Annual IndyCar Race Races Toward April 2019 Dates
When Toyota pulled out of its long-time sponsorship of the Long Beach Grand Prix – the longest running continuous sponsorship in sports history – there was widespread speculation that Torrance-based Honda would take over as title sponsor.
Well, close. The Grand Prix has announced that Honda’s luxury, brand, has signed a multi-year deal, making the official name the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The company has long competed at the Grand Prix in the IndyCar series.
Honda-powered drivers have won six of the last 10 Grands Prix – and 13 times in 19 appearances – including last year with Alexander Rossi. Native Californian Jimmy Vasser scored Honda’s first Long Beach victory in 1996, with other Honda-powered winners including Alex Zanardi (1997-98), Michael Andretti (2002), Dario Franchitti (2009), Takuma Sato (2013) and James Hinchcliffe (2017).
The 45th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will take place April 12-14 on the streets of Long Beach
“With our U.S. headquarters nearby in Torrance, this is a true ‘home’ event for the Acura brand,” said Jon Ikeda, Acura vice president and general manager. “The Grand Prix of Long Beach is one of North America’s premier motorsports events, and an institution in Southern California. Acura is delighted and proud to be associated with the Grand Prix of Long Beach, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership.”
This year’s event features the flagship NTT IndyCar Series, as well as the BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix featuring the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In addition, the weekend has the Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge under the lights on Friday and Saturday nights, Robby Gordon’s Stadium SUPER Trucks, the powerful sports cars of the Pirelli GT4 America series and the Historic IMSA GTO Challenge.
Tickets are available at gplb.com, or via the hotline (888) 827-7333.
Social media accounts are: Facebook at GrandPrixLB, Twitter @GPLongBeach and Instagram at GPLongBeach.
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