Long Beach Grand Prix Preview: Bridging the Knowledge Gap

For almost half a century the punishing streets of Long Beach California have asked questions, created heroes, and launched careers. Whether it is the day, almost exactly forty years ago, when John Watson drove his Formula 1 Mclaren from 22nd on the grid to victory or Al Unser Jr winning there a staggering six times in his storied IndyCar career, the now almost 2 miles of concrete and asphalt has played a significant role in making drivers into stars and stars into legends. 

For Katherine Legge, Long Beach 2005 proved to be the platform from which the English racer launched her professional career. Making her US Pro debut, she won the Toyota Atlantic season opener in spectacular fashion with a late race pass at the infamous Turn 11 hairpin. The annual April trip to Southern California has been a favorite for the driver ever since.

“Long Beach is a track that’s very close to my heart, it was my first USA based professional race, back in 2005 and my first major win. I love the atmosphere and the venue as much as the track itself. Pretty much every time I have run here I’ve been in with a shot at the podium. I can’t wait to do it again.”

For Legge’s teammate in the #66 JG Wentworth Acura NSX GT3 Evo22, the situation could not be more opposite. The racer from Newtown, Pennsylvania is making her first appearance at the event and with limited track time, she will need to lean heavily on all of the positive experiences of her teammate. “I know that Katherine is obviously a proven winner here so it's really easy to lean into the experience and advice from someone that has a history of success and strong performances at Long Beach.”

Monk took every opportunity she could to familiarize herself with the eleven turn layout, including coming to the West Coast more than a week early. “I was fortunate enough to see the track for a few laps during the media day last week and while it definitely helped, Katherine's going to provide a lot of guidance, tips and tricks to just get me around the circuit in an efficient manner.”

In terms of what is achievable on Saturday, the IMSA WeatherTech rookie was quietly confident. “I think if I’m able to get into a comfortable rhythm and qualify well then you know I'll turn the car over and at that point it's in Katherine’s hands and I know that she has the ability to push us towards the front.”

Team Manager, Andris Laivins has the knowledge and the raw data to back up Legge’s wealth of experience. "It helps that we had a pretty good race car here last year so we think we have a stable place to start from with regards to set up. The biggest focus here will be on the drivers due to the limited track time. Applying all of Katherine's history and experience here to Sheena, for whom this is her first street race, will be our first priority along with making sure that we maximize the track time we have available. Qualifying is so critical here and we plan to ensure that Sheena is ready to push from the first lap of qualifying on Friday evening.”

Opening practice for the 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach begins at 12pm ET on Friday, April 14th with the Green Flag falling for the race at 5pm ET on Saturday April 15th. 

Coverage of Saturday’s race is available via Peacock and USA Network in the USA and on IMSA.TV for International viewers without a TV broadcaster.  IMSA Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio will also have non-stop live coverage of the race.  For full event coverage please follow Gradient Racing on Twitter at @GradientRacing, on Instagram at @gradientracing and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GradientRacing/.