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[PayasYouRace]

It's the 44th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach



Welcome to Long Beach, California, a once seedy suburb of Los Angeles that has now become a top tourist destination. Go for the beautiful marinas, the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, a superb aquarium (I've been myself. It's fascinating) and for the RMS Queen Mary...


The former Cunard liner sports the longest straight passageways of any ship in the world, so long you can't see the other end because of the curve of the decks.


But most of all, every April, go for America's most historic street racing event.

History

The Indycar website might have you believe the event started in 1984, but the first Long Beach Grand Prix was a Formula 5000 race. This 100 miler was won by Brian Redman in his Carl Haas racing Lola-Chevrolet (names that would all become synonymous with the event) and was intended to be a warm up event for the Formula 1 World Championship.


Redman on his way to winning. The days when airboxes and fat rear slicks were the big things in racing.

Over the next eight years, the United States Grand Prix West would form part of the World Championship's opening leg of fly-away races, and would become a popular GP. The winners list is a who's who of legends and no driver would take repeat success on the tough streets. Andretti, Piquet, Jones and Lauda were champions who won there, with Ferrari legends Regazzoni, Reutemann and Gilles Villeneuve also taking the top step. Though no drive was probably as impressive as John Watson going from 22nd on the grid to win in 1983, save perhaps Niki Lauda, starting 23rd and finishing 2nd.


The 1982 race, famed for the battle between Keke Rosberg and Gilles Villeneuve, and Niki Lauda's comback win.

However, the event switched to another series, and that series would also become synonymous with the streets. That series of course, was CART. On a simplified circuit, which has since changed many times, the cars and stars of CART would entertain and enthral Californians on their bumpy streets. But while no F1 driver could repeat his success, in CART, it was first the Andrettis (Mario and Micheal) and then the king of Long Beach, Al Unser Jr. who made the fast street track their own. Little Al would go one to become the Ayrton Senna of the Beach, winning an incredible six times.


See Mario Andretti's last LB win

When Indy split from CART in 1996, Long Beach became the series premier event. Drivers like Alex Zanardi and Paul Tracy would find success during this era. Zanardi's 1998 win was a particularly spectacular one, winning despite falling a lap down.


Yes, Gualter Salles qualfied 4th. Yes, that's the same Helio Castro-Neves and Tony Kanaan we know today.

Long Beach remained a staple of the series even when CART folded and became the Champ Car World Series. It was fitting that Long Beach hosted the final Champ Car race, counting for Indycar series points in the 2008 season. It saw the last race of Jimmy Vasser, and a young Will Power won it. But all anyone remembers is that Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an Indycar race at Motegi the previous night.


Here it is so that you may remember it. No, I don't know who half those drivers are either.

Since then, it has remained part of the Indycar Series early season, and Mike Conway and Will Power are the only repeat winners so far. One of the greatest moments being SATOOOO!!!11!!!'s first win back in 2013. And that brings us neatly up to date.

Who's Hot and Who's Not

Spotter Guide

Coming into this weekend's race, the top ten in the championship are as follows.

1. Josef Newgarden

The reigning champion has had a strong start to the season,. He followed up a rather average 7th place in St. Pete with win in Phoenix, taking the lead on track late in the race. Expect him to be strong again.

2. Alex Rossi

Finished 3rd in both races so far, would be doing even better if he hadn't bodged his overtake of Robert Wickens in St. Pete. Also expected to be strong, and seems to have become the de facto Andretti team leader.

3. Sebastien Bourdais

Four time (Champ Car) champion SeaBass opened his season with a win in St. Pete, taking over after the Rossi/Wickens kerfuffle. Could only finish 13th at Phoenix. A three time winner of Long Beach during the split era, expect another strong performance.

4. Graham Rahal

With a 2nd and a 9th, Graham hasn't been quite there yet this season, but he'll be hoping to repeat his 2015 title challenge only this time going one better.

5. Ryan Hunter-Reay

RHR has come home 5th in both races so far. Another former winner, he'll have to be on top form to beat Rossi this year.

6. James Hinchcliffe

The Mayor has had a decent start to the season with a 4th an a 6th, but the defending race winner has been overshadowed by his "rookie" teammate so far.

7. Scott Dixon

Also with a 6th and a 4th, you can never count out the Iceman, the Fuel Whisperer. He won in 2015.

