Dale Coyne Racing Long Beach preview – High hopes heading into Long Beach
Plainfield, IL (April 13, 2016) – Dale Coyne Racing and drivers Conor Daly and Luca Fiippi are looking forward to returning to a street circuit this weekend for the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third round of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season.
The team is hoping for a better outcome on the streets of Long Beach than at the season opening race on the streets of St. Petersburg, where both DCR drivers saw their chance of a podium finish taken away following contact that was no fault of their own.
Daly and Filippi plan to use their experience around the demanding 1.968-mile, 11-turn track to give the team well-deserved and solid results.
Long Beach was the scene of Daly’s debut with Dale Coyne Racing last season. The rookie was called up 45 minutes before Saturday morning practice to replace the injured Rocky Moran Jr. Despite his limited track time, Daly finished 17th and impressed posting the second fastest lap by a Honda-powered car.
The American aims to do much better this time around with a complete race weekend under his belt to prepare for race day. The rookie first competed at Long Beach in 2011, picking up a win in Indy Lights.
Filippi will be making his second appearance in Long Beach. The Italian made his first start on the famous circuit last year with CFH Racing. Filippi has made 13 of his 20 IndyCar starts on street circuits and is extra motivated to do well at this historic race in a very familiar environment.
The team will have three practice sessions ahead of qualifying, with two practice sessions on Friday, April 15 and one on Saturday. Qualifying will take place at 5pm ET (2pm local) on Saturday, April 16 and will be broadcast on NBCSN at 6:00pm ET.
The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will be broadcast live on NBCSN starting at 4pm ET (1pm local).
Live timing and scoring will be available at racecontrol.indycar.com for all sessions with live streaming also available for all practice sessions and qualifying.
Dale Coyne Racing Driver Quotes
Conor Daly – #18 Jonathan Byrd’s Hospitality & Restaurant Group
“I’m really looking forward to this race weekend, much more so than Phoenix, just because I have a little bit of experience at Long Beach. I’m very excited for the race. I love the place. I love the track. I love the fact we were quick at the end of the race last year so we have a good place to start and it’s with the same team, so it will be really cool. I didn’t work with (engineer) Mike (Cannon) last year, but we were all there as a team and it’s such a great track and great weekend. I finally feel like it’s a race I’m more prepared for. Even though it will be the same as St. Pete and a tough battle, I feel more prepared than any other race we’ve had this year.”
“Long Beach is a great track, there’s a lot of history there. I won in there in Indy Lights and I always enjoy going there. I went there for years before I raced on it so it means a lot to me. I really love Southern California. I’m excited that we got to first bond as a team there last year and that now we get to come back and give it another shot.”
Luca Filippi – #19 Boy Scouts of America
“I’m very motivated heading into Long Beach because I really love the Long Beach Grand Prix. It’s one of my favorite races of the season. It’s a historical place and race for IndyCar and for motorsports in general with Formula 1 racing there in the past. It’s one of those races that all drivers, including myself, want to win. It’s an event that gives me that extra motivation.”
“We found a good balance for the car on the street circuit in St. Petersburg that we’ll be able to adjust for Long Beach. I expect to be up to speed quickly and to have a solid weekend. My expectations are relatively high as I think we can have a solid and strong weekend.”
“The track itself is one of the most technical street courses that I’ve ever seen. In fact, it’s the track that probably took me the most time to learn and to understand its secrets. It is very, very difficult and challenging but very fun to drive. It has a little bit of everything with slow and fast corners, places where you can overtake with wide and narrow areas. I think it provides great IndyCar racing. I’d say my favorite part is the last section, it’s a famous section where there’s been amazing passing in the past and it’s also the part that when you see it on videos or pictures you know it’s Long Beach. It’s very special.”
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Schedule (all times local)
Friday, April 15, 2016
Practice: 10:00am – 10:45am
Practice: 2:00pm -2:45pm
Autograph session: 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Practice: 10:00am – 10:45am
Qualifying: 2:00pm – 3:15pm
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Warm-up: 9:00am – 9:30am
Race: 1:45pm green flag (80 laps)