Sixsixsixtynine wrote:
FIM actually. The new infield section was built to bring
the GP motorcycles to Laguna. It wasn't done to slow the
track, but to bring it up to proper length.

SCRAMP still operates the track. I don't think they ever
owned it. It's presently a county park, and it was built on
land owned by the US Army (Fort Ord). SCRAMP (Sports Car
Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula) is a
non-profit org and all its net revenue goes to charity.

Its unlikely that SCRAMP would ever have the cash to bring
the circuit and facilities up to F1 standards. Even it they
did, I personally doubt that the board would consider it a
priority. Local riders are always raving about how smooth
the pavement is, but the general consensus of the GP riders
who raced there was that it was the bumpiest track they
raced at.

Regardless of the condition of the track, the red tape
involved in bringing the F1 circus to town would make it a
Sisyphean task for anyone who tried. Brain dead neighbors
[1] have forced the county to limit the track to IIRC 5
major events per year, so something would have to go to
bring in another series.

In my personal opinion the track is overrated. It wasn't a
great track before the revision, and it's not a great track
after it.

Steve 65

[1] airport syndrome

in article 35139914.0307031303.7ddbcb62 (AT) po...OT) google.com, Lugs Harvey at
lugsandace (AT) yahoo (DOT) com wrote on 7/3/03 2:03 PM:

You're not from around here, are you? Laguna is, and was,
*managed* by SCRAMP (Sports Car Racing Association of the
Monterey Peninsula), which is a California non-profit
charitable corporation. The track was *owned* by the United
States Army, by virtue of it being located on their Fort Ord
base. In the 80s a very long series of negotiations ended
with the track and some of the surrounding area being sold
(for $1 !!) to the County of Monterey, for the purpose of
converting it into a county park. This would both permit
the racing to continue, and make it easier to upgrade the
facility.

Laguna's layout has been under modification virtually since
the track was opened in the late 50s. The pits were
originally on the outside of the front straight, where the
main grandstands are today. Several sections were smoothed,
tightened and nudged, finally giving the "classic" 1.9 mile
layout.

The new infield section had been on the drawing board for a
long time. The run from the pit hairpin up to the corkscrew
was a long, fast semicircle, but had been criticized for
extreme danger for a number of years. (A friend of my
family was killed between the old two and three in an SCCA
National.) Another problem had been that CART was approaching
50 seconds per lap, and the cars were constantly in traffic.

The new layout also created some challenging corners,
including the decreasing radius three and the new five, where
the new rejoins the old, and the surfaces and banking change.
Since then, there have been two primary changes: the moving
and reshaping of turn six ("The Salinas Turnoff"), and the
creation of a new straight parallel to the old one between
ten and eleven. This last move lengthened the pit road and
front straight, and changed the course length from 2.214 to
2.238.

Formula One has long been rumored for Laguna, but the
realistic view is that it will never happen. There are
several reasons. Some safety issues still exist. The
track is short, and there are no passing zones. While it
is not out in the sticks, it is in a semi rural area, and
access for competitors and fans alike is a problem. The
local residential population (south of the highway, very
affluent) has a strong lobbying group, and have forced a
limit on the number of race weekends that can be held. And
the grandstands might hold 10,000, which means for CART you
have 70,000 just walking around. F1 would need a huge
expansion of the stands, which would destroy the character
of the place.

And there is no way that a track run for charity can take
a chance on hosting F1, and maybe losing $10 million. It's
fun to dream about, but there's no way F1 would ever come.

Amazingly, David B <spam (AT) davidbreach (DOT) co.uk> managed to post:

That pisses me off so Senna must be spinning like a top!

Imola, IMO, *used* to be a great track. From Variante Bassa to Tosa
could concievably be counted as one long straight, for overtaking
purposes, but *only* if you got Tamburello and Villeneuve spot on.
That was a challenge, admittedly it was a challenge that killed two F1
drivers in a weekend, but surely it could have been made safer without
destroying the track.

With modern run off areas and materials, could they redo Tamburello
and Villeneuve? While they're at it, they could put Acque Minerali
back to how it used to be.

===========================
Keep it between the ditches
HooDooWitch
===========================

HooDooWitch wrote:

They could put it back right the way it was. The cars can't be run as
low now as they could back then. No more sparks flying from the
untertray.

HooDooWitch <hoodoowitch (AT) nospam_please_baita (DOT) demon.co.uk> wrote:
Ah, unfortunately I was driving up and down the country for 6 hours on
Sunday, I only got to see the GP. Typical...

--
David
mailto:david (AT) davidbreach (DOT) co.uk