The April 14-16 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach has everything from the NTT IndyCar Series to IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on tap for the three-day street race celebration, and thanks to the event’s promoter and the Historic Motor Sports Association, 20 vintage Formula 1 cars will add to the entertainment.
Among the highlighted entries, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown will race his 1980 Williams FW07-Cosworth DFV that won the world championship with Alan Jones at the controls. Porsche factory racing champion Patrick Long, a Southern California native like Brown, will also participate in the HMSA F1 sessions in the newest car in the field — Keke Rosberg’s 1983 Monaco Grand Prix-winning Williams FW08C-DFV.
Doug Mockett, a longtime supporter of the Team USA Scholarship and numerous young American junior open-wheel drivers, will race his 1976 Penske PC4 that was originally piloted by John Watson. One of the fastest drivers in the paddock is Danny Baker, whose ex-Brett Lunger and ex-Nelson Piquet McLaren M23 is always a threat for victory.
Of the 20 F1 cars, 18 are powered by Cosworth DFVs, and thankfully, two V12-powered entries are scheduled to attend and bring a different sound to the field with Bruce Marquand’s 1977 BRM P207 and Tim DeSilva’s 1982 Alfa Romeo 182.
The oldest car headed to Long Beach is John Dimmer’s 1971 Tyrrell 004 which once carried the likes of Jackie Stewart, Francois Cevert, and Patrick Depailler.
After the Alfa Romeo and BRM, the Lotus marque will be represented by two cars, four examples from March, two McLarens, one Penske, three Shadows, a Surtees, three Tyrrells and three Williams cars will take to the track for practice on Friday, practice and race one on Saturday, and race two on Sunday.