Over $1 Million In Vehicles And Parts Stolen From Race Team Before Long Beach GP

Pirelli World Challenge racers Global Motorsports Group had a custom motor coach filled with race parts stolen from them just before the Long Beach Grand Prix weekend, reports CBS Los Angeles. The missing haul of vehicles and parts is worth over $1 million, and includes many custom parts for GMG’s cars. Two thieves used bolt cutters to get through two gates into GMG’s headquarters in Santa Ana, California. From there, they towed the team’s large brown support coach right out of its parking spot using a stolen truck. That coach, the truck and a trailer stolen from GMG were later found, but had been stripped, and all of its parts were missing.

GMG was thankfully able to make it to the Long Beach race weekend with two of their PWC Porsche 911 GT3 Rs thanks to back-ups and help from others in the community, and shop owner James Sofronas was even able to claim GTA class pole position in his Porsche, but they’re still baffled as to why someone would steal their parts from their headquarters.

Only about six other McLaren 570S GT4s exist in the United States, GMG Media Director Joe Foster told CBS Los Angeles, so very few could even use the parts in question that were taken from that car. In other words, these are perhaps the dumbest thieves alive for stealing a load of highly custom, high-profile racing parts.

Worst of all, Sofronas told KABC that the team had just held an open house the day before the break-in—leaving them paranoid as to whether a guest was responsible.

If you have any information as to the identity of the scumbags who stole GMG’s stuff, or the whereabouts of their parts, please contact the Orange County Crime Stoppers at (855) TIP-OCCS.