Kellymoss) finished second on Saturday ahead of Callum Hedge (JDX Racing), mirroring the Mobil Pro Class results the day prior. And as he did in Race 1, Hedge fended off a determined Tyler Maxson (TOPP Racing) for the final podium position by only a half-second.
Following a Solairus Aviation Pro-Am Class class-winning sweep at Sebring International Raceway last month, Patrick Mulcahy delivered the same performance at Long Beach with ACI Motorsports.
Mulcahy finished two-and-a-half seconds over the rest of the field en route to his fourth consecutive victory in 2026, albeit after a brief touch with the narrow Long Beach street circuit walls.
Steve Wetterau and Josh Conley – both running with Kellymoss – finished second and third, respectively, in the class.
Rob Walker (JTR Motorsports Engineering) halted Marco Cirone’s Masters class winning streak on Sunday.
After Cirone (ACI Motorsports) won the first three rounds of the season, Walker started and finished first in class at the 1.968-mile circuit on Sunday before a third place finish, with Scott Blind (Ruckus Racing) in second.
Pro class winners:
Race 1 & 2: Tom Sargent, No. 32 GMG Racing.
Pro-Am class winners:
Race 1 & 2: Patrick Mulcahy, No. 54 ACI Motorsports.
Masters class winners:
Race 1: Marco Cirone, No. 88 ACI Motorsports.
Race 2: Rob Walker, No. 53 JTR Motorsports Engineering.
On point:
Pro class: Tyler Maxson, No. 77 Topp Racing.
Pro-Am class: Patrick Mulcahy, No. 54 ACI Motorsports.
Masters class: Marco Cirone, No. 88 ACI Motorsports.
Entrant: Topp Racing.
Highlights
Redemption Story. Tom Sargent’s return to Porsche Carrera Cup and Long Beach held a bit of redemption for the Porsche Motorsport North America selected driver. In his lone season in the championship, he finished second in the points after just a single win and was second twice at Long Beach - once after brushing the wall while leading. This weekend boosted his career total to three Carrera Cup wins.
Change in Focus. Kellymoss Racing and Porsche Junior Program North America driver Paul Bocuse finished in the top 10 both races at Long Beach, but the 17-year-old has a different focus before Round Three at Miami. Bocuse has 11 days of school left before his high school graduation, turning his full focus to racing – at least until college begins in the fall.
Off to Miami. Porsche Carrera Cup North America returns to action at the Miami Grand Prix, May 1-3. The championship is once again a part of the Formula One weekend at the Miami International Autodrome.
Broadcast: All races can be seen live and are archived on the IMSA and Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube Channels, IMSA TV, Peacock, and the Porsche Motorsport North America social channels on Facebook, LinkedIn, and X. The Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube page can be found at the Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel.
Online: Porsche Motorsport Hub
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