Sargent’s success in Porsche machinery keeps rolling, as he wins Race 1 of Carrera Cup North America at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
From coast-to-coast, Tom Sargent’s success in Porsche machinery keeps rolling, as he finished first during the Porsche Carrera Cup North America opening race at the
Running in the Mobil Pro class, Sargent led flag-to-flag en route to the win with hometown team GMG Racing - continuing his recent successes which included 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.
Tom Sargent victorious in Carrera Cup return.
The Australian admitted Saturday’s victory aboard the new Porsche 911 Cup (Type 992.2) 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,” said Sargent.
“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.”
“Big to do it for EBOOST and GMG in their home territory, and at one of the greatest street circuits,” said the
Finishing second was Aaron Jeansonne (Kellymoss) after gaining the spot on Lap 1 over Callum Hedge (JDX Racing). The latter narrowly survived a last-minute battle with Tyler Maxson (TOPP Racing) by .338 seconds for the final podium position.
Mulcahy cruises to home-town win.
In the Solairus Aviation Pro-Am category, Patrick Mulcahy sailed to his third consecutive win of the season, although it did not come easily.
With ACI Motorsports, 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 had a slight mishap with 17 minutes remaining and ran off course in Turn 1 before continuing on.
“That feels amazing for sure,” said Mulcahy of his pace, finishing with a nearly 16-second lead. “The guys are incredible competitors up front and that’s a goal of mine to chop it up with the Pros and see what happens. Today, I made a little mistake when my foot slipped off the brake into Turn 1, but we still took home the W.”
Behind Mulcahy was the Kellymoss duo of Steve Wetterau and Josh Conley in second and third, respectively, similarly to how they ran on Friday during practice and qualifying.
Cirone makes it three-in-a-row.
The fight was a bit closer in the Solairus Aviation Masters Class, but Marco Cirone mirrored his ACI Motorsports teammate’s winning run by starting and finishing first for the third time this season.
Cirone nipped 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.
“Oh yes, a few times he got really, really close and I started to get worried,” said Cirone, referencing Blind’s looming presence. “My coach just said, ‘Eyes forward, don’t worry about what’s behind you and don’t make any mistakes.’ I managed to keep him off, but he was coming.”
Cirone ultimately held on to the win by 2.677 seconds over Blind, and Chris Bellomo (Kellymoss) finished third for his first podium in 2026.
Race 2 Sunday morning.
Sunday concludes Porsche Carrera Cup North America activity at the Grand Prix of Long Beach with Race 2 at 11:20am PT.
All Porsche Carrera Cup North America races stream live – and are available to watch anytime – on the
Results.
Mobil Pro Class
Tom Sargent #32
Aaron Jeansonne #24
Callum Hedge #9
Solairus Aviation Pro-Am Class
Patrick Mulcahy #54
Steve Wetterau #58
Josh Conley #29
Solairus Aviation Masters Class
Marco Cirone #88
Scott Blind #45
Chris Bellomo #68
