Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

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Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Nicknames	Laguna Seca
Location	Monterey, California, USA
Time	UTC-8 (UTC-7 DST)
Opened	1957
Events	MotoGP United States Grand Prix American Le Mans Series Monterey Sports Car Championships Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Monterey Festival of Speed Monterey Historic Automobile Races
Surface	Paved
Miles first	True
Length km	3.602
Length mi	2.238
Turns	11
Record driver	Helio Castroneves
Record time	1:07.722
Record team	Penske
Record class	Champ Car
Record year	2000

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a paved road racing track (used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing) originally built in 1957 near Monterey, California, USA.

The current racetrack is 2.238 miles in length (3.58 kilometers), has eleven turns, including the famous (and gut-wrenching) "Corkscrew" at Turns 8 and 8A, and a 300 foot elevation change. A variety of racing, exhibition and entertainment events are held at the raceway, ranging from superkarts to American Le Mans racing to music festivals.

History

The earliest development of the local area occurred in 1867 with the founding of the nearby Laguna Seca Ranch, which has operated continuously for 140 years with grazing and equestrian uses.

The track was built in 1957 at a cost of $1.5 million raised from local businesses and individuals on part of the US Army's Fort Ord (a maneuver area and field artillery target range) after the nearby Pebble Beach Road Races were abandoned for being too dangerous. In 1974, the property was deeded over to the Monterey County Parks Department and continues to be part of the park system to this day.

The first race, held on November 9, 1957, was won by Pete Lovely (who still races vintage cars to this day) driving a Ferrari. In the intervening years, the track has hosted USRRC, Can Am, Trans-Am, Formula 5000, IMSA GT, Champ Car, American Le Mans Series, Grand American, Monterey Historic Automobile Races, and AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) and MotoGP motorcycle races.

The day-to-day operations of the track, along with the management and promotion of major racing events, are handled by the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP), a non-profit organization. With oversight by a board of local residents, SCRAMP operates with a professional staff on-site with the goal of generating income through the operations of the racetrack which is then redistributed to local charities.

The track itself has undergone significant changes over the past two decades to meet evolving safety homologation requirements of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile(FIA) and other sanctioning bodies. Changes include the addition of the entire infield area in 1988 (present day turns 3, 4, and 5, eliminating the straight that started at present day turn 2 and ended at present day turn 5) extending the track from its original 1.9 mile length to meet the minimum-track-length criteria of the FIM for MotoGp events, plus the more recent relocation of pedestrian bridges and embankments, and the expansion of gravel pits outside turns 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 for additional run off. The original media center was demolished in 2006 to make way for additional run-off room in Turn 1. Also in 2006, the 'hump' at the top of the Rahal Straight was flattened to accommodate the MotoGP riders, though some claim that this increases the wind effects that can perturb a race motorcycle.

The "Corkscrew" at Turn 8.

A view of the "Corkscrew" from the bottom.

The famous Turn 8 and 8A combination, popularly referred to as the Corkscrew, is considered one of the motorsport world's most challenging turns, due to the drop in elevation as well as its blind crest and apex on the uphill approach.

Turn 2, with its difficult and technical double-apex, has been renamed the 'Andretti Hairpin', in honor of former Formula 1 World Champion Mario Andretti, while Turn 9 has been renamed 'Rainey Curve' in honor of 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion Wayne Rainey, a resident of nearby Salinas, California. Also the straight that runs between Turn 6 and Turn 7 has been renamed the 'Rahal Straight' after four-time consecutive Champ Car race winner Bobby Rahal.

A Champ Car World Series weekend had been a prominent event from 1983 through 2004 when its spot on the calendar was shifted to the San Jose Grand Prix. Perhaps one of the most famous moments of racing took place at Laguna Seca's Corkscrew when Alex Zanardi passed Bryan Herta on the inside of the Corkscrew on the last lap of the 1996 CART race to take the victory. Uruguayan driver Gonzalo Rodríguez died during the practice session of the 1999 CART race after crashing at the same corner. Champ Car announced on September 11, 2007 that they would be returning the Northern California race to Laguna Seca from San Jose over the May 16-18 weekend in 2008. But the subsequent merger of Champ Car and IndyCar resulted in the race being canceled.

The track is also the site of the annual Monterey Historics event sponsored every August by Rolex that sees an extraordinarily eclectic mixture of race cars on the course. Each year features a different marque. Considered one of the two greatest historic racing events (along with the Goodwood Festival in England), attendance often rivals, or surpasses the professional racing events listed above.

There are many permanent dry and hook-up camping facilities located at the raceway, which are available year-round as part of the Laguna Seca Recreation Area, the county park in which the racetrack is set.

The track's primary corporate sponsor is Mazda, who hold some of their own events there and display their products at major racing events. As part of the sponsorship, the track is now officially referred to as Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The official track record for the 2.238 mile course is 1 minute, 07.722 seconds, set in 2000 by Helio Castroneves while qualifying his Marlboro Team Penske Honda/Reynard for the CART/FedEx Championship Series Honda Grand Prix of Monterey.

