Round 17: Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, Laguna Seca, CA. September 9 - 11.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 17: Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, Laguna Seca, CA. September 9 - 11.

Here we are, at the final race of the season. 17 rounds doesn't seem enough but that's a matter for a separate discussion.

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After a fifteen-year hiatus IndyCar returned to Laguna Seca, replacing Sonoma as the season finale for 2019. In 2020 the race was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic but was back last season, though as the penultimate race on the calendar, with Long Beach being put back and hosting the seaon finale. This year, Laguna Seca is back as the season's finale.

Track 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 racing was abandoned on safety
grounds 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 manouver 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 Pete Lovely driving a Ferrari. Sportscar racing has always been a mainstay but since opening, the track 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, as well motorcycle series including the FIM Superbike World Championship and MotoGP.

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

After USAC's 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 and then became a perenial on the CART/Champ Car calendar, from 1983
through 2004. The first CART race was won by Italian Teo Fabi, for Forsythe Racing, in a March 83C-Cosworth DFX, on October 23, 1983. 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 unification between Champ Car and the IRL, Sonoma, which had been part of the IRL
season from 2005 took preference.

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

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.


Track Layout:
Since 1957, the track has undergone some very significant changes, the first one in 1988 being the most notable, 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 re-profiled. This had the effect of slightly overextended 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. An additional $7 million of major improvements were made in 2006, to boost safety and facilities for
motorcycle races.

The entire track was resurfaced, while extra run-off was added to Turn One, 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 venue 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 audaciously pulled of what became known as "The Pass", on Bryan Herta, on the last lap to win.


Original 1957 layout:



1988 layout:



1996 to now:



Length: 2.238 miles (3.602 km)
Turns: 11

Lap record:
Hélio Castroneves.
September 9, 2000. 1:07.722, 118.969 mph (191.462 km/h)
Reynard 2KI-Honda HR-0
FedEx Championship Series

Last Year's Race:
https://www.indycar.com/news/2021/09/09-19-laguna-race

Pole:
Colton Herta 1:10.7994, 113.798 mph (183.140 km/h)
Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian
Dallara IR18-Honda HI21R Indy-V-6

Winner:
Colton Herta
Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian
Dallara IR18-Honda HI21R Indy-V-6

Laps: 95
Distance: 212.610 Miles (342.163 km)
Race Time: 2:02:31.5444
Average Speed: 104.114 mph (167.555 km/h)
Fastest lap: osef Newgarden, Team Penske, Lap 10, 73.0826 sec. 110.242 mph (177.417 km/h)

Cautions: 1
Laps: 2 - 3


Practice and Qualifications
Practice 1
Friday, Sep 9
5:30 PM - 6:45 PM ET

Practice 2
Saturday, Sep 10
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 1 Group 1
Saturday, Sep 10
5:05 PM - 5:15 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 1 Group 2
Saturday, Sep 10
5:25 PM - 5:35 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 2
Saturday, Sep 10
5:45 PM - 5:55 PM ET

Qualifications - Firestone Fast 6
Saturday, Sep 10
6:05 PM - 6:20 PM ET


Broadcast:
NBC. Sept 11, 3:30pm ET, 7:30pm UTC, 8:30pm BST
Sky Sports F1. 8:00pm BST

[NaBUru38]

The South Remembers

Gonchi Rodriguez (1971-1999)

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

The South Remembers

Gonchi Rodriguez (1971-1999)

We do, too.

That said, I love open wheel racing at this track. Looking forward to it!

Excellent intro, bjs. The original circuit was nutso.

[joeb]

Sounds like tire degradation is the name of the game at Laguna after fp1. At least on the reds teams were reporting a 4 second drop from beginning to end of a stint. Could make for some interesting running and strategy amongst the championship leaders.

sent during haircut

[bjohnsonsmith]

Qualifying Result:

Will Power takes his 68th career Pole, breaking Mario Andretti’s all-time record.

The other championship contenders, Alex Palou, Pato O'ward, Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden, were 5th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 13th and 25th. Newgarden was launched off the left-hand inside curb at the top of the Corkscrew, which sent him into a spin, bringing out the red flag, which meant his two fast laps were invalidated and he couldn’t progress to the next round.

[Mogster]

Herta seems to be having a nightmare, I wonder if the F1 interest is proving to be a distraction. His recent performances are hardly going to give Marko leverage with the FIA.

