paradise found: Laguna Seca

[nostatic]

Sitting in a Starbucks in Salinas (hey, aliteration) at a little after 8:30pm. Today was "practice" for the POC event at Laguna Seca. Ever since I started driving seriously I've wanted to run this track. Today was finally the day, and I had extremely high expectations. In fact I worried that I would be a bit let down, so I tried to "curb my enthusiasm."

No need. It was better than I could have imagined.




The track is just beautiful. Not a stretch of asphalt dropped in the middle of the desert (apologies to Willow Springs). The weather has been perfect...blue skies, sun, light breeze, temps in the high 70's. In other words, paradise. This track has so much history you can feel it when you drive through the gates.

I started the morning session with my instructor Don. It took a few laps to shake off the cobwebs, but also this track is quite different, with a lot of elevation gain and loss, blind approaches, etc. The whole first session was pretty much just figuring out what gear I should be in where, and what the lines were.



The car was very well behaved, having new Porterfield race pads and some cooling mods. At the end of the first session my instructor seemed pleased. We were running back to back session-wise, and when he came off his second session he pulled up and said, "you go out by yourself...I think you'll be fine, I'll watch." So I did. Turn 3 continued to give me fits (in part because I wasn't getting 2 quite right), but the rest of the track started to make some sense, and I was feeling good. 3rd session my instructor went out with me, but said, "just pretend I'm not here." I was getting my braking points down (I was braking too late at first), and at the end of the session, Don said, "you don't need me anymore...I'll sign you off." Very cool.

So did 5 run sessions. One "tankslapper" in the 3rd session (with Don in the car), but I caught it. Started the day at 1:58, and ended the last session at 1:53. Track record for my class is 1:51, so I'm pretty stoked. My instructor had a little worse luck though in session 5:



He was coming out of 4 and the back end just kept rotating, he did a correction, it caught off on the left, then snapped back to the right, contacting the tire barrier tail end first. The amazing thing is that he drove it back in, and we started yanking and hacking. After tearing off some of the broken fiberglass fenders, replacing a fuse or two, and banging out the front fender, the car was fully drivable...with tail and brakes lights even (although the left side needs some red tape). A testament to how tough these cars are.

Gratuitous JO-style self portrait

[jyl]

Sounds like a great day, Todd!

What did you think about turn 6? A friend who took a Skip Barber class at Laguna Seca told me that one was the trickiest for him.

At the Historics I saw a RSR almost lose it at Turn 4, where your instructor had his off. I was standing behind the flagman at the tire barrier, probably right where he hit.

[nostatic]

It depends how much speed you carry up the hill out of 5 wrt to 6. This course is *really* speed dependent. I noticed as I picked up 5mph here or 10mph there the turns can be dramatically different. I had 5 pretty well and was flat up the hill. 6 is a compression left continuing up the hill and all I did was a quick stab of the brakes to settle the car then back flat. The scary part is *after* 6 though. You are heading to the crest of the hill and can't see anything. You know the entry to the corkscrew is on the other side, so you are hugging the rumble strip track left, then you see the "3" marker on the right hand side at the crest of the hill. The track drops off and then hard left down into the corkscrew. This is where speed determines everything. The entry to the corkscrew was pretty easy at first...until I was flat out of 6 and flying at the crest of the hill. When you're cooking, the turn-in for the corkscrew comes INCREDIBLY fast. What was pretty calm in a previous session going 5 or 10mph slower is now a "holy crap I gotta brake hard." And then a quick stab of the throttle, then the 2nd half of the corkscrew, then flat and a quick shift heading into 9. And it is sooooo easy to screw that one up because coming out of the corkscrew you're feeling all full of piss and vinegar for having made it.

Oh, and the last turn onto the straight? Overcooked that one a few times. Luckily the FIA made them put in negative gators for the MotoGP event so it isn't quite so rude when you run wide...

Gawd this track is fun. But it can bite you in the arse sooooo damn easily...

[earlyapex]

Sounds like a great day! T3 is tough in that the concrete walls are there to remind you how your mistakes will be rewarded. I'll be there Sept 6th and 9th with a newly rebuilt transmission.

[RSBob]

What a great day on a super track. Thanks for sharing and congrats on such solid lap times.

[dd74]

In the words of Yosemite Sam: "I hate you!"

How do you get the time off to do all this great stuff?

[Evans, Marv]

Sounds great. I've always wondered what it would be like to drive there. We used to go over there to watch the races when I was in high school (late '50s/early '60's). Watching the cars come down the corkscrew was great. We always had one guy tow a small trailer with a couple of kegs in it to hold us until we left.

[Mothy]

I was in San Jose for work a couple of years ago and only then discovered how close Laguna Seca is! For a guy from Australia, its one of those race courses you see in all the PC games but the chance to see it live was not to be missed.

I could not believe my luck - the weekend I was there was a Can-Am revival weekend along with a round of the the Porsche Club championships!

Talk about in heaven - wall to wall 911's from the club guys plus a red and yellow 917/10 running with the other can-am guys (McLarens, Lola's etc). Have read so much about the Can-Am series of the 60's and 70's but the chance to see them live was unbelievable.

Also running on the weekend were a couple of 908/03's and one of the 5 original Silver 911 turbo RSR prototypes. On static display was a 962 and a 917!!

What a great weekend, all the better because you could walk around in the pits and talk to the drivers and mechanics, plus get up close and personal with the cars.

Todd - to me you have done one better. I would give my left ...... to be able to run my own car round that track. Guess I'll just have to make do with Bathurst down here.