The all-time unofficial lap record around the current configuration is 1 minute, 5.880 seconds, set on March 10, 2007 by Sébastien Bourdais in a Panoz DP01 Champ Car, beating the previous unofficial record of 1 minute, 6.309 seconds, set by Ricardo Zonta in a Toyota TF106 Formula 1 car during the Historics on August 20, 2006.

Other use

When not being used by the major events the track can be rented. Approximately twice a year the Sports Car Club of America holds regional club races for the San Francisco Region. Various clubs rent the track throughout the year for informal high performance driving schools that allow the public to drive their own cars at speed.

The track is featured in video games such as the Gran Turismo series (including the bike version Tourist Trophy), Forza Motorsport, and the MotoGP series. In a bid to compare real life versus video games, Jeremy Clarkson of the British automotive show Top Gear attempted to beat his GT4 time of 1:41.148 in a Honda NSX by racing the real track in the same car in 2005. During the trials, Clarkson determined that the game omitted a few details of the track, and the game's physics allowed him to brake later when coming into turns than he could in real life. As a consequence, reality prevailed and he managed a best time of only 1:57 on the real course. However, both he and the track instructor agreed that it is possible to complete the course 1:41 if the driver were sufficiently experienced and talented.

Laguna Seca is home to a branch of the Skip Barber Racing School, which conducts race and street driver training in the paddock area and on the circuit itself on a year-round basis.

File:TGLagunaSecaNSX.jpg

Clarkson attempts to beat his Gran Turismo time against the real Laguna Seca.

Laguna Seca and the part of the old Fort Ord that is now Bureau of Land Management land annually host the Sea Otter Classic "Celebration of Cycling". As the first major event of the year - typically held in April - it kicks off both the road bike and mountain bike seasons.

On September 17, 1987, Pope John Paul II celebrated mass at Laguna Seca Raceway, where 50,000 people had gathered to see him.

In addition, each summer the track and its environs are given over to a large outdoor Christian music festival, Spirit West Coast.

In 2006 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca hosted the world's first all-female Formula racing team, which was put together by producer, Todd Baker. The group was an assemblage of drivers from different racing disciplines, and formed for an MTV reality television pilot.

Parts of the 1977 Disney film Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo were filmed at the track, particularly during the practice and qualifying scenes.

The German automobile maker BMW named one of its colors for the E46 M3 (production years 2001-2006, although this particular color was only offered as a standard option from 2001-2004) Laguna Seca Blue, in honor of the Laguna Seca raceway.

Race Winners

Champ Car/CART

Season	Date	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine	Team
1983	October 23	Teo Fabi	March	Cosworth	Forsythe Racing
1984	October 21	Bobby Rahal	March	Cosworth	TrueSports
1985	October 6	Bobby Rahal	March	Cosworth	TrueSports
1986	October 12	Bobby Rahal	March	Cosworth	TrueSports
1987	October 11	Bobby Rahal	Lola	Cosworth	TrueSports
1988	October 16	Danny Sullivan	Penske	Chevrolet-Ilmor	Penske Racing
1989	October 15	Rick Mears	Penske	Chevrolet-Ilmor	Penske Racing
1990	October 21	Danny Sullivan	Penske	Chevrolet-Ilmor	Penske Racing
1991	October 20	Michael Andretti	Lola	Chevrolet-Ilmor	Newman/Haas Racing
1992	October 18	Michael Andretti	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	Newman/Haas Racing
1993	October 3	Paul Tracy	Penske	Chevrolet-Ilmor	Penske Racing
1994	October 2	Paul Tracy	Penske	Mercedes-Benz-Ilmor	Penske Racing
1995	September 9	Gil de Ferran	Reynard	Mercedes-Benz-Ilmor	Jim Hall Racing
1996	September 8	Alex Zanardi	Reynard	Honda	Chip Ganassi Racing
1997	September 7	Jimmy Vasser	Reynard	Honda	Chip Ganassi Racing
1998	September 13	Bryan Herta	Reynard	Ford-Cosworth	Team Rahal
1999	September 12	Bryan Herta	Reynard	Ford-Cosworth	Team Rahal
2000	September 10	Helio Castroneves	Reynard	Honda	Penske Racing
2001	October 14	Max Papis	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	Team Rahal
2002	June 9	Cristiano da Matta	Lola	Toyota	Newman/Haas Racing
2003	June 15	Patrick Carpentier	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	Forsythe Racing
2004	September 12	Patrick Carpentier	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	Forsythe Racing

Champ Car Marlboro Challenge

Season	Date	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine	Team
1989	October 14	Al Unser, Jr.	Lola	Chevrolet	Galles Racing
1991	October 19	Michael Andretti	Lola	Chevrolet	Newman/Haas Racing

