Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved road racing track near both Salinas and Monterey, California, United States. It was built in 1957 and is used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing.
The racetrack is long, with a elevation change. Its eleven turns are highlighted by the circuit's signature turn, the downhill-plunging "Corkscrew" at Turns 8 and 8A. A variety of racing, exhibition, and entertainment events are held at the raceway, ranging from superkarts to sports car racing to music festivals. Laguna Seca is classified as an FIA Grade Two circuit.
The name Laguna Seca is Spanish for dry lake: the area where the track now lies was once a lake, and the course was built around the dry lake bed. After the course was reconfigured, two artificial ponds were added. The track is featured in Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo games.
History
The earliest development of the local area occurred in 1867 with the founding of the nearby Laguna Seca Ranch, which has operated continuously for 140 years with grazing and equestrian uses.Environmental Site Assessment: Laguna Seca Ranch, Earth Metrics Inc., on file with the County of Monterey (1989)
The track was built in 1957 at a cost of $1.5 million raised from local businesses and individuals on part of the US Army's Fort Ord (a maneuver area and field artillery target range) after the nearby Pebble Beach Road Races were abandoned for being too dangerous. In 1974 the property was deeded over to the Monterey County Parks Department and continues to be part of the park system.
The lead designer of the track was the young architect Wallace Holm who served as Chairman of the Site Development and Maintenance Committee for SCRAMP. When the bulldozers came in, he drew the path out on the dirt, and then walked around in a circle to show them where to go. He said: "..like any young architect, I envisioned something as grand as the Empire State Building, but it didn’t just happen that way. Like many things that happen in life, the race track was created by committee." Wallace Holm was the owner of Wallace Holm & Associates, later Wallace Holm Architects, who also designed the Aguajito Road County Courthouse and the old library at Monterey Peninsula College.
The first race, held on November 9, 1957, was won by Pete Lovely driving a Ferrari. In the intervening years, the track has hosted USRRC, Can-Am, Trans-Am, Formula 5000, IMSA GT, CART, Indy Car, American Le Mans Series, Grand American, Monterey Historic Automobile Races, Speed World Challenge, AMA (American Motorcyclist Association), WSBK Superbike World Championship and MotoGP motorcycle races (but 125/Moto3 and 250/Moto2 are not admitted).
The day-to-day operations of the track, along with the management and promotion of major racing events, are now handled by A&D Narigi Consulting, LLC. John V. Narigi is the General Manager and President. Until January 1, 2020, it was managed by the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP), which is a non-profit organization. With oversight by a board of local residents, SCRAMP operates with a professional staff on-site with the goal of generating income through the operations of the racetrack which is then redistributed to local charities.
The track itself has undergone significant changes over the past two decades to meet evolving safety homologation requirements of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and other sanctioning bodies. Changes include the addition of the entire infield area in 1988 (present-day turns 3, 4, and 5, eliminating the straight that started at present-day turn 2 and ended at present-day turn 5) extending the track from its original length to meet the minimum-track-length criteria of the FIM for MotoGP events, plus the more recent relocation of pedestrian bridges and embankments, and the expansion of gravel pits outside turns 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 for additional runoff. The original media center was demolished in 2006 to make way for additional run-off room in Turn 1. Also in 2006, the 'hump' at the top of the Rahal Straight was flattened to accommodate the MotoGP riders, though some claim that this increases the wind effects that can perturb a race motorcycle. Remnants of the old configuration can still be seen from the parking lot between turns two and five. They are found underneath a road leading to the parking area for entrant trailers and RVs.
The famous Turn 8 and 8A combination, now called the Zanardi Corkscrew, is considered one of the motorsport world's most challenging turns, due to the drop in elevation as well as its blind crest and apex on the uphill approach.
Turn 2, with its difficult and technical double-apex, has been renamed the 'Andretti Hairpin', in honor racing ledged Mario Andretti, while Turn 9 has been renamed 'Rainey Curve' in honor of 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion Wayne Rainey, a resident of nearby Salinas, California. Also, the straight that runs between Turn 6 and Turn 7 has been renamed the 'Rahal Straight' as a tribute to Bobby Rahal, who won four straight CART races at the circuit between 1984 and 1987. Turns 8 and 8A are scheduled to be renamed Zanardi Corkscrew for Alessandro Zanardi as part of the 2026 IndyCar weekend as a tribute following his death; his final-lap pass of Bryan Herta at that corner for the lead of the 1996 CART race is regarded as one of the track's most famous moments.
A CART/Champ Car weekend had been a prominent event from 1983 through 2004, when its spot on the calendar was shifted to the San Jose Grand Prix. Uruguayan driver Gonzalo Rodríguez died during the practice session of the 1999 CART race after crashing at the Corkscrew. Because of the incident, runoff was installed at the end of the Rahal Straight.