8. Robert Wickens

The undoubted star of the season so far. A rookie by name but with a wealth of racing experience, the ex-DTM driver was unlucky to come off worst in the St. Pete collision with Rossi. Second at Phoenix means he is showing himself to be Indycar's new Canadian hope. Expect a very strong race. That first win can't be too far away.

9. Tony Kanaan

With only an 8th and an 11th to speak of, it just shows how hard it is to score consistently in Indycar. However, Tony looks refreshed after a difficult couple of seasons at Ganassi. He could spring a surprise.

10. Marco Andretti

The youngest Andretti never really looks to be the team leader at his dad's team. He'll need to maintain a consistent scoring record to remain in the top 10. I still expect his illustrious grandfather Mario, driving the two seater, to get a better result this weekend.

Who haven't I mentioned yet?

Penske drivers Will Power and Simon Pagenaud (running in stealth mode this weekend - grey livery on the 22) have scored well but have been a bit disappointing. Surely the new regulations have also pegged back the advantage of being in a Penske-run car, as everyone's knowledge base is reset to zero.

Look out for Sato in the other Rahal car, always a threat on this kind of track, though you can never be sure what that threat will be. Unfortunately, no Rene Binder on track again, so the binned her puns will have to wait.

The Track


This map uses Scalextric Sport Track. For old track, you'l need to look up a conversion table.

Race Distance: A rather short 167.28 miles.
Laps: 85
Turns: At least 9 per lap.
Features: A roundabout with a fountain in it. No car has yet crashed into the fountain. An impossibly tight hairpin. A first corner that regularly causes lap 1 pile-ups.


Where and When to Watch

For those in the US, qualy is 6:30 pm ET, Saturday on NSNBC
Race is at 4 pm ET, Sunday on the same.

In the UK, the race is on BT Sport/ESPN at 9 pm. TV Guide has already got a review of 8.3 stars for the race, so I'd expect someone who likes fast cars and with access to a TARDIS has been looking ahead.



Other sessions will be live streamed on the Indycar Youtube channel.

EDIT
Indycar's official full race upload here:

[Afterburner]

I feel like that fountain is really baiting Murphy’s Law at this point. If they haven’t already, it’s about time someone installed one of those invisible walls from Mario Kart around it.

In any event, can’t wait for this one. Great OP, PaYR!

[SophieB]

Another Queen Mary fact - it inspired the novel of The Poseidon Adventure because of the time it came within a few degrees of being sunk by being rolled over by a truly enormous wave. Later, the film of the novel was filmed on its decks.

(Also, I ate dinner there at the hotel ship it is now and asked for chips (or fries if you prefer) instead of the menu's mashed potato with my steak Chateaubriand and a gloriously sniffy waiter said no, in mildly disgusted tones, like I'd asked to lick his armpits or something.)

[Myrvold]

Damn, I'm most likely not home from work for the start of the race :/ Not that I would have the energy to stay up either tbh.

[whitewaterMkII]

Anyone that may be in the area of T-10, PM me, we'll be there every day. As a suggestion for those that are attending, I highly suggest the Sunday exotic car paddock, across the Firestone bridge between T-9 and T-10. Last year there was a Koenigsegg there that was so illegal for the US that the owner had to have a California Highway Patrol officer co-driver with him at all times the car was rolling. Hilarious. 

[paulb]

Love the OP!

 

I love the track map too. It reminds me that Indycar racing is definitely fun.

 

Love he F5000 picture. IIRC, that is the turn after the bottom of the hill at Linden. One of many spectacular sections of the old course.

 

Thanks, SophieB, for reminding me of the movie that still freaks me out. Saw it as a kid and made me afraid of the high seas ever since.

[SKL]

Busy racing weekend with F1 and indycars.   Usually not a big FE fan but will at least watch some to see how they can race through Rome!!  Will be a busy weekend for the DVR...

 

Watching those videos above bring back some great memories, especially the 1998 race.   Wish Varsha was doing the play by play.

[f1paul]

NASCAR and Indycar on at the same time.   

[Vielleicht]

Long Beach is by far one of the highlights of my racing year. I remember seeing double page spreads in race mags of the ALMS field rounding the fountain (yeah I'm a relative newbie I guess)  and immediately falling in love with the venue. Basically Long Beach was my introduction to US based racing, so it was the start of something great for me.

 

And these current IndyCars and this field of drivers at Long Beach? Cue excited giggling.

Edited by Vielleicht, 11 April 2018 - 20:37.

[sblick]

Head to Head of NASCAR and Indy Car.  Hmmmm I wonder who will win the ratings.  The bigger crowd will probably be at Long Beach.

