Gradient Backed by Acura's Anime Series, 'Chiaki's Journey' for Long Beach
Today, Gradient Racing confirmed its entry for the 2022 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Round 3 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team from Austin, Texas will compete with its regular Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 driven by Mario Farnbacher and Gradient Racing regular, Marc Miller. The 100-minute Southern Californian street race is also the opening round of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sprint Cup.
The car will run in a unique new livery to promote a four-part anime series, Chiaki’s Journey. Set at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the series showcases the all-new lineup of Acura Type S performance vehicles that is driven by a young hero’s quest to overcome multiple challenges on her path toward victory. The entire series is available on the Official Acura Youtube Channel.
For Team Principal, Andris Laivins, competing at Acura’s home race is an exciting prospect. “Long Beach is going to be a really fun addition to our endurance schedule. The entire team has performed at a super high level at Daytona and Sebring but we've had some bad luck, so an extra outing with our Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 is a nice way to keep the momentum up. Marc and Mario have both been on the podium in this chassis, our pit stops this season have been clicking, and I think we have a great shot next week.”
The opening to the IMSA Sprint season between the concrete walls can’t come fast enough for HPD Pro Farnbacher. “I’m thrilled that we get to participate in Acura’s backyard. I’m also excited because Marc and I are able to race together. I really enjoy the challenge of street circuits. The tight corners basically give you no run off and no margin forever, that is such a great challenge. The risk versus reward nature of the track is what every driver really wants. Marc is a good driver and I have enjoyed racing against him over the last few seasons. But having worked with him at Daytona, I am confident that we have a car capable of making the podium and possibly even making it to the top step.”
Holland, Michigan's Miller is relishing the chance to race with the German. “I am really looking forward to Long Beach. Our Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 should be strong and as a home race for the Acura brand we will be pushing hard for a great result. Having spent the last couple seasons racing against Mario, it will be especially fun to team up to go for a win together.”
“Chiaki’s Journey combines anime with Acura’s ‘Less Talk, More Drive’ cinematic-style, to draw a new generation of premium car buyers to the Acura brand,” said Jon Ikeda, vice president and Acura brand officer. “I can’t think of a better place to showcase our performance-driven Acura Type S line than on the beautiful Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 to be raced on the streets of Long Beach by Mario and Marc, just as Chiaki races to victory here in the anime series.”
The ACURA Grand Prix of Long Beach for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship takes place on Saturday, April 9th with the Green Flag falling at 5:05pm ET/2:05pm PST. The race will be broadcast live in the USA on the USA Network and Peacock. It will also be available on IMSA.TV for International viewers without a TV broadcaster. For full event coverage please follow Gradient Racing on Twitter at @GradientRacing, on Instagram at @gradientracing and on our Facebook page.