Round 16: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, 24-26 September.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 16: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, 24-26 September.


Here we are again at the end of the season, though in very different surroundings at Long Beach which hosts the season finale. Of the two main championship contenders, the big question is can Alex Palou win the driver's championship, or will it be Pato O'Ward, who needs to overcome a 35 point deficit in order win it? Josef Newgarden is still in contention with a mathematical chance of winning it.

Last year's race would have been the 46th running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach and the 36th consecutive year the race has been held as an IndyCar event but due to the Covid-19 pandemic the race was cancelled. However, before the start of this season, it was decided rather than being faced with possibility of cancelling the race again, it would be put back and host the season finale.

The Grand Prix of Long Beach is the oldest running street race in North America and was founded by local travel agent Chris Pook in 1975. The inaugural race was the 7th round of the SCCA Formula 5000 series, held on September 28th 1975 and was won by British driver Brian Redman, in a Lola T332-Chevrolet V8. Following the success of the F5000 event and only 6 months later Pook convinced FISA to hold the F1 United States Grand Prix West, which was was won by Swiss F1 veteran Clay Regazzoni, driving a Ferrari-312T. The United States Grand Prix West remained on the F1 calendar until 1983. Interestingly, it wasn't until 1980, that Toyota became the race sponsor. However, this year long term sponsors Toyota, will be conspicuous by their absence.

After the 1983 Grand Prix, increasing F1 costs, sanctions and shipping charges, made the race too expensive to be run as an F1 Grand Prix. Having been approached by CART to host a race, Long Beach became a CART/Champ Car perennial event from 1984 to 2008. The final Champ Car race was held on April 20, 2008 as part of the 2008 IndyCar Series split weekend.

Although series reunification took place in late February 2008, it emerged that there was a calendar clash between Long Beach and the IndyCar Series round at Motegi in Japan. With both races so early on in the year and more or less finalised, neither track could change their date; particularly Long Beach, due to the preparations required for a street course. It was decided both races would go ahead, with points from Long Beach counting towards the the IndyCar Series championship. It was won by Will Power driving for KV Racing, in a Panoz DP01-Cosworth. The race became part of the IndyCar Series calendar the following year.

Recently, there were rumours as to the future of the race. The Grand Prix Association, which owns and promotes the race and the City of Long Beach, signed a new three-year agreement after the 2015 race, with an additional two-year option. However, in 2016, the Long Beach City Council issued an RFP a request for proposal, to consider the return of the event to a Formula One race, as early as 2019. In August 2017, after a study was completed and after discussions, the switch to Formula One was rejected. The city council voted unanimously to continue the event as part of the IndyCar Series.

One change that did occur, was long time sponsor of the race, Toyota Motor North America, deciding to call it a day after 44 years. as the race title sponsor. As from 2019 Acura, the luxury vehicle division of Honda, whose U.S. headquarters are nearby in Torrance, would become the title sponsor.


Some trivia:
The driver with the most wins: 6. Al Unser Jr., 1988 - 1991, 1994, 1995.
The team with the most wins: 6.
Newman/Haas Racing. 1984, 1985, 1987, 2005, 2006, 2007.
Chip Ganassi Racing. 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2009, 2015.
Team Penske 1993, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2012, 2016.


Track layout:
The track is a temporary street course and since the 1975 F5000 race, the layout has changed considerably over the years. Rather than fill the intro with all the various track changes, below are the original and current layouts and this link will take you to,

http://www.racingcircuits.info/north...l#.Vw6LfjFI6Fk

which shows all the track variations.


Original 1975-1981 layout:
Length: 2.02 miles (3.251 km)
Turns: 12



Current layout:
Length: 1.968 Miles (3.167 Km)
Turns: 11


Lap record:
Hélio Castroneves, April 8, 2017. 1:06.225, 106.980 Mph (172.167 Km/h).
Team Penske,
Dallara DW12-Chevy IndyCar V6,
Verizon IndyCar Series.

Previous race:
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...Bvalue%5D=2243

Previous Pole:
Alexander Rossi, 1:06.4811, 106.569 Mph (171.506 Km/h).
Andretti Autosport
Dallara IR18-Honda HI19R Indy-V-6

Previous winner:
Alexander Rossi
Andretti Autosport
Dallara IR18-Honda HI19R Indy-V-6

Laps: 85
Distance: 167.28 Miles (269.211 Km)
Race Time: 1:41'35.5999
Average Speed: 98.794 mph (158.993 Km/h)
Fastest lap: Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport, lap 27. 67.6943 sec, 104.659 mph (168.432 km/h)

Cautions: 1
Laps 3: 1-3

Race Broadcast:

NBCSN. Septmber 26. 3:00pm ET, 7:00pm UTC. 8:00pm BST
Sky Sports F1. 8:00pm BST