The 2016 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was the third round of the 2016 IndyCar Series and the 42nd annual running of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The race was contested over 80 laps on a temporary street circuit in Long Beach, California on April 17, 2016. Hélio Castroneves qualified on pole for the second consecutive race with a time of 1:07.1246. Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon started alongside him in second. Some confusion surrounded the second round of qualifying as timing and scoring malfunctioned. IndyCar officials would correct the mistakes caused by this and set the correct Fast Six qualifiers shortly after round two ended. Fast six qualifying was briefly delayed when Will Power clipped a tire barrier and went into a run-off area. Power started sixth due to his mishap.
Castroneves took the lead from the start and led 49 of the opening 51 laps. Behind him, Simon Pagenaud was able to move his way past Scott Dixon into second, while Dixon was scuffled down to fourth by the time the first round of pit stops came. During pit stops, Dixon was able to leapfrog Pagenaud and his teammate Tony Kanaan to move up to second. At the second round of stops, Dixon was able to pass Castroneves with quick pit work. However, Simon Pagenaud was able to move even faster and get out of the pits just ahead of Dixon, handing Pagenaud the lead of the race. Controversy surrounded this, though, as Pagenaud placed two tires over the blend line at the exit of pit lane while trying to beat Dixon to turn one. IndyCar officials let Pagenaud off with a warning for the incident, despite protests from Chip Ganassi Racing and Scott Dixon. In the end, Pagenaud was able to hold on and take victory by 0.3032 seconds, the closest finish in the history of the Grand Prix of Long Beach. It was Pagenaud's first victory while driving for Team Penske and his first win since the second race of the 2014 Grand Prix of Houston.
For only the 4th time in the history of the race, no full course caution occurred at any point and for the second year in a row, there were no DNFs.
Report Key Meaning R Rookie W Past winner
Qualifying Pos No. Name Grp. Round 1 Round 2 Round 313 Hélio Castroneves W21:07.44491:07.06451:07.124629 Scott Dixon W11:07.50191:06.64591:07.4455322 Simon Pagenaud11:07.68221:07.05781:07.7410410 Tony Kanaan21:07.59981:07.06241:07.795152 Juan Pablo Montoya W11:07.51561:06.94091:07.9054612 Will Power W21:06.97121:06.8659No Time75 James Hinchcliffe11:07.64251:07.1415814 Takuma Sato W11:07.70381:07.2299921 Josef Newgarden21:07.47941:07.25481026 Carlos Muñoz21:07.39621:07.26631128 Ryan Hunter-Reay W11:07.71111:07.31711219 Luca Filippi21:07.6214 1:07.96601318 Conor Daly R11:07.75201411 Sébastien Bourdais W21:07.64321583 Charlie Kimball11:07.80651698 Alexander Rossi R21:07.68721715 Graham Rahal11:07.8841187 Mikhail Aleshin21:07.8513198 Max Chilton R11:08.38432041 Jack Hawksworth21:07.99292127 Marco Andretti21:08.2045OFFICIAL BOX SCORE
Race results Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Pit Stops Grid Laps Led 122 Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeChevrolet801:33:54.483523285129 Scott Dixon WChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet80 +0.30322224133 Hélio Castroneves WTeam PenskeChevrolet80 +10.837621473942 Juan Pablo Montoya WTeam PenskeChevrolet80 +12.21622532514 Takuma Sato WA. J. Foyt EnterprisesHonda80 +12.29182830610 Tony KanaanChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet80 +17.62672428712 Will Power WTeam PenskeChevrolet80 +18.7449262685 James HinchcliffeSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda80 +19.03622724911 Sébastien Bourdais WKVSH RacingChevrolet80 +22.9147214221021 Josef NewgardenEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet80 +23.665429201183 Charlie KimballChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet80 +24.21793153201226 Carlos MuñozAndretti AutosportHonda80 +40.1250210181318 Conor Daly RDale Coyne RacingHonda80 +47.180921317148 Max Chilton RChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet80 +53.9106319161515 Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda80 +56.908221715167 Mikhail AleshinSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda80 +1:01.2966218141719 Luca FilippiDale Coyne RacingHonda80 +1:08.0543212131828 Ryan Hunter-Reay WAndretti AutosportHonda80 +1:30.3302311121927 Marco AndrettiAndretti AutosportHonda79 +1 Lap321112098 Alexander Rossi RAndretti Herta AutosportHonda79 +1 Lap216102141 Jack HawksworthA. J. Foyt EnterprisesHonda77 +3 Laps3209OFFICIAL BOX SCORE
Notes Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.
Source for time gaps:
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Simon Pagenaud 134 2 Scott Dixon 120 3 Juan Pablo Montoya 106 2 4 Hélio Castroneves 92 5 Tony Kanaan 82
Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References
External links Official Pit Stop Data Official Race Broadcast