Chevy Power and Will Power Overcome Penalty to Win Long Beach GP

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

The anticipated third round on the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series tour, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is one of the oldest and most prestigious open wheel street races in the United States.

The 1.968-mile race course has historically been known as a race where passing was a premium. Entering the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Chevrolet teams received a major setback what could be one of the least ideal circuit to suffer in qualifying. Engine issues spotted during testing at Infineon Raceway left engine supplier Chevrolet with no other choice but to order their 11 teams to start the IZOD INDYCAR event with new powerplants. With each Chevrolet runner receiving a 10-grid position penalty, the impact of the numerous IZOD INDYCAR teams changing engines made for a confusing ordeal for where qualifying results and the race’s starting line-up was drastically shuffled. Falling behind qualifying winner Ryan Briscoe who was ushered to 11^th place in his Chevrolet-powered #2 Penske Racing for the start of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Chevrolet entries were faced with mid-to-rear grid positions ahead of Sunday’s 85-lap event. As the green flag was ready to fall on the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, it would be a big story if Chevrolet teams would be able to charge back to the front.

Thanks to the penalties issued to the top Chevrolet-powered Dallara race cars, 4^th fastest in qualifying Dario Franchitti would lead the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR with a Honda engine for the first time. Alongside Franchitti’s #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing vehicle, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing’s IZOD INDYCAR Series rookie driver Josef Newgarden saw his 7^th place qualifying result parlayed into a front-row start. When the green flag dropped on the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the race’s first caution flew on the opening lap with an incident between the front-row starters. As the #10 of Dario Franchitti and the #67 of Josef Newgarden raced into the first corner, the battle ended with Newgarden in the tire barriers of turn one. The first retirement of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights champion Josef Newgarden and the #67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing car left the event early.



Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

When the field was sent back to green on lap 4, the #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car of Dario Franchitti found himself under attack from the Dale Coyne Racing #18 car. Piloted by Justin Wilson, the #18 Dallara-Honda took the lead away from Franchitti on turn 1 for lap 5. At the front, Wilson built up an incredible lead early in the IZOD INDYCAR event gaining a 5 second interval on second-place by lap 12.

While Justin Wilson led in what it considered one of the lower-funded race efforts in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series paddock, the #10 car fielded by the wealthier Chip Ganassi suffered a fall down the running order. On lap 10, Simon Pagenaud took second-place in the race from the #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry while Takuma Sato and Franchitti’s teammate Scott Dixon would find their way past the pole-starting machine.

Photo Credit: American Honda Motor Company/ c)2012 Dan R. Boyd LAT Photo USA

The field was slowed again as full-course yellow flew on lap 20 for #7 car of Sebastien Bourdais stopped in turn nine. A quick caution that concluded with the Lotus Dragon Racing entry of Bourdais restarting, some of the leaders decided to use the caution to stop for pit service. With Justin Wilson and Simon Pagenaud pitting, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team decided to keep their #15 car and driver Takuma Sato out to lead back to green. Taking green for lap 22, the field would be led into the race’s final caution containing a series of incidents spanning from unfortunate to outright bizarre.

Immediately on the restart, the #98 Bryan Herta Autosport car piloted by Alex Tagliani received contact from the #5 KV Racing Technology machine of EJ Viso on the Long Beach street course’s frontstretch. “Obviously being in the back like that, as soon as it goes green I just jumped on the inside and passed Viso inside the hairpin, and coming on to the front straight away he just pushed me in to the wall.” said Tagliani after the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach as a difficult 2012 season is plaguing the French-Canadian racer. While the #5 car driver described the move by the #98 as “a very dangerous move”, Viso was assessed a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact from INDYCAR Race Control. Viso finished the race 12^th while the #98 Lotus-powered entry would only continue past the halfway point to the event.

