Gearing Up for the Grand Prix

Thousands of racing fans and car enthusiasts flocked to the 48th annual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach last weekend from Friday, April 14, to Sunday, April 16.

Grand Prix attendee in a ride along with Spencer Pigot in a doble seater Formula 1 style vehicle so fans can get a feel of being an F1 driver during intermission of Acura's 48th Grand Prix on Saturday, April, 15 at Long Beach, Calif. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Pit crew members perform final touches before the Historic F1 Challenge. These tweaks are unique to each team and can be crucial for performance on the track. Kyle Kirkwood won the Grand Prix with the #27 NTT Andretti Indycar. 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Pit crew performs final touches in preparation for the Historic F1 Challenge Race at the 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Pit crew performs final touches in preparation for the Historic F1 Challenge Race at the 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Pit crew performs final touches in preparation for the Historic F1 Challenge Race at the 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Acura Grand Prix attendees walking through booths and food to refuel for the day on Saturday, April 15 at Long Beach, Calif. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Pit crews perform final touches in preparation for the Historic F1 Challenge Race at the 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Historic F1 Challenge Race at the 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Historic F1 Challenge Race at the 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Historic F1 Challenge Race at the 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Racing marshals watch the race, and stand by flags which colors corrospond and signal different conditions. 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Racing marshal stands by flags, which colors corrospond and signal different conditions. 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Historic F1 Challenge Race at the 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

As a car stalls on the warmup lap of the Historic F1 Challenge, a pit crew assesses and fixes the issue. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Firestone mascot points and poses in the pit of the 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

George-Lyn wears her “Grand Prix outfit” and sports pins of past races on her hat. Ocean Boulevard outside of the 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Bruce Marquand sits inside of a Formula One racecar, and partakes in the Historic F1 Challenge during Acura's 48th Grand Prix on Saturday, April 15 at Long Beach, Calif. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Felix Rosenqvist making the tenth turn of the track during the NTT Indycar Series Practice #2 in Acura's 48th Grand Prix on Saturday, April 15 at Long Beach, Calif. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Grand Prix attendee in a ride along with D. Hamilton in a double seater Formula 1 style vehicle so fans can get a feel of being an F1 driver during intermission of Acura's 48th Grand Prix on Saturday, April, 15 at Long Beach, Calif. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Sean Allen driving in the Historic F1 challenge in a McLaren during Acura's 48th Grand Prix on Saturday, April 15 at Long Beach, Cali. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Patrick Long in the Historic F1 Challenge making the second turn of the track in Acura's 48th Grand Prix on Saturday, April 15 at Long Beach, Calif. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Spectators watching from parking structures during the Historic F1 Challenge from Acura's 48th Grand Prixon Saturday, April 15 at Long Beach, Calif. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Alex Palou making the tenth turn of the track during the NTT Indycar Series Qualifying & Fast 6 race in Acura's 48th Grand Prix on Saturday, April 15 at Long Beach, Calif. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Tim DeSilva partaking in the Historic F1 challenge in an Alfa Romero during Acura's 48th Grand Prix on Saturday, April 15 at Long Beach, Cali. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Formula 1 cars taking part in the NTT Indycar Series Qualifying race in the pit stop during Acura's 48th Grand Prix on Saturday, April 15 at Long Beach, Calif. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Workers doing maintence on one of the children racer cars inside the Liestyle Expo building during Acura's 48th Grand Prix on Saturday, April 15 at Long Beach, Calif. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

American Medical Response(AMR) personel checking on Conor Daly after his vehicle malfunctioned in the middle of the track during the NTT Indycar Series practice #2 in Acura's 48th Grand Prix on Saturday, April, 15 at Long Beach, Calif. (Danilo Perez | The Corsair)

Randy Kalifornia shows his shirt off at the 48th Annual Acura Grand Prix in Long Beach, Calif. on Sat., April 15, 2023. (Anna Sophia Moltke | The Corsair)

Thousands of racing fans and car enthusiasts flocked to the 48th annual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach last weekend from Friday, April 14, to Sunday, April 16. Attendees took part in spectating the multitude of events held on the streets surrounding the Long Beach Convention Center. 

Thunder Thursday preceded the three-day event, with an action-packed motorcycle stunt show at the Pike Outlets shopping center.

Most of Friday’s events were practice races, with two qualifying races to ease in fans for the thrilling weekend to follow. The weekend was when the challenges began for the Grand Prix.

​The first round on Saturday was the Historic Formula One (F1) Challenge Race, in which drivers took to the race tracks behind the wheel of vintage F1 cars. Individually, each of these cars can cost up to 10 million dollars. 

Following that was the Nippon Telegraph and Telephoto (NTT) Indycar Series Qualifying & Fast 6. The fastest six racers were allowed to advance to the big race on Sunday. 

The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) SportsCar Grand Prix took place at 2 p.m. This includes the highly anticipated Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), a Le Mans Daytona Hybrid vehicle. The GTPs faced off for 100 minutes against other competitors, with some cars being modified daily drivers.

After the IMSA race, Stadium Super Trucks began racing and driving over ramps for 30 minutes on a short off-road course. The following event was the Porsche Carrera Cup Race #1, which lasted 40 minutes. The last car-based event was the Super Drift Challenge, where top formula drift drivers slid their cars around curvy turns along the racetrack. 

In addition to racing, a Lifestyle Expo inside the Long Beach Convention Center featured various exhibits and racecars for event attendees. Near the entrance of the Prix was a concert with headliners Boombox Cartel and Kings of Chaos, with former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum playing for Kings of Chaos. 

On the final day of the action-packed weekend, an exotic car parade, warm-ups, and F1 challenge began. Sunday culminated in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, where racers battled for first in an 85-lap race.

Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Autosport won first place in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, leading 53 out of 85 laps in the number 27 twin-turbo Honda NTT Indycar.