Click above for huge high-res gallery of Champ Car action from Long Beach
We already told you about the final Champ Car race, how it marks the end of the series while signaling the start of a new era in American open-wheel racing. Although we think that we might have been among only a handful of fans to have noticed the series' demise (with most eyes glued to the Danica Patrick champagne bath over in Japan), we understand that with the reunification about to commence there should be happier times ahead for open top racing aficionados in the States. We didn't want it to pass, however, without a whole bunch of photos to commemorate the occasion. Besides this year's contenders the gallery includes some atmosphere shots of the spectacle surrounding Long Beach: The Queen Mary, C-17 and FA/18 flyovers, historic CART cars and plain old scenery shots. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed taking them.
Click above for high-res gallery from this weekend's LBGP
American open-wheel racing just had a pretty big weekend, in case you missed it. While one era was beginning in Japan, another was ending at America's Monte Carlo. With reunification finally about to commence, the last Champ Car (nee CART) race ever was held at the street course in downtown Long Beach. While we've already told you the outcome, we also wanted to share some more photos. Although the race should be back on the schedule for '09, this weekend's race was truly the end of an era.
After 25 years of Champ Cars and their predecessors, next year's race will bring us a series that has a female driver who is an honest-to-goodness winner. And not only is she a winner (and a part-time swimsuit model), but she is pretty hardy too. After winning the race at Motegi, she and unfortunate runner-up Helio "Dancing with the Stars" Castroneves hopped on a plane and made it back to LAX and the LBGP by the time things wrapped up on Sunday afternoon.
Click above for high-res gallery of ALMS action from Long Beach
With Champ Car going the way of the dodo bird after this year's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, it looks like the American Le Mans Series is poised to take over top billing at America's Monte Carlo. The street course around downtown Long Beach, California is quite a track, with a long tradition of motorsport excitement. Everything from Formula 1 to CART to Trans-Am have run here, but very few series can match the thrill of four different classes running into the dusk like the ALMS presents. This year's sophomore running of the Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach showed exactly why the series deserves more support and coverage than it gets. Not only was the on-track action enthralling, but the huge crowds that Long Beach always attracts seemed to go ga-ga over the prototypes and GT cars wearing names like Porsche, Aston Martin, Corvette and Ferrari. In case you haven't seen the race yet, the results are after the jump. Don't let that stop you from clicking through the massive high-res gallery however.
Click above for high-res gallery from the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
This past weekend saw the end of an era as the Champ Car World Series held its last ever race. Although the race in Long Beach came after the merger with the Indy Racing League and after the kickoff of the inaugural joint season, pre-existing commitments sent the Champ Car teams to California (sponsored by Toyota) while Danica Patrick was claiming her maiden victory in Japan (sponsored by Honda). The forked race weekend, however, was to be the last, as the Champ Car World Series has formally filed for bankruptcy with several of its teams folding into the IndyCar Series.
Australian driver Will Power (seriously, that's his name) dominated the race virtually from start to finish, leading 81 out of the 83 laps. Former F1 test driver Franck Montagny impressively took the second step on the podium on his first and last Champ Car race beside veteran Mario Dominquez in third. Pole sitter Justin Wilson was forced to retire with engine troubles on the 12th lap, as did his young team mate Graham Rahal – winner of the IRL race in St. Petersburg two weeks prior – who crashed on the last lap. Both Jimmy Vasser and Paul Tracy returned to the race seat for the Long Beach event, but weren't sharp enough to pose a serious threat to Power. The Panoz DP01, having turned their final laps, will now be mothballed as the migrating teams rejoin their IRL colleagues next weekend in Kansas City.
We present you with another big gallery of photos from the weekend's activities in Long Beach. Besides the Champ Cars, ALMS, and Toyota Pro/Celebrity races we've already covered, the Long Beach GP hosted Formula D, Champ Car Atlantics, and Speed World Challenge GT racing. We were there on Friday during practice and captured some images to share with all of you. Next year we hope to get an earlier start to secure some credentials so we can get access to pit lane and head-on shots along the fence line. But for now we have these tower shots and some random pics from around the grounds.
Right on the water, with the Queen Mary and various cruise and cargo ships in the distance, there is a definite charm to this temporary street course that has hosted Formula 1, CART, Trans-Am, Can-Am, Rolex and ALMS over its 33-year history. Close to Hollywood, this is the racing event most likely to attract celebrities on the Champ Car schedule. Between practice sessions and races, fans had a lot of other things to keep them occupied. Minardi has a special two-seat formula car that allows passengers to experience 180-mph thrills, for just $10,000 a go. There are also rides and vendor booths everywhere, making the place feel like a community carnival as much as a racetrack.
Click one of the images below to go to our gallery. We also had one of our readers pass along a link to his own gallery of incredible shots from Saturday. Make sure you check them out. Thanks for sharing them, Mark!