However, less than a minute after the Tagliani/Viso incident, the most dramatic incident of the Toyota Grand of Long Beach (and the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series so far) occurred when two drivers from open wheel racing’s most popular families collided. In turn 8, the #26 car of Marco Andretti drove up and made contact with the #38 Chip Ganassi Racing-owned race car driven by Graham Rahal. The nature of the rear end contact sent the #26 Andretti Autosport car into the air crashing back on the race course. The end of the race for both drivers who left the accident unhurt, there were opposing viewpoints on where the fault should have been placed after the crash. Graham Rahal said the #26 car had made an overly ambitious dive into the corner while Marco Andretti said the #38 car was blocking.

While the full-course yellow was displayed, safety crew also retrieved two stalled race cars on course. The first one being the #6 vehicle of Katherine legge that stopped on turn 9 following the Andretti/Rahal collision. In the second incident, the #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing came to a sudden stop on lap 27. For what was said to be a mechanical problem to his Dallara-Honda, Scott Dixon’s two second-place finishes starting off the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series season resulted in a retirement for the third event. The 2012 Long Beach race was Dixon’s first official did not finish in competition since the 2010 Honda Indy of Toronto.

Restarted on lap 30, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was set up as a pit and fuel strategy event. While Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ryan Briscoe would place Chevrolet-engined vehicles at the top spot of the IZOD INDYCAR street race by the end of the race’s third caution, two Honda Racing Development runners gave some optimism to the single-turbocharged engine’s cause. After leading ahead of the race’s final caution, the #15 car of Takuma Sato spent an extra 8-lap stint in the lead of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach before sailing into the pits on lap 55. Leading for a race-high 26 laps, Simon Pagenaud, driving the #77 Sam Schmidt Racing car, continues to make his 2012 rookie season a strong effort out of the gate. Pagenaud led the IZOD INDYCAR Series race until limited fuel required the driver to pit turning the first-place position over to Penske Racing’s Will Power.

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

Starting the race in 12^th spot, Power captured the lead on lap 71 for the first time of the event. As Simon Pagenaud was able to catch the #12 Penske Racing car while Power was told to save fuel, Power held off the aggressive attack of the #77 to win his second IZOD INDYCAR race of 2012 by a tight 0.8675 seconds. "It's a great day for the Verizon Team Penske Chevy. We really didn't think it was possible to win from 12th place here because it was a two-stop race, but once again with (strategist) Tim (Cindric), Dave (Faustino), my engineer, and all the boys we overcame a 10-spot penalty." Said Will Power in post-race interview. Previously winning the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2008, the circumstance for that event saw Power winning an INDYCAR event that was also the final race under the Champ Car organization.

With Simon Pagenaud taking a second-place finish at Long Beach, the Frenchman’s first full season of IZOD INDYCAR action has resulted in three top-6 placing in three races. Taking the final podium position behind Pagenaud, last year’s IZOD INDYCAR Series Rookie of the Year James Hinchcliffe scored his highest career race result. Starting from 16^th spot, Hinchcliffe declared, “It was certainly exciting from where I was. I hope it was exciting for you guys in the stands, and thanks to all the fans that come out to the race because this is just one of the best events we go to all year bar none.”

Tony Kanaan for KV Racing Technology charged from 19^th place in his Chevrolet-engined Dallara while JR Hildebrand brought Panther Racing their first top-5 result of 2012. Despite no Chevrolets starting in the top-10 spots of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, seven of the Dallara DW12 race cars in the top-10 after 85 laps were powered by Chevy engines.

The next race for the IZOD INDYCAR Series is a visit to Sao Paulo, Brazil scheduled for April 28^th.


2012 IZOD INDYCAR
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Race Results

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Nationality	Race Team	Engine
1	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
2	77	Simon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
3	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
4	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
5	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
6	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
7	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
8	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
9	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
10	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
11	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
12	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
13	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
14	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
15	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
16	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Lotus-Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Lotus
17	7	Sebastien Bourdais	France	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Lotus
18	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
19	6	Katherine Legge	England	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Lotus
20	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus
21	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Lotus
22	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
23	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
24	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
25	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
26	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda

Starting Grid for Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Adjusted to Penalties

Due to such a high number of competitors receiving grid position penalties for the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, please note this list as the starting line-up alligned to take team and driver penalties into account.


