Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly ended a 21-race winless streak for Meyer Shank Racing with a measured drive to victory in the 2026 IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, giving Acura a first GTP-era win on the famous southern California street circuit.
The Dutchman, nicknamed the Flying Dutchman in the paddock, took the chequered flag after Yelloly had handed him a healthy lead following the team's only pit stop. From there he was forced to defend relentlessly against a charging Cadillac, eventually crossing the line with an advantage that had been whittled down to little more than a car length after a late restart.
"We had to work for it," van der Zande said after the race. "I mean, the Cadillac seemed very, very fast and I was just barely holding on. The rear tyres were completely gone. We saw already on the display that the rear was too high in pressure, too high in temperatures. But we did it right."
The win is a particularly sweet one for van der Zande, who has long had an affinity for the Long Beach street course. Asked whether the late caution had been a welcome chance to cool his tyres, the Dutchman was typically blunt. "No, man, I was in the zone. I didn't need any caution. I was in the zone and pulling away in traffic, and you know, traffic for me inside is always where the experience counts."
The victory is the 23rd of van der Zande's IMSA career and Meyer Shank Racing's 21st class win overall, ending what the broadcast team called "the longest winless streak in the team's history." It is also Acura's first Long Beach GTP-class victory in the modern ARX-06 era, with the marque's previous win on these streets dating back to 2009.
MSR had started the race from pole after Yelloly produced a scorching qualifying run in the #93, but converting that pace into race pace on a track where overtaking is famously difficult required discipline. Yelloly ran a long opening stint, held off the Whelen Engineering Cadillac and the chasing Porsche before handing the car over in clean air. Van der Zande then had to manage degrading tyres through multiple full-course cautions and a final dash to the flag.
The result shakes up the GTP championship, though leaders Nasr and Tincknell retain the points advantage they built across the opening rounds. Van der Zande and Yelloly now sit fifth but within striking distance, with the gap narrowing ahead of the next IMSA round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
For van der Zande, the win had extra personal significance. He celebrated on pit lane with his wife and children trackside, grinning as he told the broadcast team: "These little monkeys together with my wife and then go racing, that's a perfect scenario for me on a Saturday here in Long Beach. Winning this one is special."
After more than a year without a victory, Meyer Shank Racing's long wait is finally over, and the team heads to Laguna Seca as a renewed contender in the IMSA GTP title fight.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/van-der-zande-ends-meyer-shanks-21-race-imsa-drought-on-long-beach-streets). Visit for full coverage.*
