Long Beach will celebrate its 34th straight year as an IndyCar venue in 2018, so to refresh, look back at the last five races on the city’s streets.
The Grand Prix of Long Beach is arguably the most recognized IndyCar race on the calendar after the Indianapolis 500. This thanks to its years as a Formula 1 venue and the fact that it has been raced uninterrupted under CART and IndyCar sanctioning since 1984. The 1.968-mile street course has seen its fair share of close races and memorable finishes under CART and IndyCar.
As the southern California city enters its 34th year as an IndyCar venue, look back at the last five Long Beach races and see why winning here is the next best thing to winning at Indianapolis.
2013
The 2013 race was won by the car starting in 4th place, beginning a trend of second-row success on the California streets. The 80-lap race was marred with five cautions totaling 16 laps. While polesitter Dario Franchitti got away and led into turn 1, he soon lost the lead under caution after Dragon Racing’s Sebastian Saavedra crashed at turn 10 on lap 3.
The Scotsman would regain the lead quickly, but an early decision to pit cost him. On lap 30, Alex Tagliani and Charlie Kimball caused an accident at turn 8 and gifted the race to A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Takuma Sato.
Sato would take the lead during the caution period on lap 31 and hold it for the win. Three more cautions would play out behind Sato, but when Tony Kanaan and Oriol Servia collided at turn 1 on the final lap, the race was rendered neutralized as it finished under caution.
2014
If 2013 was about being in right place at the right time, the 2014 race was about the last driver standing thanks to four cautions on the day. Polesitter Ryan Hunter-Reay led the most laps, 51, in two stints and looked primed for victory until a six-car incident at turn 4 on lap 56.
The ensuing melee caused the field to shuffle completely. Of the top 10 finishers, only two had started in the top 10. Simon Pagenaud started in 6th place and finished in 5th and Marco Andretti both started and finished in 8th. Eventual winner Mike Conway started 17th, but after Scott Dixon fell away short on fuel with three laps to go, it was Conway who picked up the pieces for the win.
2015
The 2015 edition of the race was one of the more straightforward races on Long Beach’s streets in a while. A single caution because of debris caused the only hiccup of the race. A majority of the laps led were split among polesitter Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon, who started in 3rd place, with Jack Hawksworth and Sebastien Bourdais leading a few laps as the leaders pitted and the grid cycled through. During Dixon’s decisive 24-lap lead stint, he pulled out a 2.222-second margin of victory that was the largest since IndyCar decided to go to an 80-lap race distance at the venue in 2013.
2016
The 2016 edition of the race was almost a carbon copy of the 2015 edition — as straightforward as races come. However, the race saw the fastest average speed in race history at 100.592 miles per hour and no caution flag periods, resulting in the first caution-free race at Long Beach since 1989 when Al Unser Jr. won. It was also one of the shortest races at Long Beach in terms of time at just over 93 minutes. It also gave Simon Pagenaud one of the closest margins of victory since reunification at 0.303 seconds.
2017
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For 2017, the 80-lap distance that was used from 2013 to 2016 was dismissed for a return to the more usual 85-lap race of the CART years from 1992 to 1997. The 2017 edition of the race also saw the recent run of second-row starters winning.
Race winner James Hinchcliffe started in 4th place. The six lead changes were split among three drivers. Scott Dixon led into turn 1 over polesitter Helio Castroneves and would trade leads with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Hinchcliffe. The 1.494-second margin of victory made the race a foregone conclusion for Hinchcliffe, especially after pulling a gap as large as 3.5 seconds during his last stint.
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If history holds, look for a second-row starter to win the 2018 race unless there’s another massive incident similar to the one that happened 2014. Or perhaps, with the new aero kits, we might see our first pole to flag winner ever under IndyCar sanctioning and the first since Sebastien Bourdais pulled it off in 2007.