2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Starting Line-up

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Nationality	Race Team	Engine
1	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
2	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda
3	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
4	77	Simon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
5	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
6	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
7	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
8	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
9	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
10	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Lotus
11	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
12	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
13	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
14	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
15	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
16	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
17	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus
18	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
19	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
20	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
21	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
22	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
23	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Lotus-Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Lotus
24	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
25	7	Sebastien Bourdais	France	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Lotus
26	6	Katherine Legge	England	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Lotus

Briscoe Fastest During INDYCAR Qualifying on Streets of Long Beach

Photo Credit: Steve Swope/(C)2012 Steve Swope Photography

The third race weekend for the IZOD INDYCAR Series in 2012, the series returns to a temporary street circuits for the prestigious Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. With Saturday’s qualifying very important on the circuit where passing has proven to be tricky, this year’s time trial preparation for the 85-lap race Sunday would involve a very unusual situation for the IZOD INDYCAR Campaigners using the league‘s lead engine.

After two race in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series, the Team Penske has shown off their understanding of the all-new Dallara DW12 race cars as drivers Helio Castroneves and Will Power won the season‘s first events. Team Penske also demonstrated under the new competitive engine formula in the IZOD INDYCAR Series the effectiveness of the Chevrolet power plant. However, heading into the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, all of the 11 competitors using Chevrolet’s Twin-Turbocharged V-6 engines were forced to heed to the advice of manufacturer that would cost them grid position starting the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Engine changes on the 11 Chevrolet-powered INDYCAR race vehicles would be assessed in Saturday’s qualifying on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile road course in California.

Unlike Friday’s track time that was accompanied by a wet and cold day, Saturday was more inviting for the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR competitors as they try to set hot laps on the street course. Due to limited dry track practice, there was still some unknowns for drivers and teams. With all 26 IZOD INDYCAR cars posting time, it was Team Penske who again proved victorious during qualifying. Beating all fellow competitors for the first time in 2012, it was the Australian Ryan Briscoe who claimed has first pole since Chicagoland of 2010. Lapping the streets of Long Beach at 1 minute, 8.6089 seconds, Briscoe provides Team penske with three drivers having won a qualifying session for 2012. Briscoe’s winning effort came after a fierce battle on-track with teammate Will Power.

Exchanging fastest laps in the final minutes of the Firestone Fast Six qualifying round, Briscoe’s advantage over Power was less than a tenth of a second. Despite Ryan Briscoe having to accept a 10 grid position penalty (dropping him to 10^th place for Sunday), the fastest time will count in the points standings where a single point will be rewarded to the Team Penske driver.

Another IZOD INDYCAR Series team that scored two cars in the Firestone Fast Six grouping was Andretti Autosport. Andretti Autosport enters the California street course with familiarity on how to get to victory lane after winning the event the past two years. An emotionally-charged 2010 winner of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified 3^rd and teammate Canadian James Hinchcliffe locked in a 6^th quickest time.

Despite the dominating efforts of Chevrolet in qualifying, the engine change penalties meant the starting line-up would fall to the advantage of the Honda and Lotus powered Dallara race cars. Dario Franchitti, the only non-Chevrolet runner to break into the Firestone Fast Six, collected a 4^th fastest run in Saturday’s qualifying. With Chevrolet-engined competitors being demoted, the #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing receives the top starting spot for the 2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. “In the Firestone Fast 6 we knew where we'd be starting regardless of what time we did, but we kind of wanted to earn it.” said Franchitti.

