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Grand Prix of Long Beach
- For the Formula One race, see United States Grand Prix West.
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| |
| Long Beach | |
| Location | Long Beach, California, USA |
|---|---|
| Active from | N/A - present |
| Major events | IRL Izod IndyCar Series Long Beach Grand Prix American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Long Beach |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 1.968 mi (3.167 km) |
| Turns | 11 |
| Lap record | 1:06.886 (Sébastien Bourdais, Newman-Haas Racing, 2006, Champ Car World Series) |
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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 the following year. From 1984 to 2008 it was a CART/Champ Car event. Other popular events during the Grand Prix week include a Firestone Indy Lights race, an American Le Mans Series race, and the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race.
The Long Beach Grand Prix has been announced since 1978 by Bruce Flanders (and his assorted guest announcers) and is frequently a fan favorite.
Circuit
The current race circuit is a 1.968-mile (3.167 km) temporary road course carved out of the city streets surrounding the Convention Center of Long Beach, California. 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), making for a scenic track.
Events
Although the Izod 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. Beginning in 2007, the American Le Mans Series replaced Grand-Am. Other races include Indy Lights (which replaced the Atlantic Championship in 2009) and the popular Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. 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, in which participants engage in controlled slides, moving their cars sideways across the track.
Winners
Atlantics/Indy Lights
American Le Mans Series / Grand-Am / IMSA
| IMSA GT Championship | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | GTO | GTU | Report | ||
| 1990 | Template:Country flagicon Dorsey Schroeder Mercury Cougar |
Template:Country flagicon John Finger Mazda MX-6 |
report | ||
| 1991 | Template:Country flagicon Steve Millen Nissan 300ZX |
Template:Country flagicon John Fergus Dodge Daytona |
report | ||
| Rolex Sports Car Series | |||||
| Year | DP | Report | |||
| 2006 | Template:Country flagicon Scott Pruett Template:Country flagicon Luis Díaz Riley Mk XX-Lexus |
report | |||
| American Le Mans Series | |||||
| Year | LMP1 | LMP2 | GT1 | GT2 | Report |
| 2007 | Template:Country flagicon Rinaldo Capello Template:Country flagicon Allan McNish Audi R10 TDI |
Template:Country flagicon Romain Dumas Template:Country flagicon Timo Bernhard Porsche RS Spyder |
Template:Country flagicon Oliver Gavin Template:Country flagicon Olivier Beretta Chevrolet Corvette C6.R |
Template:Country flagicon Mika Salo Template:Country flagicon Jaime Melo Ferrari F430GT |
report |
| 2008 | Template:Country flagicon Marco Werner Template:Country flagicon Lucas Luhr Audi R10 TDI |
Template:Country flagicon Scott Sharp Template:Country flagicon David Brabham Acura ARX-01b |
Template:Country flagicon Johnny O'Connell Template:Country flagicon Jan Magnussen Chevrolet Corvette C6.R |
Template:Country flagicon Dominik Farnbacher Template:Country flagicon Dirk Müller Ferrari F430GT |
report |
| 2009 | Template:Country flagicon Gil de Ferran Template:Country flagicon Simon Pagenaud Acura ARX-02a |
Template:Country flagicon Adrián Fernández Template:Country flagicon Luis Díaz Acura ARX-01b |
