Grand Prix of Long Beach

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Verizon IndyCar Series
Location	Long Beach, California 33°45′59″N 118°11′34″W / 33.76639°N 118.19278°WCoordinates: 33°45′59″N 118°11′34″W / 33.76639°N 118.19278°W
Corporate sponsor	Toyota
First race	1975
First ICS race	2009
Distance	157.440 mi (253.375 km)
Laps	80
Previous names	Long Beach Grand Prix (1975) United States Grand Prix West (1976–1979) Toyota Grand Prix of the United States (1980–1981, 1983)
Most wins (driver)	Al Unser, Jr. (6)
Most wins (team)	Newman/Haas Racing (6) Team Penske (6)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Lola (11)
Circuit information
Length	1.968 mi (3.167 km)
Turns	11
Lap record	1:06.6294 (Hélio Castroneves, Dallara DW12 Chevrolet, 2015, IndyCar)

The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is an open-wheel race held on a street circuit in Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event, which began as a vision while working at a travel agency in downtown Long Beach. It was the premier circuit in Champ Car from 1996-2008. The 2008 race was the last for Champ Cars as the series merged with the Indy Racing League.^[1][2] It is now an event on the IndyCar Series calendar.

The Long Beach Grand Prix in April is the single largest event in the city of Long Beach. Attendance for the weekend regularly reaches or exceeds 200,000 people.

The Long Beach Grand Prix is the longest running major "street" race held on the North American continent. It started in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race on the streets of downtown, and became a Formula One event in 1976. Incredibly, in an era when turbocharged engines were starting to come to prominence in Formula One, Long Beach remains one of the few circuits used from the time Renault introduced turbos in 1977 until the last Long Beach Grand Prix in 1983 that never once saw a turbo powered car take victory.

John Watson's win for McLaren in the final race at Long Beach holds the F1 record for the lowest ever starting position for a race winner. In a grid consisting of 26 cars, Watson started 22nd in his McLaren-Ford. That same race also saw Watson's team mate (and 1982 Long Beach winner) Niki Lauda finish second after starting 23rd on the grid. René Arnoux, who finished third in his Ferrari 126C2B, was the only driver to ever finish on the Formula One podium at Long Beach using a turbocharged car.

From 1984 to 2008 it was a CART Indycar/Champ Car event. Other popular events during the Grand Prix week include a Pirelli World Challenge race, an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, and the Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge. Toyota has been a sponsor of the event since its beginning and title sponsor since 1980, believed to be the longest continuously running sports sponsorship in the U.S.

The Long Beach Grand Prix has been announced since 1978 by Bruce Flanders (and his assorted guest announcers).

Circuit

Mark Smith driving in the 1993 race

The current race circuit is a 1.968-mile (3.167 km) temporary road course carved out of the city streets surrounding the Long Beach Convention Center which actually doubled as the pit paddock during the days of Formula One. The circuit also goes primarily over the former location of The Pike historic amusement zone. It is particularly noted for its last section, which sees a hairpin turn followed by a long, slightly curved front straightaway which runs the length of Shoreline Drive. The circuit is situated on the Long Beach waterfront, and is lined with palm trees (especially along the front straightaway towards the Aquarium of the Pacific), making for a scenic track.

Events

Although the Verizon IndyCar Series race is the main event, a number of other races are also held. On April 8, 2006, the Grand-Am Daytona Prototypes took to the streets, replacing the suspended Trans-Am Series. Other races have included Indy Lights (which ran from 1990-2001 and 2009–15) and the popular Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race which ended its 40-year run in 2016. Beginning in 2007, the American Le Mans Series replaced Grand-Am. Starting in 2013, the circuit has also held the Stadium Super Trucks.^[3] Additionally, a week of fairs, music, and promotional activities is held.

2008 and the Long Beach/Motegi "split weekend"

During negotiations which led to the merging of the Champ Car World Series and the IRL IndyCar Series, a problem came in the form of a scheduling conflict between the Champ Car race scheduled at Long Beach and the IndyCar race held at Twin Ring Motegi the same weekend. Honda, who owns the Motegi complex and also supplies equipment to the IndyCar Series, could not change their scheduled race date of April 19. Likewise, Long Beach could not change their race weekend (with the Champ Car race scheduled for April 20), such change being a difficult task considering the civil and infrastructural preparations required for a temporary street circuit.