Oriol Servia recorded the fastest lap recorded for a Lotus-powered IZOD INDYCAR Dallara DW12 for Dreyer and Reinbold Racing with a 1 minute, 10.6835 second timed trip around the street course. 20^th Fastest in time trials, Servia’s and his #22 car will also be assesses their own engine penalty by the sanctioning body that will drop the team to 23^rd starting the Long Beach race.

The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, race #3 in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series tour, will be set for about 4:15PM Eastern time (1:15PM Pacific time).


2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Qaulifying Results

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Nationality	Race Team	Engine
1	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
2	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
3	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
4	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
5	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
6	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
7	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda
8	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
9	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
10	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
11	77	Simon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
12	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
13	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
14	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
15	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
16	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
17	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
18	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
19	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
20	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Lotus-Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Lotus
21	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Lotus
22	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
23	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
24	7	Sebastien Bourdais	France	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Lotus
25	6	Katherine Legge	England	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Lotus
26	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus

Canadian driver James Hinchcliffe Scores First Career Indy Lights Victory

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

An entree to the Sunday serving of IRL (indy Racing League) racing action at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Firestone Indy Lights Series warmed up the California street course. Capturing the first two races of the 2010 ladder series, Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver Jean-Karl Vernay, the third round has yet to provide a challenge to the Frenchman. Sunday's Long Beach race for the Firestone Indy Lights Series would see the emergence as a potential season-long competitor.

Grabbing his second pole of the young season, 23-year old Oakville, Ontario, Canada driver James Hinchcliffe piloted his Team Moore Racing #2 car to a 1 minute, 14.6261 second lap time to claim the preferential position for the start. Previously scoring pole position at the opening Firestone Indy Lights round on the streets of St Petersburg ended with Hinchcliffe getting wrecked by Phillip Major through the race's first lap. In the Long Beach event, James Hinchcliffe avoided early race misfortune to lead flag-to-flag for his first victory in the Firestone Indy Lights in his second year of series competition.

With the race yellow flagged four times, the Hinchcliffe launched away from 2nd place finisher fellow Indy Lights tour sophomore Charlie Kimball driving for AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport. Jean-Karl Vernay missed his third-straight win of the season but retained a strong hold on the 2010 Firestone Indy Lights Series point standings. After three rounds, France's Vernay stands 28 markers over top of American driver Kimball in points.

With his previous best finish coming last year in the Mid-Ohio round, James Hinchcliffe completed his climb up the Firestone Indy Lights finishing roster. This top finish at Long Beach allows Hinchcliffe to be crowned the first Canadian driver to win in the IRL version of the open wheel support series since its formation in 2002.

Will Power Secures 3rd Straight IZOD IndyCar pole at Long Beach

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

Unleashed on the hot California street circuit on Saturday afternoon, the IZOD IndyCar Series drivers and teams focus on achieving the best possible starting position for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

With 25 Indy cars taking to the 1.968 mile Long Beach streets for qualifying, the 3 rounds of timed times wrapped with the Firestone Fast Six. Prevailing on the final session of qualifying, Australian Will Power posted top time with a blazing 1 minute, 9.3185 second lap. More than 4/10th of a second faster than second place, the #12 Verizon Penske Racing car arrived as a favourite front-runner for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Having defended his 2009 pole run, Power's effort on the temporary street course added his 3rd consecutive pole of this 2010 IZOD IndyCar season. "We certainly have the car figured out, and I'm very happy that the Verizon car is P1 again." Power said in a post-race press conference.

Showing speed potential again on the temporary tracks after topping Friday practice, Ryan Hunter-Reay backed up Friday's performance with a 2nd fastest time on Saturday afternoon. Driving his #37 Andretti Autosport car for Sunday, Ryan Hunter-Reay is also entered in the American Le Mans Series event running a LMP Challenge car.

