36th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach[2010 IRL Rd.4]

[mlittle]

For the 36th consecutive year, a staple of American Open-Wheel Racing returns as the stars of the sport travel to Long Beach to compete in one of its' marquee events......the 2010 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Long considered in some circles as "Monaco West", the track combines long, sweeping straights with one of the tightest hairpin corners in motorsports. Past winners include some of auto racing's legends, both within the United States and internationally..................


~~~PAST WINNERS
Al Unser, Jr.(6)--1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995
Mario Andretti(4)--1977, 1984, 1985, 1987
Paul Tracy(4)--1993, 2000, 2003, 2004
Sebastien Bourdais(3)--2005, 2006, 2007
Michael Andretti(2)--1986, 2002
Alex Zanardi(2)--1997, 1998
Brian Redman(1)--1975
Clay Regazzoni(1)--1976
Carlos Reutimann(1)--1978
Gilles Villeneuve(1)--1979
Nelson Piquet(1)--1980
Alan Jones(1)--1981
Niki Lauda(1)--1982
John Watson(1)--1983
Danny Sullivan(1)--1992
Jimmy Vasser(1)--1996
Juan Pablo Montoya(1)--1999
*Helio Castroneves(1)--2001
*Will Power(1)--2008
*Dario Franchitti(1)--2009
*--denotes active IndyCar Series competitor


~~~WEEKEND SCHEDULE
note.........all times US PDT(-3 hrs. US EDT/-7 hrs. GMT)
--Practice Session 1} 10:15-11:15am, 16 April 2010
--Practice Session 2} 2:25-3:25pm, 16 April 2010
--Practice Session 3} 10:25-11:25am, 17 April 2010
--Knockout Qualifying} 2:30-3:45pm, 17 April 2010
--Final Practice} 9:15-9:45am, 18 April 2010
--36th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, 1:15pm, 18 April 2010

BROADCAST INFO
--Domestic TV: VERSUS
--Domestic Radio: IMS Radio Network
--Satellite Radio: XM Sirius Radio
--International Simulcasts courtesy of the United States Armed Forces Network

[mlittle]

36th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Entry List


Raphael Matos, #2 HP-McAfee
Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske
Dan Wheldon, #4 National Guard
Takuma Sato, #5 Lotus-Cosworth
Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske
Danica Patrick, #7 GoDaddy.com
E.J. Viso, #8 PDVSA-KV Racing
Scott Dixon, #9 Target
Dario Franchitti, #10 Target
Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11
Will Power, #12 Verizon Wireless
Vitor Meira, #14 ABC Supply Co.
Milka Duno, #18 CITGO-Dale Coyne Racing
Alex Lloyd, #19 Boy Scouts of America
Justin Wilson, #22 Z-Line Designs
Mike Conway, #24 TranSystems-DRR
Marco Andretti, #26 Team Venom Energy
Mario Moraes, #32 Pan Americano-KV Racing
Mario Romancini, #34 Conquest Racing
Bertrand Baguette, #36 RAC Belgium
Ryan Hunter-Reay, #37 IZOD
Graham Rahal, #67 Dollar General
Alex Tagliani, #77 Bowers & Wilkins
Simona de Silvestro, #78 Team Stargate Worlds
Hideki Mutoh, #06 Panasonic-NHLR

[mlittle]

---Penske street power
In four previous races in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Will Power has never finished out of the top 10. Power won the pole last year, jumping into a different car after Helio Castroneves entered the race. Power then went on to finish second, so this is obviously one of his best-scoring tracks. After winning the first two races, Power is attempting to rebound from fourth place at Barber Motorsports Park. “If you average that out, it’s only second every race,” Power said. “Unfortunately, the guys I’m racing with in the championship finished ahead of me. As I say, a bad day at Penske Racing is fourth place.” Team Penske has won this race four times.

---Looking for victory No. 6
Target Chip Ganassi Racing has five victories at Long Beach -- Jimmy Vasser kicking off a streak in 1996, followed by Alex Zanardi in 1997 and ’98 and Juan Pablo Montoya in 1999. Dario Franchitti recorded another win last year. Franchitti and Scott Dixon will compete for Target Chip Ganassi Racing this weekend.

