Round 15: Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, Laguna Seca, CA. September 18 - 19.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 15: Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, Laguna Seca, CA. September 18 - 19.


After a fifteen-year hiatus IndyCar returned to Laguna Seca, replacing Sonoma as the season finale for 2019. Last year the race was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic but is back this season, though as the penultimate race on the calendar.

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-Ford 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 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. 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.

1957 original layout:



1988 layout:



1996 to now:



Length: 2.238 miles (3.602 km)

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


Previous race:
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...mpion/4546433/

Previous Pole:
Colton Herta 1:10.1405, 114.867 mph (184.860 km/h)
Harding Steinbrenner Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda HI19R V6 Indy

Previous winner:
Colton Herta
Harding Steinbrenner Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda HI19R V6 Indy

Laps: 90
Distance: 201.420 Miles (324.154 km)
Race Time: 01:53:56.9845
Average Speed: 106.057 mph (170.682 km/h)
Fastest lap: Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, lap 5. 72.2310 sec, 111.542 mph (179.509 km/h)

Cautions: 1
Laps 3: (45-47)


Broadcast:
NBC. Sept 19, 3:00pm ET, 7:00pm UTC, 8:00pm BST
Sky Sports F1, Sept 19 8:00pm BST

[JHamilton]

I understand Grosjean bent the pace car up doing some filming for Honda. Everyone is fine, but Marshall said it was so bad, they covered it up on the roll back!

[mstets]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

I understand Grosjean bent the pace car up doing some filming for Honda. Everyone is fine, but Marshall said it was so bad, they covered it up on the roll back!

He totally overcooked it at T9, hit the tire wall head on and the air bags popped. He and Jones jumped out immediately.


Once again I missed saving group 1 qualifying results. Herta was quickest, Rahal about .009 slower. They were the only ones under 1:11.

[mstets]

Seems like RLL has finally found some qualifying pace as Askew was fastest in group two.

[mstets]

Here are the contenders for pole: 2 Penske, 3 Ganassi, 3 Andretti, 2 RLL, 1 each from Carlin and McLaren. Chilton has been looking good recently.

[mstets]

Fast 12 results. Rahal got too much curb on his fast lap and spun.

[mstets]

Herta gets the pole.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Qualifying result:

Colton Herta is on pole again, having got pole in 2019 when Laguna Seca replaced Sonoma as the season finale. He went on to win, so can he do it again?

Championship leader Alex Palou is 5th. Second place championship contender Pato O'Ward nearly lost it at the Corckscrew, ruining his fast lap and is 6th. The other two championship contenders, 3rd Josef Newgarden and 4th Scott Dixon, are 17th and 9th.

Oliver Askew was impressive 4th spot on the grid, making his return to IndyCar with RLL.

Will Power is top Chevy in 3rd spot.

[GregUK]

Turn 12 is quite nice, but not as nice as Sonoma's Ernie's

[NaBUru38]

Remember Gonzalo Rodr?*guez.


Overtaking is rather complicated.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Remember Gonzalo Rodr?*guez.


Overtaking is rather complicated.

Rodriguez's fatal crash was during qualifying, not during the actual race.

[bjohnsonsmith]

A clean start, with Colton Herta taking the lead.

[bjohnsonsmith]

FCY as Herta and Rossi tangle and Rossi goes off.

[bjohnsonsmith]

A bit of argy bargy from Ro Gros with Jimmie Johnson, Johnson coming off worse.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Colton Herta on back to back wins at Laguna Seca.

[The Fat Clerk]

Well done Romain, great drive.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by The Fat Clerk

Well done Romain, great drive.

I'm only on 15 to go but he just made Pato look terrible with those fresh reds. Pato does not treat his tires well does he

[NaBUru38]

Great race, with qute a few overtakes.


Grosjean was the big show.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

A bit of argy bargy from Ro Gros with Jimmie Johnson, Johnson coming off worse.