Click image for large gallery of live shots from Friday's practice
The festivities from Long Beach are winding down as the Champ Cars just finished their second race of the season. The Long Beach Grand Prix has been a fixture on the open-wheel schedule for more than 20 years and even if the series has lost some of its drawing power, the racing was as good as ever. Two-time defending champion Sebastien Bourdais looked to make it a threepeat on this oceanside street course that has been labeled America's Monaco. Close enough to Hollywood to bring out the stars, the Long Beach weekend even hosts its own celebrity race, which we covered Sunday morning. One of the celebs on hand for that race served as honorary starter for the GP. And Star Wars creator George Lucas did a better job on the stand than he did in the Scion on Saturday. ALMS also made an appearance this weekend in Long Beach for the first time ever, and based on the crowd, we'd guess it will be back. But Sunday was all about Champ Car.
After a rough start to the season in Las Vegas, three-time defending series champion Sebastien Bourdais was looking to get back on track, so to speak, and return to his winning ways. With two previous wins here, it came as no surprise to find him on pole for Sunday's main event. Looking to have a successful follow-up to his Vegas win, Team Australia's Will Power (almost as good a name as Scott Speed for a racer) bested teammate Simon Pagenaud for second on the grid. Behind Pagenaud were Alex Tagliani (RSPORTS), Bourdais teammate G. Rahal (Newman/ Haas/ Lanigan Racing), Former F1 pilot Robert Doornbos (Minardi Team USA), Justin Wilson (RSPORTS), former champion Bruno Junqueira (Dale Coyne Racing), Tristan Gommendy (PKV Racing), and veteran Mario Dominguez (Forsythe Championship Racing). One late substitution found former series regular Oriol Servia filling in for the injured Paul Tracy in the other Forsythe car. Servia qualified 14th. Race day was typically spectacular with a big crowd, endless blue skies, and lots of excitement. Click through to see the race results.
We're not too concerned that we'll need a spoiler alert on this one, but just in case, consider yourselves warned. The 31st installment of the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race was run yesterday, and it was another smashing success. Perhaps better known for its high-profile crashes than the more deserving close racing action it usually produces, the event always manages to get the crowd on its feet along Shoreline Drive. Blending an assortment of celebrities with a few charity drivers and a couple of professional racers, the race is always entertaining. This year's Grand Marshal was Hugh Hefner, which confirms right away that this is more about fun than real racing. The celebs do take the racing seriously, however. They spend a couple of weekends over the preceding months learning to drive the proper race line, and once strapped inside their identically-prepared Scion tCs, they unleash their inner Schumachers. Or Danica Patricks, considering that this year, there were eight women and six men in the celebrity field, tipping the balance towards the fairer sex for the first time in event history.
Polesitter Dave Mirra, pro BMX rider with fourteen X Games medals to his name, led the field from the green flag and held on to win the crash-shortened race. It wasn't exactly a walk in the park for Mirra, as tennis legend Martina Navratilova and actor Joshua Morrow were nipping at his heels until the yellow flag came out. That flag turned red as the course was, at that point, sufficiently messed up to warrant some major repairs to the tire barriers. That damage was caused when George Lucas and charity ride winner Annamarie Dean collided going into turn one. Although both were uninjured, the force was definitely not with them, nor with NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Mike Skinner. One of three professional drivers in the field, Skinner had started 20 seconds behind the celebs but had managed to work his way up to fourth, just behind Morrow, when the accident occurred. So, Mirra gets the win with an assist from Skywalker. Official results are pasted after the jump and a big high-res gallery of the cars from Friday's practice session is available by clicking the image above.
Most of us here at AB love auto racing, especially seeing the action live at the track. As we recently reported, ALMS made its first visit to Long Beach this weekend, and it was just too good an opportunity to let slip by. This was an instance where being there was worth the trip even without a media credential. Blogging from the racetrack can be a little difficult, but even if we couldn't post live, it would never stop us from going. The race results will probably be posted online by the time we get home, but one thing we can do is take lots of photos and share them with all of you. You'll find a full gallery of high-res pics from Friday by clicking the image above.
The weekend has been filled with lots of exciting racing and off-track excitement as well. Champ Cars have been the headliner here since Formula 1 left, but there are always other support series as well. Atlantics returned, as did the Toyota Pro/Celebrity race. Kind of weird to see Frankie Muniz (Malcolm in the Middle) move from the latter to the former with a full time ride this year. The Lifestyle Expo returned as well, with vendor booths and displays, as well as games and rides for kids of all ages. New this year were Formula D, Speed World GT and the aforementioned ALMS.
Just another reason to go to Long Beach for the Grand Prix weekend. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner has been announced as this year's Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race grand marshal. The celebrity race is always one of the most popular sideshows during Grand Prix weekend and with Hef doing the honors, and one of his playthings piloting one of the racecars, it should make the event even more entertaining.
The 10-lap charity race will not only feature Playmate Kendra Wilkinson, but such wide-flung celebs as tennis great Martina Navratilova, Cold Case's Kathryn Morris, Howard Stern's sidekick Robin Quivers, CSI: Miami's Emily Procter, NBA legend John Salley and Star Wars' creator George Lucas, among others. There are typically a few professional drivers from other disciplines that compete with the celbs, spotting the noobs 30 seconds at the start.
The Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race also features drivers who were the high bidders in a charity auction in the preceding weeks. All drivers are given a couple of track practice sessions with instructors and then compete in identically prepared, relatively stock Toyota or Scion vehicles. Last year it was the Scion tC that had that honor for Toyota.
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