---Marco looking to extend streak
Marco Andretti could become the first third-generation winner of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. His grandfather, Mario, is the only driver to win when it was a Formula One race in 1977 and later in CART in 1984, ’85 and ’87. Marco’s father, Michael, was the race winner in 1986 and 2002. Marco started 19th in his first Long Beach race last year and finished sixth so he certainly knows how to make forward progress.

---Forward progress
Four of the top six finishers last year started outside of the top 10. Tony Kanaan started 11th and finished third, Danica Patrick began 22nd and finished fourth, Dan Wheldon lined up 14th and finished fifth and Marco Andretti started 19th and finished sixth. One way to achieve this is through pit strategy. If drivers at the back of the field can get out of sequence with the leaders, it can play in their favor depending on how the yellow flags fall. But, of course, it helps to start up front as Franchitti started second and won the race just ahead of pole winner Will Power.

---Hitting the brakes
The cars are flying when they exit the Turn 11 hairpin and race down Shoreline Drive. Then it’s back on the brakes hard in Turn 1, making a left-hander onto Aquarium Way. That leads into the most picturesque portion of the track in Turn 2, which winds around a circular fountain, giving this course a feel of another great street event – the Monaco Grand Prix.

[mlittle]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECmsd46n4fc

For your viewing pleasure............enjoy a lap of Long Beach w/Sarah Fisher Racing's Graham Rahal.

[mlittle]