Wow, well that was coming from Pruitt trying to get Jimmie to block and Romain learning he can send it and most will yield. Rossi did the right thing later and let him through and let Palou through even though they're both chasing his teammate.

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Grosjean was the big show.

Fully agree with that part, the majority of the race early was a bit of meh. You could see teams making different moves and hoping for yellows to gain through pit strategy. Romain brought more action, even without the divebombs, with his lap speeds being seconds faster and the math making it interesting.

[NaBUru38]

Standings after Laguna Seca:

1. ESP Álex Palou (Ganassi Honda), 517
2. MEX Pato O'Ward (Mclaren SP Honda), 482
3. USA Josef Newgarden (Penske Chevrolet), 469
4. NZL Scott Dixon (Ganassi Honda), 445


Newgarden could theoretically win the championship if he does a Grend Chelem and Palou crashes out on lap 1 or something like that.

[mstets]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Wow, well that was coming from Pruitt trying to get Jimmie to block and Romain learning he can send it and most will yield. Rossi did the right thing later and let him through and let Palou through even though they're both chasing his teammate.



Fully agree with that part, the majority of the race early was a bit of meh. You could see teams making different moves and hoping for yellows to gain through pit strategy. Romain brought more action, even without the divebombs, with his lap speeds being seconds faster and the math making it interesting.

I enjoyed seeing Romain's charge to the front in last stint, but the dive bomb into Johnson at the corkscrew looked like avoidable contact to me.


For a track that everyone said would be hard to pass on, there were a lot more passes than I expected. It would have been nice to see some passes for the first couple of positions but I thought this was the best road course event of the season.

[mstets]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Standings after Laguna Seca:

1. ESP Álex Palou (Ganassi Honda), 517
2. MEX Pato O'Ward (Mclaren SP Honda), 482
3. USA Josef Newgarden (Penske Chevrolet), 469
4. NZL Scott Dixon (Ganassi Honda), 445


Newgarden could theoretically win the championship if he does a Grend Chelem and Palou crashes out on lap 1 or something like that.

That's what it would take for Josef. If Palou starts at Long Beach he will get 5 points. If Josef takes pole, leads the most laps and wins he gets 54, which would put him at 523. Palou has 517 going in to Long Beach so would only have to finish 23rd to score the 7 points needed to finish in front of Newgarden, which leaves the other contenders out of the discussion. My take is that Palou will be the series champion unless he doesn't start or has a very early DNF at Long Beach.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by mstets

I enjoyed seeing Romain's charge to the front in last stint, but the dive bomb into Johnson at the corkscrew looked like avoidable contact to me.


For a track that everyone said would be hard to pass on, there were a lot more passes than I expected. It would have been nice to see some passes for the first couple of positions but I thought this was the best road course event of the season.

I agree with you on the corkscrew incident. And I think at any other point in the race with any other cars it would have been called a penalty, but we were enjoying watching Romain push through the field and so it was allowed for the show.

Herta really seems to be ace at this track. I can't imagine what it would be like to drive one of these cars around Laguna seca, and of all the sports car races I've watched there over the years I feel like the helicopter shots at this race gave a better feel for the elevation change and I have seen on others.

Palou did what he needed today and kept the contenders behind him. The pressure will certainly be on at Long Beach! And to that matter, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the whole season being decided on a street track. There is so much that could go wrong that's not your fault in those tight confines, I'm sure Palou is just hoping he is on pole so he does not have to get caught up in any first lap shenanigans.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Race result:

Alex Palou extends his lead and is now 35 points ahead of Pato O'Ward, as they go onto the final round at Long Beach this coming weekend.

Josef Newgarden has a mathematical chance of winning but Scott Dixon, who was in contention before the race at Laguna Seca, isn't any more.

Some notable drives, especially Ro Gro who was 3rd and a solid 4th place finish from Graham Rahal.

Honda won their 10th Manufacturer's Championship.

[rustyfan]

Herta was obviously in a league of his own, but I enjoyed the racing behind him - Grosjean in particular put on one heckuva show.