Nice OP.  My semi-home race in the old days.  If they would have been racing Vintage Can-Am like last year I would have been there.  I have heard it is vintage Trans-Am this year

Picking Rahal for some reason with Wickens in second.  My crystal ball hasn't come up with third place yet.

[maximilian]

NASCAR and Indycar on at the same time. 

 

Like there's REALLY a choice to make?  Come on... 

[red stick]

Wickens's first win.  You heard it here first.

[red stick]

Thanks, SophieB, for reminding me of the movie that still freaks me out. Saw it as a kid and made me afraid of the high seas ever since.

 

Same here.  Saw it at the drive-in when I was seven or so, and have never had any great desire to go on a cruise.  Coincidence?  Unlikely.

[f1paul]

Like there's REALLY a choice to make?  Come on... 

I know I do like Bristol!   

 

Only joking, I'll watch both at the same time with 2 eyes on the Indycar.   

[jonpollak]

Nice work PAYR... Unlike F1 threads we enjoy the meritocracy principal for Indycar thread creation.

[ThadGreen]

Forty-Four years! Time flies when you're having fun!

Went to the Formula 5000 race, don't remember it being called a Grand Prix but it was 44 years ago. Also attended the F1 races there but you know what never attended an IndyCar event there We used to live not 20 minutes from the track in a bedroom community called Lakewood. Chris Pook used to ride around the perimeter of the track on a 125 cc Honda (or something like that) keeping an eye on things and ensuring that all went smoothly.

Nice OP although I'm not sure how the Long Beach City Council would feel about Long Beach being referred to as "a once seedy suburb of Los Angeles".

Edited by ThadGreen, 12 April 2018 - 01:04.

[prommer]

They should attempt to install that Scalextric track at Phoenix, as it looks like there's two lanes. 

[loki]

We'll be over with the Redcoats in the Original Paddock Club at the outside of the hairpin.  Seats are at start/finish.  Staying at the Queen Mary.  Making a full weekend out of it.

[jonpollak]

Enjoy loki..

 

I witnessed the F1 circus there from 77-80

We all cheered for Mario but were totally enthralled with some guy in the second Ferrari. Qualifying was a 2 day affair back then and by the end of those sessions we all had to scrape our jaws off the tops of our shoes. Never in my life had I seen such wild and crazy driving. Come race day we positioned ourselves along the climb up to Ocean Blvd. When he launched it over a lapped Shadow half way through the race we stood and looked at each other with amazement and incredulity.... Is this guy for real?!?!?

 

All of a sudden I took a real interest in my Mother's French Canadian heritage.

 

Years later the rock star I was working for was gifted a suite by the Forsythe team for all his race fan friends and we cheered on another highly talented Canadian

 

Another memorable attendance was in 2002 where I where I performed the duty of a floppy hat roadie.

and YES Virginia, It rained.

 

 

 

Jp

 

[FLB]

Went on the non-racing Labour Day weekend in 2009. You know people drive on those streets everyday, but I had major goosebumps (pimples) driving on them. For most people, it's just a city like any other; to me, it's a racing Mecca like Monza.

 

Plus, the Petersen Automotive Museum isn't all that far.

Edited by FLB, 12 April 2018 - 10:44.

[paulb]

We'll be over with the Redcoats in the Original Paddock Club at the outside of the hairpin.  Seats are at start/finish.  Staying at the Queen Mary.  Making a full weekend out of it.

 

Redcoats as in the Committee of 300? Paid extra for their hospitality setup one year. Wasn't bad. 

Edited by paulb, 12 April 2018 - 10:40.

[MikeV1987]

Missed the last one in arizona due to work. Between this and the Chinese GP, it's not a bad weekend to be a couch potato at all. Predicting Wicken's first win, iirc he is good around street circuits although I may just be talking ****.

[B Squared]

Everyone going have a great time; 1982 F1 race has been my only one.

Off to Washington DC for third time in five weeks, but should be home in time for the race. I made it last weekend for Phoenix and had no trouble staying awake. Thanks for the intros too! I'm back with my former high-end cabinetry company doing everything from to deliveries to engineering measures and layout to final project photography. This old man is starting to get back in shape, and I'm quite happy to be able to get out from behind a desk doing collector car writing for the past eight years. Best to you all and stay healthy mates - thanks!

[ANF]

Shameless bump to stay on page 1

[paulb]

Missed the last one in arizona due to work. Between this and the Chinese GP, it's not a bad weekend to be a couch potato at all. Predicting Wicken's first win, iirc he is good around street circuits although I may just be talking ****.