American Le Mans Series

Season	Class	Winning Drivers	Platform
1999	LMP	JJ Lehto / Steve Soper	BMW V12 LMR
	GTS	Olivier Beretta / Karl Wendlinger	Dodge Viper GTS-R
	GT	Johnny Mowlem / David Murry	Porsche 911 GT3-RSR
2000	LMP	Rinaldo Capello / Allan McNish	Audi R8
	GTS	Olivier Beretta / Karl Wendlinger	Dodge Viper GTS-R
	GT	Hans Joachim Stuck / Boris Said	BMW M3 GT
2001	LMP900	Frank Biela / Emanuele Pirro	Audi R8
	LMP675	Milka Duno / Didier de Radigues	Reynard 01Q-Judd
	GTS	Terry Borcheller / Franz Konrad	Saleen S7-R
	GT	JJ Lehto / Jörg Müller	BMW M3 GTR
2002	LMP900	Emanuele Pirro / Frank Biela	Audi R8
	LMP675	Chad Block / Steve Knight / Claudia Hürtgen	MG-Lola EX257
	GTS	Tomáš Enge / Peter Kox	Ferrari 550 Maranello
	GT	Lucas Luhr / Sascha Maassen	Porsche 911 GT3-RS
2003	LMP900	Frank Biela / Marco Werner	Audi R8
	LMP675	James Weaver / Butch Leitzinger	MG-Lola EX257
	GTS	Jan Magnussen / David Brabham	Ferrari 550 Maranello
	GT	Sascha Maassen / Lucas Luhr	Porsche 911 GT3-RSR
2004	LMP1	Johnny Herbert / Pierre Kaffer	Audi R8
	LMP2	Ian James / James Gue	Courage C65-AER
	GT1	Olivier Beretta / Oliver Gavin	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
	GT2	Timo Bernhard / Jörg Bergmeister	Porsche 911 GT3-RSR
2005	LMP1	Tom Chilton / Hayanari Shimoda	Zytek 04S
	LMP2	Sascha Maassen / Lucas Luhr	Porsche RS Spyder
	GT1	Olivier Beretta / Oliver Gavin	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R
	GT2	Patrick Long / Jörg Bergmeister	Porsche 911 GT3-RSR
2006	LMP1	Rinaldo Capello / Allan McNish	Audi R10
	LMP2	Romain Dumas / Lucas Luhr	Porsche RS Spyder
	GT1	Stephane Sarrazin / Pedro Lamy	Aston Martin DBR9
	GT2	Mika Salo / Stéphane Ortelli	Ferrari 430GT
2007	LMP1	Rinaldo Capello / Allan McNish	Audi R10
	LMP2	Romain Dumas / Timo Bernhard	Porsche RS Spyder Evo
	GT1	Oliver Gavin / Olivier Beretta	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R
	GT2	Mika Salo / Jaime Melo	Ferrari F430GT

A1 Grand Prix

Season	Sprint Race Winner	Feature Race Winner
2005-2006	Salvador Durán	Salvador Durán

500cc/Moto GP

Year	Race Winner	Team/Bike
1988	Eddie Lawson	Yamaha
1989	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha
1990	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha
1991	Wayne Rainey	Yamaha
1993	John Kocinski	Cagiva
1994	Luca Cadalora	Yamaha
2005	Nicky Hayden	Repsol Honda RC211V
2006	Nicky Hayden	Repsol Honda RC211V
2007	Casey Stoner	Ducati Desmosedici GP7

Formula One

In 1989, the year following the last Formula One race in Detroit, choices for a new location for the United States Grand Prix came down to Laguna Seca and Phoenix. The aforementioned 1988 improvements to the track were in part made to lure the race. In the final decision, Laguna Seca was thought to be too small for an F1 crowd and too remote, and Phoenix was granted the Grand Prix (which was highly unsuccessful and only lasted three years).

Lap records

On August 20, 2006, Toyota F1 test driver Ricardo Zonta set a new lap record of 1'06.309. The previous record time was 1'07.722, set by Helio Castroneves in a Penske Champ Car during the 2000 CART Honda Grand Prix of Monterey. The record was re-taken by a Champ Car on March 10, 2007 by Sébastien Bourdais, who lapped in 1'05.880 during Champ Car Spring Training.

Since Zonta's time and Bourdais' times were set during an exhibition and testing (respectively) and official records can only be set in race conditions, either in qualifying or during a race, they are unofficial times. The official record remains 1:07.722 set by Helio Castroneves in qualifying for the 2000 race.

External links

• Laguna Seca Raceway official site
• American Le Mans Series
• Sea Otter Classic
• Trackpedia guide to Laguna Seca
• Steve McQueen raced at Leguna Seca in 1959

ALMS (American Le Mans Series) circuits

Sebring • St. Petersburg • Long Beach • Miller • Lime Rock • Mid-Ohio • Road America • Mosport • Detroit • Road Atlanta • Laguna Seca Former Circuits: Adelaide • Charlotte • Houston • Infineon (Sears Point) • Las Vegas • Miami • Nürburgring • Portland • Silverstone • Texas • Trois-Rivières • Washington, D.C. Former European Le Mans Series Circuits (2001 only) Sebring • Donington • Jarama • Estoril • Most • Vallelunga • Road Atlanta