The Indy Racing League has finally reached an agreement to run a round of its season at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for the next five years.
The race will be held in April, the traditional point of the year for racing in Long Beach, but, according to the Grand Prix Association, probably won't be the first race of the IRL season, as it often was for the now defunct Champ Car series.
“In 2009, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will celebrate our 35th year with a new era and, needless to say, we're extremely happy that the IndyCar Series will continue our tradition of being America's greatest street race," GPLBA president Jim Michaelian said, "We're delighted that many great drivers will be returning to our streets, like Helio Castroneves, who won our race in 2001, and Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon, both of whom competed here often. They'll line up with rising stars like Danica Patrick, Graham Rahal, Will Power and Marco Andretti to again offer our fans the best racing weekend in California.”
IRL vice-president of public relations John Griffin confirmed that the series was still working on its 2009 schedule, and couldn't say when the Japanese round at Motegi will be held. This year, the race fell on the same weekend as Long Beach, forcing the two to be run with split fields, as Champ Car marked the end of an era in California while the IRL regulars headed to Japan. Griffin also said that the 2009 season would probably start in late March - and maybe earlier in 2010.
Michaelian said that he was 'in discussions' regarding the secondary race series to run alongside the IRL in Long Beach, but expected it to be either be the IRL Firestone Indy Lights or the Cooper Tyres-backed Atlantic Championship. Already signed to a five-year is the American Le Mans Series, while the Formula Drift Series will also be returning.
Additional reporting by Lynne Huntting