You saw the youtube link, yes?

[paulb]

Don’t forget your picks y’all. 

Edited by paulb, 13 April 2018 - 02:17.

[king_crud]

watching that race from 98, the cars look sooooo fast

[jonpollak]

FP1 in approx 15 mins.

Jp

[MikeV1987]

You saw the youtube link, yes?

If you are talking about the race replay then yes, although I don’t really enjoy watching racing on ovals that much.

[PiperPa42]

Max and Pinball are the fastest drivers so far

[ezequiel]

WTH

 

[Radoye]

WTH

 

 

 just go straight to here: http://racecontrol.indycar.com/

[PiperPa42]

 just go straight to here: http://racecontrol.indycar.com/

That's where I got the screen.

I just entered name and email and two seconds later I had the code.

[Radoye]

Strange, it never asked me for that.

 

EDIT: scratch that, it's now asking me the same too.

Edited by Radoye, 13 April 2018 - 18:05.

[Victor_RO]

Preparatory throwback from Marshall Pruett: he managed to dig out a personal audio recording (natural sounds only) from the 1995 event. And it is GLORIOUS.

 

https://marshallprue...t-indycar-1995/

[jonpollak]

I had the IP address of Race Control and STILL had to register !!

[Risil]

Thanks PaYR for the OP and everyone else for the reminiscences! I like how Long Beach is sort of Indycar's silver event next to the solid gold that is Indianapolis. Also an indication of how many other races have fallen by the wayside.
 
Sounds like Scott Dixon had a blast in first practice:
 

“The PNC car was fast right out of the box. We had a short first run and then went out and improved in the second run.

“(The track) definitely drives different just because you don’t have the downforce (with the new universal aero kit). The braking zones are a little bigger, power down – especially out of the hairpin – is quite tough. … These cars are so much fun to drive, man, it’s really cool with such a historic place here at Long Beach. It’s nice to be pounding around the streets.”

[Risil]

Practice 2 here

 

 

I love how little the look of the circuit has changed since the eighties.

[PiperPa42]

I can't get used to seeing Dixon in the Novo Nordisk car 

[ANF]

Sato! Turn 1! Crash!

Edited by ANF, 13 April 2018 - 21:52.

[jonpollak]

What an ass.

[Risil]

Is Long Beach the closest Sato gets to a home race? The Hawaiian Super Prix stubbornly not taking off as it is.

[PiperPa42]

No, Portland is closer to Tokyo.
4850 miles for Portland, 5100 for Sonoma and 5500 miles for Long Beach

http://www.gcmap.com...r>&MS=wls&DU=mi

Edited by PiperPa42, 13 April 2018 - 22:14.

[Risil]

But Long Beach is at least right by the Pacific Ocean!

 

They should hire us to provide the meaningless factoids that commentators bring out to fill airtime during the race.

[Risil]

Also holy **** Sonoma Airport is named after the guy who wrote the Peanuts cartoons??

[PiperPa42]

Also holy **** Sonoma Airport is named after the guy who wrote the Peanuts cartoons??

Yes, and here's their logo

[paulb]

Frequent Snoopy miles should be worth something.

[jonpollak]

Gonna have to go with VEACH for my 4th pick...NO QUESTION.
 
 https://twitter.com/...622313990533120

Also..NASCAR reporter goes all indycar.

http://jeffgluck.com...ach-grand-prix/
Jp

[Jim Thurman]

Also holy **** Sonoma Airport is named after the guy who wrote the Peanuts cartoons??

 

Well, the Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa is. Mr. Schulz lived in Santa Rosa for many years. He had an indoor ice rink built there.

 

Now, the Sonoma Valley Airport is literally just a short distance up, and across, the highway from the former Sears Point International Raceway.

[maximilian]

Shameless bump to stay on page 1

 

I been wanting to bring this up, but I think we IndyCarFans should conspire to always keep our threads on the first page, among all those irrelevant F1 discussions that seem to disproportionally flood the forum every time an F1  "race" comes around.  What say you all?    

 

FWIW, I don't mind one bit having to register for IndyCar's EXCELLENT live timing (1000% more detailed than F1's travesty - which HAD some detail, but was then taken away from us non-paying peons with great cynicism and replaced with these ridiculous colored bard for section time indicators, gee thanks F1), not to mention the LIVE Streaming of practices. 

Edited by maximilian, 14 April 2018 - 02:11.