2-time Long Beach winner Michael Andretti and 1985 Indy 500 winner Danny Sullivan were honored Thursday w/bronze medallions along the Long Beach Walk of Fame during Thursday ceremonies


~~~~LONG BEACH, Calif. – Danny Sullivan couldn’t resist after listening to Mayor Bob Foster’s glowing introductions during the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame induction ceremonies, which included the unveiling of a bronze medallion bearing his name embedded in the sidewalk abutting the Long Beach Convention Center. “Now everyone can walk all over us,” said Sullivan, who won the 1992 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Sullivan, the 1985 Indianapolis 500 champion, also was talking about fellow honoree Michael Andretti, who joined his father, Mario, on the Walk of Fame. As a driver, Andretti recorded 42 Indy car victories (third on the all-time behind A.J. Foyt and his father).

It started and ended at Long Beach for Andretti -- he won his first Indy car race in 1986 at Long Beach and his final victory came there in 2002. “Long Beach is a special place to me and holds a lot of great memories from my career,” said Andretti, whose Andretti Autosport fields a multi-car team in the IZOD IndyCar Series. “I was fortunate to have a lot of success and always enjoyed racing here. Long Beach has been one of the signature events in Indy car racing for so long and still continues to be. I think any driver who wins here would tell you how big a deal it is and how much it means to them.”

Sullivan, who won 17 races in his major open-wheel racing career, competed in Formula Atlantic, Formula One and Indy cars on the streets of Long Beach. “This is really one of the great places to race,” Sullivan said. “It’s always a happening, it’s always fun. The crowd is into it and enthusiastic. I’m honored to be in this group.”

Andretti and Sullivan join Al Unser Jr., Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney, Bobby Rahal, Parnelli Jones, Gary Gabelich, Chris Pook, Phil Hill, Brian Redman, and the Newman/Haas Racing team.

“Both of these driving legends certainly left their mark here at Long Beach and we are delighted to welcome them into the pantheon of existing honorees,” said Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach.

[mlittle]

Long Beach Practice Session 1 Top-5..............
1} Will Power, Penske Racing.................................1:11.404 sec
2} Helio Castroneves, Team Penske........................1:11.504 sec
3} Scott Dixon, Target/Ganassi Racing....................1:11.543 sec
4} Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske...............................1:11.548 sec
5} Dario Franchitti, Target/Ganassi Racing...............1:11.638 sec

[mlittle]

Long Beach Practice Session 2 Top-5...............
1} Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport........................1:10.636 sec
2} Ryan Briscoe, Team Penske........................................1:10.698 sec
3} Tony Kanaan, Andretti Autosport................................1:10.733 sec
4} Alex Tagliani, FAZZT Racing........................................1:10.799 sec
5} Will Power, Penske Racing..........................................1:10.864 sec

[mlittle]

Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay topped the Friday practice charts w/AA teammate Tony Kanaan close behind in third


----Ryan Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 37 IZOD car for Andretti Autosport, was quickest in practice April 16 with a lap of 1 minute, 10.6346 seconds on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit on the first day of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

"In the first session, we knew the track was pretty bad, so we didn't get out of our mindset of sticking to our guns," said Hunter-Reay. "We knew what worked. In the second session, we just worked on the balance of the car. We found what did work and what didn't work. I think there's still a little more time in the car, so we're pretty happy with it. It's going to get quicker tomorrow, and these guys are all going to go quicker. So we'll have to keep changing, keep on top of the developing racetrack. It's good, though. The guys did a good job. The good thing is we only used two sets of tires today."

Just one second separated the top 15 cars as drivers and teams prepared for the three rounds of qualifications Saturday and the race Sunday. VERSUS will televise qualifying live at 3:30 p.m. (ET) Saturday and the race at 3:30 p.m. (ET) Sunday.

Three teams were represented in the top five in practice under sunny Southern California skies Friday. Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe (1:10.6980) was second, and Tony Kanaan finished third through the two practices (1:10.7334) in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car fielded by Andretti Autosport.

"I think as a team, we're extremely strong at the moment.," said Briscoe, commenting on Team Penske's upswing. "We're really pushing each other a lot. There's a really good vibe within. And I really feel like coming into this part of the season, I really need to step it up in qualifying. For sure, to get the race wins, my first step is going to be stepping it up in qualifying."

FAZZT Race Team driver Alex Tagliani (1:10.7996) was fourth quick, and Will Power, who won the first two races of the season in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, was fifth (1:10.8641).

"I am very, very happy," said Tagliani, while preparing to spout a mouthful of sponsor mentions. "The LaCapsule Sportive/Adonis Products/Honda Indy Edmonton team did a fantastic job today. 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. We recovered well from our incident this morning, and the guys did a fantastic job of getting the car ready to go for the last practice. The car is very close, but we're still trying to get a little bit more out of the car and the track continues to grip up. There's been like a second of improvement from this morning's times to this afternoon. I feel that the team is where it needs to be and with this particular track and what is happening and how competitive we are the team is right where it needs to be. We are still learning more information, and now we are gathering a good group of data from the most recent tracks, so we are starting to come full circle on our information. If we can build on the information, I think we'll continue to be more consistent and have the car where we want it which is quick out of the box."

Defending race winner and IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti was seventh at 1:10.9285.

[mlittle]

Long Beach Practice Session 3 Top-5..................
1} Will Power, Penske Racing....................................1:09.959 sec
2} Dario Franchitti, Target/Ganassi Racing.................1:10.315 sec
3} Helio Castroneves, Team Penske..........................1:10.374 sec
4} Justin Wilson, Dreyer & Reinbold...........................1:10.401 sec
5} Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport...................1:10.543 sec

[mlittle]

Saturday's pole at Long Beach was Power's third consecutive pole in as many IndyCar Series events this year


~~~Will Power, whose drive to an IZOD IndyCar Series' record three consecutive victories was derailed April 11 at Barber Motorsports Park, is back on track.

Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, recorded a quick lap of 1 minute, 09.3185 seconds in the 10-minute Firestone Fast Six shootout on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit April 17 to earn the PEAK Performance Pole Award for the 36th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

"We certainly have the car figured out, and I'm very happy that the Verizon car is P1 again," Power said. "We've got to get the strategy right this weekend. I know sometimes it's really hard to read, but we need to keep executing in races."

Power, who won at Long Beach in 2008, recorded his third consecutive pole start (Dario Franchitti was P1 in Brazil). The series record is four by teammate Helio Castroneves and Billy Boat, and the next race is May 1 on the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway oval (Power started 18th in 2008).

"I think the key to success is starting up front," Power said. "I think getting the yellow. You've got to get the lucky yellow. You can be out front leading and bam, get caught by a yellow. You could see it last weekend. Strategy can screw you, but it also can go your way."