However, all problems were resolved when the two open wheel series agreed to merge in February 2008. Tony George (president of the Indy Racing League), with Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe (the former co-owners of Champ Car) planned an unprecedented "split weekend" of races at Twin Ring Motegi and Long Beach. This compromise allowed all IRL drivers to race in Japan, while ex-Champ Car drivers raced at Long Beach. Both races counted towards the 2008 IndyCar Series Championship. The Long Beach Grand Prix allowed all Champ Car drivers to race with their turbocharged Panoz-Cosworth Champ Cars that would have been used had the merger not taken place. Long Beach/Motegi was the only split weekend of the 2008 IndyCar Series.

Drifting

Beginning in 2005 the event included a demonstration by participants in the Formula D drifting series. Since 2006 Formula D has held the first round of their pro series on Turns 9-11 on the weekend prior to the Grand Prix. In 2013 the Motegi Super Drift Challenge, a drifting competition, was added on the GP weekend, using the same Turn 9-11 course as Formula D. The Motegi Super Drift Challenge is the only event during the GP that runs at night, under floodlights.

North American Touring Car Championship

Long Beach hosted the opening round of the 1997 North American Touring Car Championship season, being won by Neil Crompton in a Honda Accord.

Formula E

Long Beach Formula E Circuit as used for the Long Beach ePrix.

A modified version of the Long Beach Grand Prix track was used during the Long Beach ePrix of the FIA Formula E Championship. The track is 2.1 km (1.3 mi) in length and features seven turns.^[4][5] Admission to the first event was free: "the free admission will afford everyone the opportunity to come out and witness this historic and unique event," Jim Michaelian, president of the Grand Prix Assn. of Long Beach, said in a statement.^[6][7] The ePrix was held once again in 2016. However, it was not renewed for the third Formula E season in 2017.^[8]

Future

The City of Long Beach and the Grand Prix Association have contracted to hold the Grand Prix through June 30, 2018.^[9]