Great effort from Ilott.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Cleanish start.

[broadrun96]

Kellet got lucky there sideways without getting drilled blind over the hill

[bjohnsonsmith]

A bit odd the yellow wasn't thrown immediately.

[joeb]

I've been so into watching the game on one screen and the race on another that I forgot to post anything here!

It's been a pretty good race but it looks like the championship is going to fall into Powers lap with 14 laps to go. I hope everything stays clean and nothing gets jumbled up, because the effort by all the championship contenders was epic today. Okay really maybe just Josef and Will, but it's been exciting.

sent during haircut

[joeb]

Oh and what car is Alex Palou driving today? It is apparently a different class than the regular Indy cars everyone else has.

sent during haircut

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Will Power on his second driver's championship.

[tux]

I cant be the only one that doesnt want them to resurface the track? It adds a unique challenge.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by joeb

Oh and what car is Alex Palou driving today? It is apparently a different class than the regular Indy cars everyone else has.

sent during haircut

Well if he drives for CGR next year we can expect more of the same....

But if he's with McLaren SMP can they give him a car like that?

[fieldodreams79]

I think it's known here I don't care for Will Power much but I'm pleased to see him win a second. He's really good, and quite honestly should have won more championships, but Will Power....

Good for him and his team. Honestly happy for them.

Oh and dominate from Alex. Good for him.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by tux

I cant be the only one that doesnt want them to resurface the track? It adds a unique challenge.

It will lose something for sure, but perhaps the challenge just shifts to a new area? Even higher tire degradation could result maybe?

Originally Posted by Teretonga

Well if he drives for CGR next year we can expect more of the same....

But if he's with McLaren SMP can they give him a car like that?

I was thinking about that by the end of the race when Oward had fallen off a cliff. Multiple races this year he was fast for the first half and then the final stint just goes backwards.

sent during haircut

[bjohnsonsmith]

Race Result:

Alex Palou's win was ironically his only one of the season, as he ended his reign as series champion.

Penske nearly made it a championship clean sweep, with Newgarden 2nd and McLauhlin 4th, just 11 points behind Dixon.

A good finish in 5th place gave Christian Lundgaard Rookie of The Year.

The Manufacturer's Championship went to Chevrolet.

I thoroughly enjoyed the race and I have always liked Laguna Seca as a race track. It was my home track when I lived in California, so maybe a bit of bias creeping in. Back in the CART days it produced some good season finales and this year was no exception, with a fitting finale to what I thought was overall a good season. A shame the season isn't a couple of races longer.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by joeb

Oh and what car is Alex Palou driving today? It is apparently a different class than the regular Indy cars everyone else has.

sent during haircut

Ganassi did a mistake and swapped Palou's and Dixon's cars... :P

[NaBUru38]

Congrats to Power, his nine podiums were enough to defeat Newgarden's five wins.

[NaBUru38]

The Laguna Seca race averaged 507 k viewers on NBC, including 137 k viewers P18-49. That's awful.


https://showbuzzdaily.com/articles/s...9-11-2022.html

[fergus_r]

Attendance at the track also looked terrible.

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by joeb

Oh and what car is Alex Palou driving today? It is apparently a different class than the regular Indy cars everyone else has.

sent during haircut

I was half expecting to hear about a post-race penalty because the car was underweight, or something. But I guess it simply was that the team nailed the setup and Palou drove the socks off it.

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by joeb

I was thinking about that by the end of the race when Oward had fallen off a cliff. Multiple races this year he was fast for the first half and then the final stint just goes backwards.

He has developed rather a reputation for chewing up tires, hasn't he?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by rwintle

I was half expecting to hear about a post-race penalty because the car was underweight, or something. But I guess it simply was that the team nailed the setup and Palou drove the socks off it.

He got a new engine and a six place grid penalty, after Honda Performance Development found an issue with it, which meant he started 10th. That new engine certainly did the job.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by fergus_r

Attendance at the track also looked terrible.

One of the problems with Laguna Seca is the grandstand seating. There are four stands on the start/finish straight and two more stands by Turn 4 and that's it.

The main issue though, is Laguna Seca is badly in need of an upgrade. John Narigi, president and general manager of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca says in this article from the Monterey Herald: ''the problem is the facility is tired and filled with deferred maintenance''.

https://www.montereyherald.com/2021/...seca-projects/