Behind Hunter-Reay, Justin Wilson brought the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing #22 car to 3rd place through qualifying. While Penske Racing has been enjoying a potentially record-setting season, the growing Dreyer and Reinbold Racing team has shown some great progress with driver Justin Wilson teaming with Mike Conway. Through qualifying this season, the team has placed one of their two cars in the top-3 fastest competitors since St Petersburg.

With Will Power posing another very strong effort for the #12 Penske Racing car, car owner Roger Penske profited heavily from his entire three-car team as Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe joined his teammate in the Firestone Fast Six. Narrowly missing the Justin Wilson's 3rd place mark, Indy Grand Prix of Alabama winner Helio Castroneves will start 4th tomorrow just one spot ahead of Ryan Briscoe.

Completing the Firestone Fast Six, Tony Kanaan will start 6th in his #11 7-Eleven sponsored car for Andretti Autosport. Andretti Autosport teammate Marco Andretti provided a 9th fastest time at Long Beach while Danica Patrick starts deep in 20th place. In 2009, Patrick posted her highest road course finish on the Long Beach circuit crossing the line in 4th place.

2009 winner of the Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix race Dario Franchitti slotted in 12th fastest on the race track for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. Teammate Scott Dixon compared better to the field with an 8th place run but it remains apparent that the #9 and #10 cars on the IZOD IndyCar Series tour are having a hard time matching their 2009 vigor. With Scott Dixon claiming a runner-up position at Barber Motorsports Park, Target/Chip Ganassi Racing is turning the corner back to American open wheel racing victory lane.

Under severe pressure to perform at Long Beach on Sunday will be Graham Rahal. Driving for the 3rd time and final scheduled time with Sarah Fisher Racing, the results have been less than desirable. With a highest finish of 9th at St Petersburg, Rahal in Long Beach qualifying could only beat 3 cars on track rounding up 22nd in the starting lineup. Rahal commented in post race saying "It's again been a very frustrating day, and I think that pretty well caps it off. Never have I ever been the slowest one in qualifying in my entire career. It's pretty frustrating; we just can't seem to get the car to react to any changes that we make."



Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney


With the race set to roll 1:15 p.m. local time (4:15 p.m. Eastern time), street course of Long Beach presents some passing opportunities. However, like many race tracks, considerable ground can be made up in the pits. Reminiscing about next week's IZOD IndyCar round at Barber Park Motorsport, Will Power is mindful to never discount the importance of pit road strategy. "Strategy can screw you, but it also can go your way. So we've got to read that well tomorrow."

Television coverage for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar race of Long Beach starts on Versus at 3:30 p.m. for American viewers. Canadian viewers will have to catch the race on TSN2 at 5:00 p.m.


2010 IZOD IndyCar
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Starting Lineup

1. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
2. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
3. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
4. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
5. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
6. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport
7. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
8. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
9. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
10. 4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
11. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
12. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
13. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
14. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Enterprises
15. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
16. 24 Mike Conway/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
17. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
18. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ Luczo Dragon/de Ferran Motorsports
19. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
20. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
21. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
22. 67 Graham Rahal/United States/ Sarah Fisher Racing
23. 34 Mario Romancini/Brazil/ Conquest Racing
24. 36 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing
25. 18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing

Ryan Hunter-Reay Tops Tight Friday Practice for Long Beach IndyCar Race

Photo Credit: Jim Haines

For the 3rd time in 4 races to kick off the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season, the open wheel racers will be let loose on a temporary street circuit. A tight but competitive street course, the 1.968 mile Long Beach track hosts some tight, heavy-braking zones that allow daring drivers to attempt gains in position. Following the unfortunately lethargic running of the inaugural Barber Motorsports Park for the IZOD IndyCar Series, drivers will probably be taking stake in knowing the 2010 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is a more familiar open wheel stumping ground.

