IndyCar-Last year was the ACURA Grand Prix of Long Beach, which was held as the final round of the season due to a pandemic schedule change, but this year it will return to its annual April event. Blessed with wonderful weather, Race Weekend was as vibrant as it used to be. This year marks the 47th anniversary of the traditional American street race sponsored by Honda’s performance brand Acura.
Twenty-six IndyCars fought a fierce battle on the street course of Long Beach under the comfortable conditions of a race day, where the pleasant sea breeze softened the sunshine unique to Southern California.
At the beginning of the race, Colton Herta (Andretti Autosport w / Curb-Agajanian) ran fast from pole position. Unfortunately, he finished the race in a single accident that hit the wall after retreating to 3rd place at the first pit stop.
Romain Grosjean (Andretti Autosport), who was 6th in qualifying, showed a hard charge and excited the audience. Grosjean, who had a good tire strategy for the team, passed Parrow and others at the end of the race due to his guts-filled run, continued to attack for the first victory, and grabbed the finish in 2nd place. This is the first podium this season for a former F1 driver from France.
Last year’s champion, Chip Ganassi Racing, who was 3rd in qualifying, ran fast in the middle of the race and finally finished in 3rd place. As early as the second podium in the third race of the season, he is third in point standing.
Not only Grojan and Parrow, but also other Honda drivers and Honda teams fought a fierce battle, and Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) made a big position up from 16th to 6th in the qualifying and scored. Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) is 13th to 7th in qualifying. Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport) is in 8th place, and Elio Castroneves (Meyer Shank Racing), who won the 4th victory in the Indy 500 last year, was 9th from 14th place in the qualifying and 4 teams in the top 10 with 6 people. The drivers entered.
For Takuma Sato (Dale Coyne Racing with RWR), Long Beach is the course that recorded his first career victory at IndyCar in 2013. This time, due to the setting of the machine, the qualifying was a tough result with 23rd place, but because there was a rookie who received a penalty, he started from the 22nd grid. Takuma Sato, who was expected to catch up on his favorite course, saved fuel and pulled the first pit stop until the 29th lap, raising his position to 9th. In the middle of the race after the pit work, Takuma Sato ran 14th and moved up to 13th after making the second pit stop on lap 56. He was struggling to get into the top 10.
However, a full course caution was issued due to multiple crashes in front of the goal, and when it was restarted with 5 laps remaining, Takuma Sato was pushed out of the line due to an attack from a rival who had the advantage of installing new tires. I was hit by an accident that plunged into the tire barrier. The result was 17th place, which missed the finish in one and a half laps to the goal. Sato’s point standing was 15th at the end of the 3rd race.
The next race will be the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama. The battle, set in the up-and-down lush Barber Motorsports Park (2.3 miles long) on the outskirts of Birmingham, Southern Alabama, will be the final on May 1.
Romain Grosjean (Andretti Autosport)
“It’s been a great day. I’m frustrated if I could start from 2nd place in qualifying … If I could start 2nd place, we would have had a much easier fight today. But The team’s strategy was correct, the pit stop was fast, and I continued to push hard. Eventually, I took advantage of the opportunities created by the Yellow Flag to move up two positions and finish in 2nd place. Today was just one step away from winning. I want to win next time. “
Takuma Sato (Dale Coyne Racing with RWR)
“Long Beach is a great race. We had a tough fight this weekend. We couldn’t find a good machine balance by the qualifying and we had to start the final from the back grid. I think we were able to compete in a strong race. We were able to raise some positions and enjoy the battle. I feel a great response to the fact that we were able to move up to 13th place. However, the yellow flag at the end of the race created a chance for drivers behind us to install new tires in the pits. On the other hand, I had already run about 25 laps. Two laps to the goal. , I tried to keep the position against the attacking Linus Vikay (Chivore), but I was lined up on turn 8 and only I who was outside when the running line swelled with two cars got on the tire residue I was forced into the tire barrier. I was able to return to the race from there, but it was a really disappointing ending. Still, we had a strong fight like St. Petersburg in the opening round. I was able to keep showing until the end of the race. I’m looking forward to the first road course event in the next race, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR. ”
Category: Category: F1 / Indycar