Template:Country flagicon Oliver Gavin Template:Country flagicon Olivier Beretta Chevrolet Corvette C6.R |
Template:Country flagicon Patrick Long Template:Country flagicon Jörg Bergmeister Porsche 911 GT3-RSR |
report |
| Year | LMP | LMPC | GT | GTC | Report |
| 2010 | Template:Country flagicon David Brabham Template:Country flagicon Simon Pagenaud HPD ARX-01c |
Template:Country flagicon Elton Julian Template:Country flagicon Gunnar Jeannette Oreca FLM09/Chevrolet |
Template:Country flagicon Patrick Long Template:Country flagicon Jörg Bergmeister Porsche 911 GT3-RSR |
Template:Country flagicon Juan González Template:Country flagicon Butch Leitzinger Porsche 997 GT3 Cup |
report |
- Overall winners in bold
Television history
CART Champ Car & IRL IndyCar races
| Season | Date | US TV channel | Lap-by-lap | Driver Analyst(s) | Pit Reporters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | March 31 | NBC | Paul Page | Johnny Rutherford | Gary Gerould & Bruce Jenner |
| 1985 | April 14 | NBC | Paul Page | Bobby Unser | Gary Gerould & Bruce Jenner |
| 1986 | April 13 | NBC | Paul Page | Unknown | Gary Gerould & Bruce Jenner |
| 1987 | April 5 | NBC | Paul Page | Jackie Stewart | Gary Gerould & Bruce Jenner |
| 1988 | April 17 | ABC | Paul Page | Bobby Unser & Sam Posey | Jack Arute & Gary Gerould |
| 1989 | April 16 | ABC | Paul Page | Bobby Unser & Sam Posey | Jack Arute & Gary Gerould |
| 1990 | April 22 | ABC | Paul Page | Bobby Unser & Sam Posey | Jack Arute & Gary Gerould |
| 1991 | April 14 | ABC | Paul Page | Bobby Unser & Sam Posey | Jack Arute & Gary Gerould |
| 1992 | April 12 | ABC | Paul Page | Bobby Unser & Sam Posey | Jack Arute & Gary Gerould |
| 1993 | April 18 | ABC | Paul Page | Bobby Unser & Sam Posey | Jack Arute & Gary Gerould |
| 1994 | April 17 | ABC | Paul Page | Bobby Unser & Sam Posey | Jack Arute & Gary Gerould |
| 1995 | April 9 | ABC | Paul Page | Bobby Unser & Sam Posey | Jack Arute & Gary Gerould |
| 1996 | April 14 | ABC | Paul Page | Danny Sullivan | Jack Arute & Gary Gerould |
| 1997 | April 13 | ABC | Bob Varsha | Danny Sullivan | Gary Gerould & Jon Beekhuis |
| 1998 | April 5 | ESPN | Bob Varsha | Danny Sullivan | Gary Gerould & Jon Beekhuis |
| 1999 | April 18 | ABC | Paul Page | Parker Johnstone | Gary Gerould & Jon Beekhuis |
| 2000 | April 16 | ESPN | Paul Page | Parker Johnstone | Gary Gerould & Jon Beekhuis |
| 2001 | April 8 | ABC | Paul Page | Parker Johnstone | Gary Gerould & Jon Beekhuis |
| 2002 | April 14 | Fox | Bob Varsha | Tommy Kendall | Unknown |
| 2003 | April 13 | Speed | Bob Varsha | Tommy Kendall | Unknown |
| 2004 | April 18 | Spike TV | Bob Jenkins | Tommy Kendall | Derek Daly, Jon Beekhuis, & Chris McClure |
| 2005 | April 10 | NBC | Rick Benjamin | Derek Daly | Bill Stephens, Jon Beekhuis, Cameron Steele, & Michelle Biesner |
| 2006 | April 9 | NBC | Rick Benjamin | Derek Daly | Bill Stephens, Jon Beekhuis, Cameron Steele, & Michelle Biesner |
| 2007 | April 15 | NBC | Bill Weber | Jon Beekhuis & Wally Dallenbach, Jr. | Marty Snider & Dave Burns |
| 2008 | April 20 | ESPN2 | Marty Reid | Scott Goodyear | Jack Arute, Jamie Little, Vince Welch, & Brienne Pedigo |
| 2009 | April 19 | Versus | Bob Jenkins | Jon Beekhuis & Robbie Buhl | Jack Arute, Robbie Floyd, & Lindy Thackston |
| 2010 | April 18 | Versus | Bob Jenkins | Jon Beekhuis & Robbie Buhl | Jack Arute, Robbie Floyd, & Lindy Thackston |
External links
- Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
- Satellite picture by Google Maps
- Google Search - Timeline
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