On Friday, two practice sessions allowed the IZOD IndyCar drivers to let loose. In the late morning first practice, Will Power asserted himself in the Verizon-sponsored #12 Penske Racing car. Though Will Power's 2010 winning streak was broken at Barber Motorsports Park last week, the Australian driver possesses a positive opportunity to restart a streak at Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Competing on the California streets in both Champ Car and the IRL/IndyCar Series, Will Power claimed the distinction of being the last race winner in the Champ Car series by winning the 2008 Long Beach farewall. In last year's race under IRL/IndyCar sanction, Power took pole but would finish 2nd for Dario Franchitti. Posting fast laps behind Power within the first practice session, lap times for Indy Grand Prix of Alabama winner Helio Castroneves and Target/Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon were less than 0.14 seconds slower.

With fastest laps in the Friday morning session residing above the 1 minute, 11.4 second range, a warmer track surface combined with race crews fine-tuning their Indy cars allowed for a much quicker session of lapping. With 8 drivers clocked at completing laps under 1 minute, 11 seconds, Ryan Hunter-Reay driving the IZOD #37 for Andretti Autosport was almost 8/10th of a second faster than Power's morning mark. Ryan Briscoe rose to the occasion of this second practice also by posting his #6 Penske Racing car in the runner-up spot on the time charts. Second fastest, Briscoe's teammates Will Power as well as Helio Castroneves encountered a slight backslide in their time chart positions settling into 5th and 9th after the session. "We're really pushing each other a lot. There's a really good vibe within." Briscoe responded on the Penske website about the shared comradeship of the 3-car Penske Racing team.

As drivers reduced their lap times in discovering their pinnacle for the weekend, the mid-afternoon practice also saw the field close together. While the top-15 cars were within a 1 second margin to the leader, inside this congested time sheet saw the top-5 runners within less than 1/4 seconds. One driver inside the top-5 for the second practice was the FAZZT Race Team's and their driver Alex Tagliani. Placing seventh fastest in the morning with the session including Tagliani's making minor collision with a turn 5 tire barrier, the Canadian driver mounted an improved 4th place run with his #77 La Capsule Sportive/Adonis Products/Honda Indy Edmonton car.



Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

Using some artful pit decisions at Barber Motorsport Park to move them from 21st to 10th place by the end of the race, the young team to the IZOD IndyCar Series tour is looking at Long Beach to improve as their season best 6th place at St Petersburg. "Obviously finishing the first day in position four is a great achievement for us. We kind of knew that Long Beach was going to be a more suitable track for our car. We are still in the learning process and I think today we learned a lot and made very good changes to the car." Tagliani commented on the FAZZT Race Team website.

Qualifying for the 2010 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is scheduled for the IZOD IndyCar Series for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Preview: 2010 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney


2010 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Track Type: Temporary Street Course
Year of First Event: 1975 (Formula 5000 Race)
Track Length: 1.968 Mile
Number of Turns: 11

First IndyCar Race: 1984 for CART/IndyCar, 2009 for IRL/IndyCar Series
Number of Laps: 85
Race Distance: 167.28 miles

2009 Polesitter: Will Power

2009 Podium

1. Dario Franchitti
2. Will Power
3. Tony Kanaan
4. Danica Patrick
5. Dan Wheldon


2010 IndyCar Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Entry List

06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ Luczo Dragon/de Ferran Motorsports
3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport
12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Enterprises
18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing
19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
24 Mike Conway/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
34 Mario Romancini/Brazil/ Conquest Racing
36 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing
37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
67 Graham Rahal/United States/ Sarah Fisher Racing
77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing


IRL/IndyCar Weekend Schedule (All Times are Local)

Friday:

10:15 a.m.- Practice (1 Hour)
2:25 p.m.- Practice (1 Hour)

Saturday:

10:25 a.m.- Practice (1 Hour)
2:30 p.m.- Qualifying (1 Hour, 15 Minutes)

Sunday:

9:15 a.m.- Warm-up Practice (30 Minutes)
1:15 a.m.- Race (85 Laps or 2 Hour, 15 Minutes)