The Long Beach Grand Prix Association said the number of fans at last week’s event was the highest since 2008.
When the Indy Racing League and the Champion World Series announced their merger, the race was the last under championship car rules, as the race announced its merger, known today as the NTT IndyCar Series. With each of the original series having obligations to fulfill that year, the IRL raced at Long Beach for the last time using the Panoz DP01-Cosworths when they raced at Motegi in Japan that weekend.
Last weekend’s final issue was 39.Th At the time, the race was held with Indy Cars as the main event. In the year The inaugural event in 1975 had Formula 5000 as its main feature, while from 1976 to 1983, Formula 1 was the dominant force.
In the year The event was held continuously from 1984 to 2019. In the year In 2020, the race was canceled due to statewide Covid-19 laws, and the following year, the pandemic forced the GPLB to move back to September and serve as the IndyCar Series finale.
Last year, like this year, the tournament returned to its traditional April slot. Last weekend saw not only IndyCar, but also the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, Porsche Carrera Cup, HMSA Historic Formula 1, Stadium Supertrack and Super Drift Race.
Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, said the race drew more than 192,000 attendees, a modern-day record, with all the grandstand seats sold out. The press release also noted that “advance discounts and merchandise sales numbers reflect a significant increase in sales.”
Michaelian said: “The 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach was an incredible success! We were blessed with three days of perfect weather, great competition and a wide variety of activities for our fans.
There was a sense of genuine excitement from the diverse crowd who came together to enjoy all that the Great Race – and the city of Long Beach – had to offer.
Andretti Autosport-Honda’s Kyle Kirkwood won the Grand Prix, his first victory in the series, while Porsche Penske Motorsport Team won the IMSA race for Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet.
An IndyCar race has featured 253 passes at the track, a track record since the series began keeping track of the statistic in 2009.
Next year’s Grand Prix of Long Beach is scheduled for April 19-21.
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