Round 8: Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, Laguna Seca, CA. June 21 - 23

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 8: Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, Laguna Seca, CA. June 21 - 23

Apart from June 2002 and 2003, the Monterey Grand Prix has always been held in either September or October and sometimes it has also hosted the season finale. However this year the race is being held in June, after it was announced in August last year, before the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville, that the season finale from 2024 onwards would take place at Nashville.

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History
Laguna Seca's origins go back to the sports car races held at Pebble Beach in the 1950s, which used public roads through the Del Monte pine forests on the Monterey Peninsular. When road racing was abandoned on safety grounds by the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) in 1956, organisers sought an alternative, purpose built race track. $1.5 million was raised from local businesses and individuals, with the track being built in 1957, on part of the manoeuvres area and field artillery target range of the U.S. Army's Fort Ord.

The first race was held on November 9, 1957 and was won by Gerard Carlton "Pete" Lovely, an American racecar driver and businessman, driving a Ferrari 500 TR.

Sportscar racing has always been a mainstay at Laguna Seca, though the venue has hosted rounds of other racing series, including Can-Am, Trans-Am, Formula 5000, IMSA GT, CART, American Le Mans Series, Grand American, Monterey Historic Automobile Races and Speed World Challenge. Motorcycle races have also featured, including the FIM Superbike World Championship and MotoGP.

The Monterey Grand Prix dates back to 1960 and was traditionally been held in the autumn/fall, either in September or October. The race was first run on October 23, 1960 and was the final round of the USAC Road Racing Championship, which was won by legendary British driver Stirling Moss, in a Lotus 19-Climax.

After the USAC road racing series ended in 1962, the event became a non-championship sports car race for three years and then became part of the Can-Am schedule from 1966-1973. After the initial demise of Can-Am in 1974, the event shifted to Formula 5000 for two years, then to IMSA for two more years.

The revived Cam-Am series returned from 1978-1982. However in 1983, with the growing popularity of the CART IndyCar series, Laguna Seca became a perennial on the CART/Champ Car calendar through to 2004

The first CART event was the Cribari Wines 300K, on October 23, 1983 and was won by Italian Teo Fabi for Forsythe Racing, in a March 83C-Ford Cosworth DFX. The last race was won by Canadian Patrick Carpentier, for Forsythe Racing, in a Lola B04/00-Ford Cosworth XFE, on September 12, 2004.

After a brief hiatus from 2005-2007, the race was set to return as part of the Champ Car World Series in 2008. However, after series re-unification of Champ Car and the IRL, Sonoma, which had been part of the IRL season from 2005, took preference.

Sonoma is roughly 115 miles North of Laguna Seca, as the crow flies and held a "geographical exclusion" clause, which precluded IndyCar races from being held at both venues. In 2018 Monterey County pushed for IndyCar to return to Laguna Seca and with Sonoma having run at a loss, Laguna Seca was added to the 2019 calendar after a fifteen-year hiatus, signing an initial three-year deal and replacing Sonoma as the IndyCar season finale for 2019.

In 2020 the race was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic but was back on the calendar in 2021. However, the 2021 race calendar was still being affected by the pandemic and the Long Beach Grand Prix, which was originally due to take place on 18 April 2021, as the third round on the calendar, was rescheduled for 26 September replacing Laguna Seca as the 2021 season finale. The following year, Laguna Seca returned to the 2022 calendar as the season finale.

On August 3rd last year, just before the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville, It was announced that the season finale from 2024 onwards, would take place at Nashville and the Monterey Grand Prix at Laguna Seca would take place in June.

Some Trivia:
The driver with the most wins: Bobby Rahal, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987.
Team with the most wins: Team Penske, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 2000.
During qualifying for last year's race, Will Power took his 68th career pole, breaking Mario Andretti's all-time pole record.

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Track layout
Since 1957, the track has undergone some very significant changes, the first one in 1988 being the most noteable, as it redefined the visual layout of the track. The original left-hander at Turn 2, became a 180º hairpin, which created an infield loop that also extended the track from its original 1.9-mile length to 2.214-miles.

The second most significant change, was in 1996, when Turns 9-10-11 were reprofiled. This had the effect of slightly extended the start-finish straight, as well as the run-off for the final turns.

Further upgrades were funded by Yamaha, in time for the tracks hosting of the 8th round of the 2005 MotoGP season. In 2006, an additional $7 million of major upgrades were made, to improve safety and the facilities for motorcycle races. This included resurfacing of the entire track, while extra run-off was added to Turn 1,which meant that a portion of the hillside, as well as the former media centre building that was above it, was removed and a state-of-the-art hospitality center, with commanding views of the track replaced it. There was also a change to the track from Turn 6 to Turns 8 and 8A, otherwise known as the Corkscrew, with run-off added to both sides of the straightaway and the dip just before the Corkscrew flattened.

The Corkscrew is considered one of motorsport's most challenging corners. At the apex to Turn 8 (the left-hander and entry to The Corkscrew), the elevation change is a 12 percent drop. By the time a race car reaches the apex of Turn 8A (the right-hander), the elevation is at its steepest, with an 18 percent drop. In total, the course drops 59 feet between the entrance of Turn 8 to the exit of Turn 8A, in only 450 feet of track. From Turn 8 to Turn 9, the elevation falls 109 feet. It was at the Corkscrew, in 1996, that Alex Zenardi pulled of what became known as "The Pass", on Bryan Herta, on the last lap to win the Bank of America 300.

Further renovation was completed in June last year, which included resurfacing the entire track, as well as replacing the pedestrian bridge at the start/finish line, all costing approximately $20 million.

1957 original layout:


1988 layout:


1996 to now:



Length: 2.238 miles (3.602 km)
Turns: 11

Lap record:
Christian Lundgaard. September 9, 2023 - Dallara IR18-Honda HI23TT V6.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
1:06.4610, 121.226 mph (195.0943357 km/h)
NTT IndyCar Series

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Last Year's Race:
https://www.indycar.com/news/2023/09...cs-race-laguna

Pole:
Felix Rosenqvist
Arrow McLaren
Dallara IR18-Chevrolet Indy V6

Winner:
Scott Dixon
Chip Ganassi Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda HI23TT V6

Laps: 95
Distance: 212.610 Miles (342.163 Km)
Race Time: 2:17:41.6400
Average Speed: 103.277 Mph (166.208 Km/h)

Fastest lap: Alex Palou - Chip Ganassi Racing,
Lap 52. 68.4168 sec.
117.761 mph (189.51796 Km/h)

Cautions: 8
Laps: 35

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Practice and Qualifications

Practice 1
Friday, Jun 21
5:00 PM - 6:15 PM ET

Practice 2
Saturday, Jun 22
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 1 Group 1
Saturday, Jun 22
5:15 PM - 5:25 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 1 Group 2
Saturday, Jun 22
5:40 PM - 5:50 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 2
Saturday, Jun 22
6:05 PM - 6:15 PM ET

Qualifications - Firestone Fast 6
Saturday, Jun 22
6:30 PM - 6:45 PM ET

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Race Broadcast
Sunday, Jun 23
USA, Peacock, 6:00 PM ET
Sky Sports F1, 11:00 PM BST, 10:00 PM UTC