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Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach 2018

2018 Toyota Grand Prix
Long Beach, CA
April 13-15, 2018

This year marks the  the 44th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.  It is one of the most prestigious street race circuits in the world as well as the longest running street course in North America.

2018 introduces a change in IndyCar with a spec series type of car, called NEXT.  The chassis will be manufactured by Dallara with the 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engines provided by either Chevrolet or Honda.  Major changes include the removal of the rear wheel guards, two different sets of wings depending on superspeedway use or not, more down force provided from below the car, and more forward weight distribution from previous designs.  The cars are sleeker and are definitely safer than previous generations.  Based upon the early races of this year, there seems to be less down force since the removal of the rear tire guards.  The drivers will need to adjust to the new handling characteristics especially on this grueling two mile course.

Besides the primary IndyCar race, there is the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Pirelli World Challenge, Stadium Super Trucks, Motegi Super Drift, and the Historic Trans Am race.

The Lifestyle Expo was housed in the main convention center.  It offered attendees a comfortable air conditioned area to check out new vehicles, exotics, as well as the Pirelli World Challenge paddock.  There was also a fun zone for the kids where they could race electric cars, jump on trampolines and ascend a rock wall.

And if you wanted some track time, K1 Speed was also on-site on the adjacent parking garage with a specially built track for attendees to test their go-cart skills against their friends and other competitors.

Winners for this weekend include:

Indycar:  Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport)
IMSA:  Joao Barbosa / Filipe Albuquerque (Prototype Class), Oliver Gavin / Tommy Milner (GTLM Class)
Pirelli World Challenge:  Daniel Mancinelli (Ferrari 488 GT3)
Trans Am:  Jimmy Hague (1970 Ford Boss 302 Mustang)
Motegi Super Drift:  Piotr Wiecek (Worthouse Drift Team) winning Friday and Saturday events
Stadium Super Trucks:  Gavin Harlien (Saturday), Matt Brabham (Sunday)

For more information regarding the Toyota Grand Prix, you can visit their website at https://gplb.com/

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Adam Hyatt
Adam Hyatthttps://www.adamhyattphotography.com/
Adam Hyatt is an internationally published Photographer & award winning Cinematographer based in Los Angeles, CA. He is also the owner of SNAK Media, a small production company that specializes in automotive, fashion, corporate, events, and short film projects.
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