Winners

Season	Date	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Race Distance		Race Time	Average Speed (mph)	Report
						Laps	Miles (km)
Formula 5000
1975	Sept 28	Brian Redman	Boraxo Lola	Lola T332	Chevrolet	50	101 (162.543)	1:10:12	86.325	Report
Formula 1
1976	March 28	Clay Regazzoni	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 312T2	Ferrari	80	161.6 (260.069)	1:53:18	85.572	Report
1977	April 3	Mario Andretti	John Player Team Lotus	Lotus 78	Ford Cosworth	80	161.6 (260.069)	1:51:35	82.925	Report
1978	April 2	Carlos Reutemann	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312T3	Ferrari	80	161.6 (260.069)	1:52:01	86.555	Report
1979	April 8	Gilles Villeneuve	Scuderia Ferrari SpA SEFAC	Ferrari 312T4	Ferrari	80	161.6 (260.069)	1:50:25	87.812	Report
1980	March 30	Nelson Piquet	Parmalat Brabham Racing Team	Brabham BT49	Ford Cosworth	80	161.6 (260.069)	1:50:18	87.899	Report
1981	March 15	Alan Jones	Albilad Williams Racing Team	Williams FW07B	Ford Cosworth	80	161.6 (260.069)	1:50:41	87.601	Report
1982	April 4	Niki Lauda	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren MP4/1B	Ford Cosworth	75	159.75 (257.092)	1:58:25	80.939	Report
1983	March 27	John Watson	Marlboro McLaren International	McLaren MP4/1C	Ford Cosworth	75	152.55 (245.505)	1:53:34	80.624	Report
CART Indycar/Champ Car
1984	March 31	Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Cosworth	112	187.04 (301.011)	2:15:23	82.898	Report
1985	April 14	Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Cosworth	90	150.3 (241.884)	1:42:50	87.694	Report
1986	April 13	Michael Andretti	Kraco Racing	March	Cosworth	95	158.65 (255.322)	1:57:34	80.965	Report
1987	April 5	Mario Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Chevrolet-Ilmor	95	158.65 (255.322)	1:51:33	85.33	Report
1988	April 17	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles Racing	March	Chevrolet-Ilmor	95	158.65 (255.322)	1:53:47	83.655	Report
1989	April 16	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles Racing	Lola	Chevrolet-Ilmor	95	158.65 (255.322)	1:51:19	85.503	Report
1990	April 22	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles/Kraco Racing	Lola	Chevrolet-Ilmor	95	158.65 (255.322)	1:53:00	84.227	Report
1991	April 14	Al Unser, Jr.	Galles/Kraco Racing	Lola	Chevrolet-Ilmor	95	158.65 (255.322)	1:57:14	81.195	Report
1992	April 12	Danny Sullivan	Galles/Kraco Racing	Galmer	Chevrolet-Ilmor	105	166.95 (268.679)	1:48:56	91.945	Report
1993	April 18	Paul Tracy	Penske Racing	Penske	Chevrolet-Ilmor	105	166.95 (268.679)	1:47:36	93.089	Report
1994	April 17	Al Unser, Jr.	Penske Racing	Penske	Ilmor	105	166.95 (268.679)	1:40:53	99.283	Report
1995	April 9	Al Unser, Jr.	Penske Racing	Penske	Mercedes-Benz-Ilmor	105	166.95 (268.679)	1:49:32	91.422	Report
1996	April 14	Jimmy Vasser	Chip Ganassi Racing	Reynard	Honda	105	166.95 (268.679)	1:44:02	96.281	Report
1997	April 13	Alex Zanardi	Chip Ganassi Racing	Reynard	Honda	105	166.53 (268.004)	1:46:17	93.999	Report
1998	April 5	Alex Zanardi	Chip Ganassi Racing	Reynard	Honda	105	165.27 (265.976)	1:51:29	88.946	Report
1999	April 18	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chip Ganassi Racing	Reynard	Honda	85	155.04 (249.512)	1:45:48	87.915	Report
2000	April 16	Paul Tracy	Team Green	Reynard	Honda	82	161.376 (259.709)	1:57:11	82.626	Report
2001	April 8	Hélio Castroneves	Penske Racing	Reynard	Honda	82	161.376 (259.709)	1:52:17	86.223	Report
2002	April 14	Michael Andretti	Team Green	Reynard	Honda	90	177.12 (285.047)	2:02:14	86.935	Report
2003	April 13	Paul Tracy	Forsythe Racing	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	90	177.12 (285.047)	1:56:01	91.59	Report
2004	April 18	Paul Tracy	Forsythe Racing	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	81	159.408 (256.542)	1:44:12	91.785	Report
2005	April 10	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	81	159.408 (256.542)	1:46:29	89.811	Report
2006	April 9	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas Racing	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	74	145.632 (234.371)	1:40:07	87.268	Report
2007	April 15	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas /Lanigan Racing	Panoz	Cosworth	78	153.504 (247.04)	1:40:43	91.432	Report
2008	April 20	Will Power	KV Racing	Panoz	Cosworth	83	163.344 (262.876)	1:45:25	92.964	Report
Verizon IndyCar Series
2009	April 19	Dario Franchitti	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dallara	Honda	85	167.28 (269.211)	1:58:47	84.491	Report
2010	April 18	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Dallara	Honda	85	167.28 (269.211)	1:47:13	93.619	Report
2011	April 17	Mike Conway	Andretti Autosport	Dallara	Honda	85	167.28 (269.211)	1:53:11	88.676	Report
2012	April 15	Will Power	Penske Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	85	167.28 (269.211)	1:54:02	88.021	Report
2013	April 21	Takuma Sato	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara	Honda	80	157.44 (253.375)	1:50:09	85.763	Report
2014	April 13	Mike Conway	Ed Carpenter Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	80	157.44 (253.375)	1:54:42	82.362	Report
2015	April 19	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	80	157.44 (253.375)	1:37:35	96.8	Report
2016	April 17	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Dallara	Chevrolet	80	157.44 (253.375)	1:33:54	100.592	Report

Atlantics/Indy Lights

Atlantic Championship history Season Date Driver 1978 April 1 Howdy Holmes 1979 April 7 Tom Gloy 1980 March 29 Tom Gloy 1981 March 14 Geoff Brabham 1982 April 3 Geoff Brabham 1983 – 1988 Not held 1989 April 16 Hiro Matsushita 1990 April 21 Mark Dismore 1991 April 14 Jimmy Vasser 1992 April 10 Mark Dismore 1993 April 17 Claude Bourbonnais 1994 April 17 Richie Hearn 1995 April 17 David Empringham 1996 April 13 Case Montgomery 1997 April 12 Alex Tagliani 1998 April 4 Memo Gidley 1999 April 17 Alex Tagliani 2000 April 15 Buddy Rice 2001 April 8 David Rutledge 2002 April 14 Michael Valiante 2003 April 13 A. J. Allmendinger 2004 April 18 Ryan Dalziel 2005 April 10 Katherine Legge 2006 April 9 Andreas Wirth 2007 April 15 Raphael Matos 2008 April 20 Simona de Silvestro

