Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach - Live reporting from the VICI Racing pits

8:00 PM The sun is setting now and there's a full moon rising over Long Beach tonight. The atmosphere at this track is always unique, ALMS bringing its blend of glamour to an already glamorous location. The team has sat out the first two practice sessions today as we work to get the car prepared for the Friday program, and another late night is in store for the hard working crew.

4:50 PM Nathan is being interviewed by 'The History Channel' under the awning in our paddock, he's explaining the demands of a professional racing driver in the ALMS series.

3:30 PM As tire development is a fundamental part of our program this year we have new compounds to evaluate for Kumho Tire this weekend. The short weekend for the team at St. Petersburg meant we didn't get to try some new options Kumho has brought along so this weekend we will be fitting these in.

2:45 PM Every piece of equipment that a professional race team uses is quite simply the best that is available. Each piece is perfectly produced; and even the wheel release mechanism is emblazoned with the evocative 'RSR' logo.

1:30 PM Nathan is on his home soil here this week, and as such he has a very busy schedule. Yesterday, in his role as spokesperson for 'Racers who Care', he was giving tips on 'Winning in Life' to local school kids. Yvette Johnson, the Assistant Site Director of the International Elementary School in Long Beach was delighted by Nathan's contribution. "Let me just tell you that Nathan was phenomenal," says Yvette in an email. "He is very down to earth and personable. I really appreciated the fact that he was so interactive with the students as well as the staff. It was an enjoyable experience and even some of the school teachers stayed to listen to his presentation. Thank you for allowing us this opportunity and I hope we will be able to have him or another race car driver here again in the future."

1:05 PM Technical Director & Chief Engineer Roland Wall is looking forward to a solid weekend. This lunchtime he's deep in thought about strategy for the coming two days, a lot of variables to be juggled, especially on a track such as this. "We will be using a similar set up to St. Petersburg to start with, but with some changes as this track is around 30 km/h faster, such as longer gears." He keeps close to the truck at all times; Roland is a true professional, and appreciates all the hard work that the crew put in, and is always supportive.

12:30 PM Ruben is back with the team this week after impressing everyone at St. Petersburg. “It was a pity I had such a short amount of time in the car at St. Petersburg," says the Brazilian. "However the car felt good; it’s very quick and easy to drive. As I hadn’t driven the RSR before so I was quite pleased with my initial pace and I really enjoyed the whole atmosphere; the ALMS series is very professional and VICI Racing seems to be a very good team. I’m now really looking forward to this weekend; I adapted to the St. Petersburg track very well so I think I should be able to do the same at Long Beach. I have been watching lots of videos to get some knowledge of the track. Hopefully I can help the team towards a good result.”

11:50 AM There are a lot of new parts on the car here. We will have a brand new engine, as the last one in the car has done its mileage distance, and the gearbox has been rebuilt and will feature new, longer upper gears to reflect that this street circuit, the second consecutive one, is faster than St. Petersburg.

10:00 AM An integral part of the new VICI Racing program in the ALMS series this year is Kumho Tire, as the inaugural year is focused very closely on an ambitious GT2 tire development schedule. Kumho Tire are throwing their weight behind this challenge and their truck is a hive of activity this morning. As Long Beach is a temporary street track, everyone is shoved everywhere, and the Kumho guys with their truck and mountain of tires are underground in the bowels of a multi-storey carpark.

8:10 AM The #5 car is taking shape rapidly. We will have a first test session on the track here late afternoon so that's the target to be aimed for. After the incidents of St. Petersburg there are a lot of new parts being fitted.

7:10 AM The day starts early, and bright in the ALMS paddock. The sun has risen and the California skies as clear blue. The weather is promising but this is of little immediate concern to the crew, they're already hard at work on preparing the #5 car. They were in until well after midnight last night and are back into the flow. "The more we got done last night, the less there is to do today," say Jody, who is unconcerned by the hours. "I'll sleep when I'm dead," he says, quoting a famous lyric.