Accura Grand Prix of Long Beach – Pre-Race
After a month, this year’s IndyCar Series season continues this weekend. It’s even longer since the last time points were awarded in the series, as the race on March 24 was non-championship. The last one with points was driven two weeks earlier, in St. Petersburg, now another city race is on the agenda, the most traditional – Long Beach.
One interesting name will make his IndyCar debut at the California track – reigning Formula 2 champion Théo Pourchaire. The 20-year-old Frenchman replaces David Malukas at the Arrow McLaren team. In February, he injured his hand after falling from a mountain bike. He has not yet started for the team he transferred to after two seasons with the Dale Coyne Racing team. He was replaced by Callum Illott in the opening two stints, but was unavailable at Long Beach due to endurance car commitments.
Another secret regarding the occupation of the racing seat was only revealed last week at the Dale Coyne Racing team. He will start with the line-up of Nolan Siegel and Jack Harvey. The American Siegel made his debut in the non-host race at Thermal Club, in Long Beach, the pilot who starts in the IndyNXT series and on race weekends when this junior series is off, gets a chance in IndyCar as well, he should have raced. The question was what to do with the other car. Eventually, Coyne put Harvey in the No. 1 car (No. 18) and moved Siegel into the second car (No. 51).
One technical innovation will also have its premiere in Long Beach – a modified aeroscreen protecting the cockpit. Its upper part (halo) appeared already in St. Petersburg. But now comes the modified rest, which is lighter than the original one introduced in the 2020 season, and is primarily intended to ensure better airflow into the cockpit, as this was the biggest problem associated with this safety innovation from the beginning. Originally, the new aeroscreen was supposed to make its debut in Indianapolis.
Additionally, IndyCar continues to experiment with the Friday first practice format. This time she put the track at the disposal of all riders for the first 45 minutes, then the field splits into two halves and both groups get space for 10 minutes. Newbies can train all the time.
Kyle Kirkwood arrives in Long Beach as the defending champion. The 25-year-old American took his first victory in Long Beach a year ago, and added another during the season in Nashville, both triumphs remain his only top-five finishes. Since 2008, when the race moved to the calendar of the unified IndyCar series, only his teammate Alexander Rossi has been able to win two consecutive years.
The championship is led by two-time champion Josef Newgarden, who dominated the race weekend in St. Petersburg. Defending champion Álex Palou was unstoppable at Thermal Club, but championship points were not awarded for this race weekend.
The Long Beach race was recently completely taken over by former Champ Cars and Forsythe Racing team co-owner Gerald Forsythe. The 82-year-old businessman acquired a half share in the rights to host the race from the estate of another Champ Cars co-owner, the late Kevin Kalkhoven. Various entities looked for the rights, including IndyCar itself, or parent company Penske Entertainment, but also rival NASCAR or groups that wanted to return Formula 1 races to Long Beach.
Long Beach City Circuit
Circuit length: 1.968 miles (3.167 km), 11 turns
Race length: 85 laps (167 miles)
First race: 1975 (F5000), 1984 (CART/IndyCar)
Circuit Record: Colton Herta (Andretti Autosport) – 1:05.3095 in 2022
Last year’s pole position: Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Autosport) – 1:06.2878
Last year’s race winner: Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Autosport)
Time schedule (SELČ)
Friday 19.4.
23:50 – 1:05 – 1st practice
Saturday 20.4.
17:25 – 18:25 – 2nd training session
20:25 – 21:55 – Qualification
Sunday 21. 4.
21:45 – start závodu Accura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Source: Original editorial text, introductory photo: Penske Entertainment