Indy Lights history Season Date Driver 1989 April 16 Tommy Byrne 1990 April 22 Paul Tracy 1991 April 14 Éric Bachelart 1992 April 12 Franck Fréon 1993 April 18 Steve Robertson 1994 April 17 Steve Robertson 1995 April 9 Greg Moore 1996 April 14 David Empringham 1997 April 13 Hélio Castroneves 1998 April 5 Cristiano da Matta 1999 April 18 Philipp Peter 2000 April 16 Scott Dixon 2001 April 8 Townsend Bell 2002 – 2008 Not held 2009 April 19 J. R. Hildebrand 2010 April 18 James Hinchcliffe 2011 April 17 Conor Daly 2012 April 15 Esteban Guerrieri 2013 April 20 Carlos Muñoz 2014 April 13 Gabby Chaves 2015 April 19 Ed Jones

American Le Mans Series / Grand-Am / IMSA

IMSA GT Championship
Year	GTO	GTU	Report
1990	Dorsey Schroeder Mercury Cougar	John Finger Mazda MX-6	Report
1991	Steve Millen Nissan 300ZX	John Fergus Dodge Daytona	Report

Rolex Sports Car Series
Year	DP					Report
2006	Scott Pruett Luis Díaz Riley Mk XX-Lexus					Report
American Le Mans Series
Year	LMP1	LMP2		GT1	GT2	Report
2007	Rinaldo Capello Allan McNish Audi R10 TDI	Romain Dumas Timo Bernhard Porsche RS Spyder		Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Mika Salo Jaime Melo Ferrari F430GT	Report
2008	Marco Werner Lucas Luhr Audi R10 TDI	Scott Sharp David Brabham Acura ARX-01b		Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Dominik Farnbacher Dirk Müller Ferrari F430GT	Report
2009	Gil de Ferran Simon Pagenaud Acura ARX-02a	Adrián Fernández Luis Díaz Acura ARX-01b		Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Patrick Long Jörg Bergmeister Porsche 911 GT3-RSR	Report
	LMP		LMPC	GT	GTC
2010	David Brabham Simon Pagenaud HPD ARX-01c		Elton Julian Gunnar Jeannette Oreca FLM09/Chevrolet	Patrick Long Jörg Bergmeister Porsche 911 GT3-RSR	Juan González Butch Leitzinger Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	Report
	LMP1	LMP2	LMPC	GT	GTC
2011	Klaus Graf Lucas Luhr Lola-Aston Martin B09/60	Scott Tucker Christophe Bouchut HPD ARX-03b	Gunnar Jeannette Ricardo González Oreca FLM09/Chevrolet	Dirk Müller Joey Hand BMW M3	Tim Pappas Jeroen Bleekemolen Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	Report
2012	Klaus Graf Lucas Luhr HPD ARX-03a	Scott Tucker Christophe Bouchut HPD ARX-03b	Alex Popow Ryan Dalziel Oreca FLM09/Chevrolet	Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1	Peter LeSaffre Damien Faulkner Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	Report
2013	Klaus Graf Lucas Luhr HPD ARX-03a	Scott Sharp Guy Cosmo HPD ARX-03b	Jon Bennett Colin Braun Oreca FLM09/Chevrolet	Bill Auberlen Maxime Martin BMW Z4 GTE	Sean Edwards Henrique Cisneros Porsche 997 GT3 Cup	Report
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (Professional Classes Only)
Year	Prototype			GT Le Mans		Report
2014	Scott Pruett Memo Rojas Riley DP/Ford			Antonio García Jan Magnussen Chevrolet Corvette C7.R		Report
2015	Ricky Taylor Jordan Taylor Corvette DP/Chevrolet			Dirk Werner Bill Auberlen BMW Z4 GTE		Report
2016	Ricky Taylor Jordan Taylor Corvette DP/Chevrolet			Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy Porsche 911 RSR		Report

