# 2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

The 2012 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was the third race of the 2012 IndyCar Series season. The race was run on April 15, 2012 in Long Beach, California, United States at Streets of Long Beach.

## Report
### Background

The first two races of the 2012 IndyCar Series season were held in St. Petersburg and Barber. The races were dominated by Team Penske with two poles and two wins in a row. In St. Petersburg, Will Power took the pole and Hélio Castroneves won the victory, but at Barber things were reversed. Going into Long Beach, Castroneves led in the drivers' championship with 86 points, while Chevrolet led the manufacturers' championship.
Before the first practice, all Chevrolet entries were penalized because of unauthorized engine changes. This penalty moved the polesitter, Ryan Briscoe, from starting in the first position down to the 11th spot. Dario Franchitti, in the quickest non-Chevrolet car, started in the first position.

## Classification
### Starting grid

| Row | Inside | Inside | Outside | Outside |
| 1 | 10 | Dario Franchitti | 67 | Josef Newgarden (R) |
| 2 | 18 | Justin Wilson | 77 | Simon Pagenaud (R) |
| 3 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 15 | Takuma Sato |
| 4 | 14 | Mike Conway | 38 | Graham Rahal |
| 5 | 83 | Charlie Kimball | 98 | Alex Tagliani |
| 6 | 2 | Ryan Briscoe$^†$ | 12 | Will Power$^†$ |
| 7 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay$^†$ | 19 | James Jakes |
| 8 | 5 | E. J. Viso$^†$ | 27 | James Hinchcliffe$^†$ |
| 9 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | 3 | Hélio Castroneves$^†$ |
| 10 | 11 | Tony Kanaan $^†$ | 4 | J. R. Hildebrand $^†$ |
| 11 | 26 | Marco Andretti $^†$ | 8 | Rubens Barrichello $^†$ |
| 12 | 22 | Oriol Servià $^†$ | 20 | Ed Carpenter $^†$ |
| 13 | 7 | Sebastien Bourdais $^†$ | 6 | Katherine Legge (R) $^†$ |
| $^†$ Briscoe, Power, Hunter-Reay, Viso, Hinchcliffe, Castroneves, Kanaan, Hildebrand, Andretti, Barrichello, Servià, Carpenter, Bourdais and Legge penalised 10 places for changing engine |||||

### Race results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Laps Led | Points |
| 1 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 85 | 1:54:01.6082 | 12 | 15 | 50 |
| 2 | 77 | Simon Pagenaud (R) | Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports | Honda | 85 | + 0.8675 | 4 | 26 | 42 |
| 3 | 27 | James Hinchcliffe | Andretti Autosport | Chevrolet | 85 | + 13.2719 | 16 | 0 | 35 |
| 4 | 11 | Tony Kanaan | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 85 | + 18.1951 | 19 | 0 | 32 |
| 5 | 4 | J. R. Hildebrand | Panther Racing | Chevrolet | 85 | + 22.9947 | 20 | 0 | 30 |
| 6 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Chevrolet | 85 | + 42.5631$^†$ | 13 | 4 | 28 |
| 7 | 2 | Ryan Briscoe | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 85 | + 1:40.1271 | 11 | 5 | 27 |
| 8 | 15 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 84 | + 1 lap | 6 | 16 | 24 |
| 9 | 8 | Rubens Barrichello | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 84 | + 1 lap | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 | 18 | Justin Wilson | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 84 | + 1 lap | 3 | 15 | 20 |
| 11 | 19 | James Jakes | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 84 | + 1 lap | 14 | 0 | 19 |
| 12 | 5 | E. J. Viso | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | 84 | + 1 lap | 15 | 0 | 18 |
| 13 | 3 | Hélio Castroneves | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 84 | +1 lap$^†$ | 18 | 0 | 17 |
| 14 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 83 | + 2 laps | 24 | 0 | 16 |
| 15 | 10 | Dario Franchitti | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 82 | + 3 laps | 1 | 4 | 15 |
| 16 | 22 | Oriol Servià | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | Lotus | 82 | + 3 laps | 23 | 0 | 14 |
| 17 | 7 | Sebastien Bourdais | Dragon Racing | Lotus | 82 | + 3 laps | 25 | 0 | 13 |
| 18 | 83 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 80 | + 5 laps | 9 | 0 | 12 |
| 19 | 6 | Katherine Legge (R) | Dragon Racing | Lotus | 80 | + 5 laps | 26 | 0 | 12 |
| 20 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | HVM Racing | Lotus | 74 | Mechanical | 17 | 0 | 12 |
| 21 | 98 | Alex Tagliani | Team Barracuda – BHA | Lotus | 46 | Mechanical | 10 | 0 | 12 |
| 22 | 14 | Mike Conway | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Honda | 41 | Mechanical | 7 | 0 | 12 |
| 23 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 27 | Mechanical | 5 | 0 | 12 |
| 24 | 38 | Graham Rahal | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 23 | Contact | 8 | 0 | 12 |
| 25 | 26 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Chevrolet | 22 | Contact | 21 | 0 | 10 |
| 26 | 67 | Josef Newgarden (R) | Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing | Honda | 0 | Contact | 2 | 0 | 10 |
| $^†$ Hunter-Reay and Castroneves penalised 30 seconds for avoidable contact ||||||||||

#### Notes

Points include 1 point for pole position and 2 points for most laps led.

## Standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Will Power | 127 |
| 2 | Hélio Castroneves | 103 |
| 3 | Simon Pagenaud (R) | 100 |
| 4 | Scott Dixon | 96 |
| 5 | James Hinchcliffe | 95 |
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Chevrolet | 27 |
| 2 | Honda | 18 |
| 3 | Lotus | 12 |