1975_Long_Beach_Grand_Prix

1975 Long Beach Grand Prix

1975 Long Beach Grand Prix

Motor car race

The 1975 Long Beach Grand Prix was the inaugural running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach. The race was held September 28, 1975, on a 2.02-mile (3.25 km) temporary street circuit. It was race 7 of the 1975 SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 Championship. An estimated 65,000 spectators saw Englishman Brian Redman win the race from Australian Vern Schuppan, with Canadian driver Eppie Wietzes finishing third.[2]

Quick Facts Race details, Date ...

Background

In 1974 the city of Long Beach began a billion-dollar redevelopment program of the downtown area.[3] Chris Pook, a British travel agent working in Long Beach, proposed holding a street course race in the vein of the Monaco Grand Prix. In order to prepare for a Formula One race the following year, the organizers decided to hold a Formula 5000 race that was held at a track in Riverside with an exhibition in Long Beach.[4][5]

Qualifying

Qualifying times were set in two sessions on Saturday. Seeded drivers had one 45-minute session and one 1 hour, 15 minute session, while non-seeded drivers had two 45-minute sessions.[6] Starting positions were set by two heat races, with the finishers from Heat 1 starting in odd positions and Heat 2 in even positions.

More information Pos, Driver ...

Heat races

More information Pos, No ...

Race

At the start, Al Unser led from 2nd on the grid. On lap 3, polesitter Tony Brise had taken the lead and Mario Andretti took over second place. Brise led until lap 15, when both Andretti and Unser got by. Brise re-passed Unser on the next lap, and battled with Andretti until he re-took the lead on lap 29. On lap 33, Andretti retired with transmission problems, and one lap later Brise retired with a broken driveshaft. Brian Redman took the lead and pulled away to a nearly 30-second victory over Vern Schuppan and Eppie Wietzes. Redman also clinched the season points championship.[10][11]

Result

More information Pos, No ...

References

  1. [1]
    "1975 Long Beach Grand Prix weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  2. [2]
    "Brian Redman Formula Winner". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. AP. September 29, 1975. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  3. [3]
    "Circuits: Long Beach". Grand Prix Encyclopedia. Inside F1, Inc. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  4. [4]
    Richardson, Darcy Leigh (April 13, 2010). "Jim Michaelian: The Man Behind The Grand Prix". Gazettes.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  5. [5]
    Huffman, John Pearley (August 2008). "Walking With Giants – Long Beach Grand Prix". Modified. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  6. [6]
    "Schedule of Events". Media package. Long Beach Grand Prix Association. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2011.
  7. [7]
    Klopfer, Wolfgang. Allen Brown (ed.). "Long Beach Grand Prix". Old Racing Cars. Archived from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  8. [8]
    "Untitled" (PDF). Independent Press-Telegram. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  9. [9]
    "Long Beach F5000 Grid". Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  10. [10]
    Aldrich, Adria Allen (ed.). "SCCA Race Results". Inaugural Formula 5000 Grand Prix Race. California Sports Car Club Region. Archived from the original on August 13, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2011. in ""F Sheff at…" Pages". Archived from the original on September 16, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  11. [11]
    "Redman Formula Victor". The Leader-Post. Regina, Saskatchewan. AP. September 29, 1975. p. 15. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  12. [12]
    "Long Beach Grand Prix". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
Preceded by
1975 Atlanta Grand Prix
 1975 SCCA/USAC F5000 Championship Succeeded by
1975 Monterey Grand Prix
Preceded by
None
 Grand Prix of Long Beach Succeeded by
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article 1975_Long_Beach_Grand_Prix, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.