[Noah930]

Sounds like you had a blast, nostatic. I went to Laguna Seca about 10 years ago for a Skip Barber course. I also found turn 3 to be tricky, but 4 to be much easier. I couldn't understand--they both looked like 90 degree right handers. Then I realized that 3's not exactly a 90 degree angle like I originally imagined--it's just a little bit tighter than that (and, subsequently, turn 4 is just a little more than 90 degrees). With that little revelation, I felt much more comfortable in 3.

Going up the hill after 6, it's a bit blind like you say, but there used to be a little mark on the bridge (used to be painted Bank of America--it's something different now, though) that would line you up perfectly through 7 into the Corkscrew (8). The pro's on TV make it seem so easy, but I always thought it was a little challenging (and fun) to be braking hard, cresting the hill and unsettling the suspension, blipping downshifts, and turning just a bit through 7 to line up for entry into the Corkscrew--all at the same time.

[TRE Cup]

Great to hear its coming together Todd. Have a great time and thanks for sharing the newbie's pov
DB

[emcon5]

Originally posted by Mothy
I could not believe my luck - the weekend I was there was a Can-Am revival weekend along with a round of the the Porsche Club championships!

Talk about in heaven - wall to wall 911's from the club guys plus a red and yellow 917/10 running with the other can-am guys (McLarens, Lola's etc). Have read so much about the Can-Am series of the 60's and 70's but the chance to see them live was unbelievable.

Also running on the weekend were a couple of 908/03's and one of the 5 original Silver 911 turbo RSR prototypes. On static display was a 962 and a 917!!

This should bring back some memories.

More Laguna Pics

Tom

[targa88]

I would have thought the 8-8a "corkscrew" was the real thriller on this track- Someday....

[Mothy]

Hey Tom

Thanks for the link - thats the one! Great bunch of photo's to add to the few ones I took. Too busy watching the races on the day.

It is so hard to describe to people back home in Oz the feeling you get from a day like that. Guys own millions of dollars worth of historic machinery and go out and flog them on the track!

Tim

[edward993]

Yup,

I LOVE Laguna Seca! And I hear you on the "asphalt dropped in the middle of the desert" LOL!! It's the weather, the scenery, and all the elevation changes that really make LS an awesome track to drive. It's a schlep for us SoCali folk, but well worth it every time I go. Thanks for sharing, nostatic

Edward

[Don Plumley]

Great story Todd - I was at Sears Point today, not driving, but at least with the Porsche.

Sounds like you are living large...

[nostatic]

Day two update: Too many cars in the run group (34 cars with lap times ranging from 1:45 to 2:15), and my mind would occasionally flash on Don's stuffed car, especially as I got on it through 4. I had a tough time getting a clean lap until the 4th (and last) session, but the times never got posted. Tyson was running with me...I had fun trying to hold him off for a lap or so. I managed to stay out for a bit, but he finally got me.

We had some yahoos though. One guy passed me on the inside of turn 11. I knew he was going to do it, and stayed way outside. If I had done my proper turn in he would have t-boned me. I was slowed by traffic and got a point by on the short straight before 11. I saw him (a 993) behind me, but having a double pass on the short of a straight is tough, so I decided he could wait and I'd point him by as soon as I got onto the main straight. But something about the way he was driving told me his was a yank. So I played it safe, and he passed me in a corner with no point by. Another guy in a 996 kept trying to point me by to the right...even though the rule (as stated a bunch of times in the driver's meeeting) was passing by point-by only, and only on the left. After he tried to point me by twice on the right (with me gesturing left on the second one), he finally got a clue. And he had an instructor with him! I actually went up and talked to the instructor afterwards.

So tomorrow is for "real" time and I'm hoping I can get to the "empty mind" state and run a bit harder. But a mistake on this course means a long tow home, so staying within myself probably isn't such a bad idea.

[nostatic]

Originally posted by targa88
I would have thought the 8-8a "corkscrew" was the real thriller on this track- Someday....

The corkscrew definitely is the "marquee" part of the course, but frankly every turn has its "charms." Turn 1 is barely a turn...just a deflection towards the end of the long straight. BUT, you are cresting a hill, flat and at top speed. As the car unweights you finally can see the entry to the Andretti hairpin...and the long gravel trap beyond it. So you're briefly weightless, careening downhill, and pondering how late you can brake without spending the rest of the session in 18" deep gravel. 2 has a sneaky decreasing radius to it...when you track out you hit the point where you're sure it's time to let the wheel ease back, but if you do you're off...you have to hold it cranked for another beat or two.

I could prattle on all night. It's just an awesome course...

And David, believe me I'm paying a price for playing. But sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do...

[mmastro]

Originally posted by nostatic

I could prattle on all night. It's just an awesome course...

Keep prattling.........Great job, Todd!

I, for one, don't mind a bit!! I love Laguna Seca...been there (as a racefan) for one race or another every year since I was eight years old. It's been a life-long dream to drive it, and now that I have the 930 of my dreams, driving it there may become a reality.....But for now I'll live vicariously through you brave souls....

[targa88]

I echo Mike's sentiments. What a fabulous track (definitely top 5 in the US). Someday, I will make the pilgrimage. In the meantime I will settle for (Watkins Glen, which is in my neck of the woods and) recounted story line from those who can partake.

[ttweed]

Originally posted by nostatic
I had 5 pretty well and was flat up the hill. 6 is a compression left continuing up the hill and all I did was a quick stab of the brakes to settle the car then back flat.

I found that the secret to Turn 6 is making sure you get right down to the apex. There is a narrow "swale" right next to the rumble strip which gives you extra grip from the advantageous camber of the surface being "banked" a bit. If you go too wide of the apex for any reason, even a few feet, the car will not hook up as well and you will be in trouble on the track-out unless you are going slower than max. on entry.

TT