Power earned the pole by more than four-tenths of a second over Ryan Hunter-Reay, but less than three-tenths of a second separated the second through fifth positions on the grid. Just 1.6 seconds separated Power from No. 23 starter Mario Romancini.

Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 37 IZOD car for Andretti Autosport, notched a season-best second starting position (1:09.7506). Justin Wilson (1:09.7939) tied a season best with a third-place start in the No. 22 Z-Line Designs car for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and Castroneves (1:09.8470) will join him in Row 2.

Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe (1:10.0255) and Andretti Autosport's Tony Kanaan (1:10.1618) will be on Row 3. Kanaan, driving the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car, posted his fourth consecutive top-10 start (and participated in the Fast Six for the third time).

It was the second time ever that Team Penske put three drivers into the Firestone Fast Six. Conversely, Scott Dixon will start eighth and teammate Dario Franchitti will start 12th - the first time that a Target Chip Ganassi Racing car has not qualified for the Firestone Fast Six. Dixon, though, extended his series record to 36 consecutive top-10 starts.

FAZZT Race Team's Alex Tagliani (1:09.8730 in the second round) missed the Firestone Fast Six by 0.0367 of a second and will start seventh. Marco Andretti, who bumped Simona De Silvestro from advancing to the second round with a final-lap 1:10.3594, will start ninth in the No. 26 Venom Energy car for Andretti Autosport. Dan Wheldon in the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car will start a season-high 10.

[mlittle]

Starting Grid, 36th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
note..............L-R: position, car #, driver, team, time/speed
*--denotes 2010 rookie entrant

1. 12 Will Power Team Penske 1:09.3185 102.206
2. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 1:09.7506 101.573

3. 22 Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:09.7939 101.510
4. 3 Helio Castroneves Team Penske 1:09.8470 101.433

5. 6 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 1:10.0255 101.175
6. 11 Tony Kanaan Andretti Autosport 1:10.1618 100.978

7. 77 Alex Tagliani FAZZT Race Team 1:09.8730 101.395
8. 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 1:09.9688 101.257

9. 26 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 1:10.1760 100.958
10. 4 Dan Wheldon Panther Racing 1:10.2574 100.841

11. 06 Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 1:10.2730 100.818
12. 10 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 1:10.3358 100.728

13. 78 Simona De Silvestro* Team Stargate Worlds/HVM 1:10.3722 100.676
14. 14 Vitor Meira A.J. Foyt Enterprises 1:10.4259 100.599

15. 32 Mario Moraes KV Racing Technology 1:10.5093 100.480
16. 24 Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:10.4586 100.553

17. 8 E.J. Viso KV Racing Technology 1:10.5068 100.353
18. 2 Raphael Matos de Ferran Luczo Dragon Racing 1:10.5991 100.484

19. 5 Takuma Sato* KV Racing Technology 1:10.7000 100.209
20. 7 Danica Patrick Andretti Autosport 1:10.5503 100.422

21. 19 Alex Lloyd* Dale Coyne Racing 1:10.8003 100.067
22. 67 Graham Rahal Sarah Fisher Racing 1:10.7722 100.107

23. 34 Mario Romancini* Conquest Racing 1:10.9914 99.798
24. 36 Bertrand Baguette* Conquest Racing 1:11.4345 99.179

25. 18 Milka Duno Dale Coyne Racing No posted time

[mlittle]

One small mistake was all it took for Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay to capitalize on and sail away to victory at Long Beach

----Ryan Hunter-Reay, the newest member of the Andretti Autosport quartet, received a bear hug from the CEO in Victory Circle. That meant a lot coming from a racing champion – Michael Andretti.
Hunter-Reay prevailed in the breakneck Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – a race slowed by a lone full-course caution (tying an IZOD IndyCar Series road/street course record) – holding off Justin Wilson by 5.6031 seconds to give Andretti Autosport its first victory since 2008 at Richmond (Tony Kanaan). Six teams were represented in the top 10.