• Overall winners in bold

Broadcasting

Year	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)	Pit reporters
1984	NBC	Paul Page	Bobby Unser Johnny Rutherford	Gary Gerould Bruce Jenner
1985	NBC	Paul Page	Bobby Unser	Gary Gerould Bruce Jenner
1986	NBC	Paul Page	Bobby Unser	Gary Gerould Bruce Jenner
1987	NBC	Paul Page	Jackie Stewart	Gary Gerould Bruce Jenner
1988	ABC	Paul Page	Sam Posey Bobby Unser	Jack Arute Brian Hammons
1989	ABC	Paul Page	Sam Posey Bobby Unser	Jack Arute Brian Hammons
1990	ABC	Paul Page	Sam Posey Bobby Unser	Jack Arute Gary Gerould
1991	ABC	Paul Page	Sam Posey Bobby Unser	Jack Arute Gary Gerould
1992	ABC	Paul Page	Sam Posey Bobby Unser	Jack Arute Gary Gerould
1993	ABC	Paul Page	Sam Posey Bobby Unser	Jack Arute Gary Gerould
1994	ABC	Paul Page	Sam Posey Bobby Unser	Jack Arute Gary Gerould
1995	ABC	Paul Page	Sam Posey Bobby Unser	Jack Arute Gary Gerould
1996	ABC	Paul Page	Danny Sullivan	Jack Arute Gary Gerould
1997	ABC	Bob Varsha	Danny Sullivan	Jack Arute Gary Gerould
1998	ESPN	Bob Varsha	Danny Sullivan	Jack Arute Gary Gerould Jon Beekhuis
1999	ABC	Paul Page	Parker Johnstone	Gary Gerould Jon Beekhuis
2000	ESPN	Paul Page	Parker Johnstone	Gary Gerould Jon Beekhuis
2001	ABC	Paul Page	Parker Johnstone Scott Pruett	Gary Gerould Jon Beekhuis
2002	FOX	Bob Varsha	Tommy Kendall	Derek Daly Calvin Fish Scott Pruett
2003	SPEED	Bob Varsha	Tommy Kendall Scott Pruett	Derek Daly Calvin Fish
2004	SpikeTV	Bob Jenkins	Tommy Kendall	Derek Daly Calvin Fish Bronte Tagliani
2005	NBC	Rick Benjamin	Derek Daly	Jon Beekhuis Calvin Fish
2006	NBC	Rick Benjamin	Derek Daly	Jon Beekhuis Cameron Steele Michelle Beisner
2007	NBC	Bill Weber	Wally Dallenbach, Jr. Jon Beekhuis	Bill Stephens Cameron Steele Marty Snider
2008	ESPN2	Marty Reid	Scott Goodyear	Jack Arute Jamie Little Brienne Pedigo
2009	Versus	Bob Jenkins	Jon Beekhuis Robbie Buhl	Jack Arute Robbie Floyd Lindy Thackston
2010	Versus	Bob Jenkins	Jon Beekhuis Robbie Buhl	Jack Arute Robbie Floyd Lindy Thackston
2011	Versus	Bob Jenkins	Jon Beekhuis Wally Dallenbach, Jr.	Kevin Lee Marty Snider Lindy Thackston Robin Miller
2012	NBCSN	Bob Jenkins	Jon Beekhuis Wally Dallenbach, Jr.	Kevin Lee Marty Snider Townsend Bell Robin Miller
2013	NBCSN	Brian Till	Townsend Bell Wally Dallenbach, Jr.	Kevin Lee Marty Snider Jon Beekhuis Robin Miller
2014	NBCSN	Leigh Diffey	Townsend Bell Paul Tracy	Kevin Lee Marty Snider Kelli Stavast Robin Miller
2015	NBCSN	Brian Till	Townsend Bell Paul Tracy	Kevin Lee Marty Snider Kelli Stavast Robin Miller
2016	NBCSN	Rick Allen	Townsend Bell Paul Tracy	Kevin Lee Marty Snider Katie Hargitt Robin Miller

References

1. Morales, Robert (February 27, 2008). "Champ Car finale to roar into L.B.". The Long Beach Press-Telegram. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
2. Steven Cole Smith (2007-11-06). "Champ Car schedule "stable" for 2008". www.autoweek.com. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
3. "Schedule". Stadium Super Trucks. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
4. "Circuit Guide | Long Beach, USA - Round 7 | FIA Formula E". FIA Formula E. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
5. "Formula E to race on streets of Long Beach in 2015". FIA Formula E. 2014-04-22. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
6. "Formula E electric-car race in Long Beach to have free admission". LA Times. 2014-07-23. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
7. "Environmentally friendly auto racing series Formula E coming to Long Beach". FIA Formula E. 2014-05-22. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
8. "Formula E will not return to Long Beach in 2017". Long Beach Press Telegram. 2016-07-02. Retrieved 2016-07-30.
9. Stewart, Joshua (April 22, 2014). "Grand Prix will stay in Long Beach until 2018". Long Beach Register. Retrieved April 23, 2014.

Further reading

• Morris, Gordon (December 17, 2013). "More Than 40 Years Ago, The 'Roar On The Shore' Was Born". Long Beach Business Journal.
• The magic of Long Beach - Racer, David Malsher, 7 April 2014
• Long Beach a success story - ESPN, John Oreovicz, 9 April 2014

External links

• Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
• Map and circuit history at RacingCircuits.info