“It was the most fun I had in a race car because it was handling so well,” said Hunter-Reay, who is the first American to win at Long Beach since Andretti in 2002. “My mom is out there today. She passed along recently and this race is for her. Over the last couple of laps I said ‘This is for you, Mom.''' Said Andretti: "I love this place. It's where I got my first win as a driver (1986) and where I got my first win as a sole owner."

Will Power, the championship points leader and pole sitter, finished third in the 85-lap race on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit. He heads to the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway on May 1 having extended his lead to 42 points over teammate Helio Castroneves (130). Hunter-Reay is third (129) and Wilson is fourth (125).

"The Verizon Wireless car is still leading in points and the team has a goal of winning the championship, so we are still in line for that," said Power, who won the first two races of the season. "Overall, it was a good day, but on one lap I got stuck in first gear. I have no idea why that happened and I hope it doesn’t do that again because I slowed down. I was able to get out of it and speed back up, but it hurt my placement."

We’ve seen it before -- Hunter-Reay battling Wilson and Power for the victory on a temporary street course. Remember Brazil just a month ago? Or how about St. Petersburg in '09? Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 37 IZOD car, took the lead initially on Lap 18 when Power’s No. 12 Verizon Team Penske slowed exiting Turn 11 because the car was stuck in first gear. He regained it for good on Lap 59 as cars cycled through for their final pit stops.

Wilson, who matched his season high in the No. 22 Z-Line Designs car for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and also won at The Glen in ’09, overcame a Lap 53 incident while he was running second to regain the position from Power 14 laps later.

Wilson’s front nose assembly was damaged as it caught the right-rear tire of the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America car for Dale Coyne Racing attempting to overtake the lapped car in Turn 8. A 16-second pit stop for rhinoplasty and fuel, and Wilson was back on the course in 13th position.

“I am really disappointed," Wilson said. "Alex was a lap down and he nearly took Ryan (Hunter-Reay) out a couple of times. Once Ryan got past, it got him off line and slowed him up. I dove down the inside of Turn 8 and I braked pretty late. I just got the door slammed in my face. Even if you aren’t going to give way to the leaders, you need to leave room at the apex to back out. Nothing you can do about it.

"We had to come in and change the front wing and we were just in mad fuel saving mode after that. It’s just a shame that it happened. We had a great day. The Z-Line Designs car was fantastic.To have a front wing change and to come back in finish second is an amazing day.”

Hunter-Reay, who started a season-high second, didn't make a noticeable mistake. "This is a race that means a lot to me," said Hunter-Reay, a former California resident. "This is the 'Indy 500' of street courses. I've been watching this race since I was a little kid. To do it right now -- the timing is unreal. We've been working so hard on this IZOD car and on this team. To do it in our fourth race - we feel like we're just getting started. This is a snowball that is just starting to roll."

Scott Dixon, the runner-up at Barber Motorsports Park a week earlier, was fourth in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car and Andretti Autosport’s Tony Kanaan finished fifth. Mario Moraes, who started 15th in the No. 32 KV Racing Technology car, advanced to finish a season-high sixth.

Helio Castroneves and Team Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe finished seventh and eighth, respectively. It was the first time since Watkins Glen in ’08 that a Team Penske car had not finished either first or second.

"It was an interesting race," said Castroneves, who won at Barber Motorsports Park a week earlier. "It was very unusual in that there were so few yellow flags. We definitely had a car that was better than seventh place. Unfortunately, we lost a few positions during our second stint. The good news is we are still second in the championship points. We need to keep pushing heading into Kansas at our first oval race."

Dan Wheldon finished a season-high ninth in the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car, and Mike Conway gave Dreyer & Reinbold Racing two cars in the top 10


Top-10 from the Beach................
1} #37 Ryan Hunter-Reay, 85 laps
2} #22 Justin Wilson, -5.604 sec
3} #12 Will Power, -8.587 sec
4} #9 Scott Dixon, -10.629 sec
5} #11 Tony Kanaan, -11.776 sec
6} #32 Mario Moraes, -16.518 sec
7} #3 Helio Castroneves, -16.893 sec
8} #6 Ryan Briscoe, -18.222 sec
9} #4 Dan Wheldon, -19.458 sec
10} #24 Mike Conway, -19.931 sec