Champ Car announced on September 11, 2007, that they would be returning the Northern California race to Laguna Seca from San Jose over the May 16–18 weekend in 2008.Champ Car > News Tuesday, September 11, 2007 But the subsequent merger of Champ Car and IndyCar resulted in the race being canceled; the IRL already had a race on the schedule at Sonoma Raceway and that track's promoters exercised a clause in their race contract which gave it exclusive rights to host the IndyCars within a 150-mile radius. The Sonoma races struggled for attendance over time, though, and on July 17, 2018, IndyCar announced their return to Laguna Seca, with the event to be held the weekend of September 20–22, 2019; the race has marked the end of the IndyCar season in most years since it rejoined the schedule.
The track is also the site of the annual Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, formerly known as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races. The event features an eclectic mixture of race cars on the course. Each year features a different marque. Considered one of the two greatest historic racing events (along with the Goodwood Festival in England), attendance often rivals, or surpasses the professional racing events listed above.
There are many permanent dry and hook-up camping facilities located at the raceway, which are available year-round as part of the Laguna Seca Recreation Area, the county park in which the racetrack is set.
The track's primary corporate sponsor is WeatherTech which began in April 2018. As part of the sponsorship, the track is now officially referred to as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Previously, the sponsorship belonged to Mazda for 17 years with the track being known as Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
A 2015 study by California State University, Monterey Bay, and commissioned by SCRAMP states that the raceway generated $62.1 million (2015 USD) to the Monterey County economy and $5.2 million in state and local taxes.
Layout history
Lap records On August 20, 2006, Toyota F1 test driver Ricardo Zonta set an unofficial lap record of 1:06.309. The previous record time was 1:07.722, set by Hélio Castroneves in a Penske Champ Car during qualifying for the 2000 CART Honda Grand Prix of Monterey. The unofficial record was re-taken by a Champ Car on March 10, 2007, by Sébastien Bourdais, who lapped in 1:05.880 during Champ Car Spring Training. The unofficial record was again re-taken by a Formula One car on May 19, 2012, by Marc Gené, who lapped in 1:05.786 in a Ferrari F2003-GA during the 2012 Ferrari Racing Days.
Christian Lundgaard is the unofficial qualifying record-holder with a lap time of 1:06.4610.
At the 2008 Monterey Sports Car Championships, David Brabham set a pole position time of 1:10.103 in a Le Mans Prototype.
At the 2012 United States motorcycle Grand Prix, Jorge Lorenzo set a pole time of 1:20.554 on the Yamaha YZR-M1. During the 2014 Superbike World Championship season, Tom Sykes set the superbike qualifying record time of 1:21.811 on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.
The 2019 McLaren Senna holds the current production car lap record. Driver Randy Pobst piloted the unmodified McLaren to a 1:27.62 lap time during MotorTrend's 2019 best driver car award testing.
The 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS previously held the current unofficial production car lap record with 1:28.30.
The Porsche 918 Spyder held the previous unofficial production car lap record with 1:29.89.
A Mission Motors Mission R, ridden by Steve Rapp, previously held the outright EV lap record with a time of 1:31.376. This was set during qualifying for the 2011 FIM e-Power International Championship/TTXGP World Series race.
In 2018, Earl Bamber clocked an unofficial best lap time of 1:07 around Laguna Seca in the Porsche 919 EVO, despite not intentionally trying to set a lap record.
A McLaren MP4/13, driven by Pato O'Ward set an unofficial lap time of 1:10.24 at the 2021 Velocity Invitational festival.
All-time unofficial lap records Type Event Driver Vehicle Time Date Outright lap record 2012 Ferrari Racing Days Marc Gené Ferrari F2003-GA 1:05.786 7 March 2012 All-time qualifying lap record 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Christian Lundgaard Dallara IR-18 1:06.4610 9 September 2023 Electric car lap record 2024 Motorsports Reunion Philip Kadoorie McMurtry Spéirling PURE VP1 1:18.413 17 August 2024 Motorcycle qualifying lap record 2012 United States motorcycle Grand Prix Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha YZR-M1 1:20.554 28 July 2012 Production car Private event Joel Miller Czinger 21C 1:24.750 26 August 2024 Autonomous racing time trial lap record 2025 IAC @ Laguna Seca PoliMOVE IAC AV-24 1:29.792 24 July 2025 Electric motorcycle qualifying lap record 2024 AHRMA Classic Motofest Jayson Uribe LightFighter v2.0 1:30.794 20 July 2024
Official race lap records
As of August 2026, the fastest official race lap records at Laguna Seca for different classes are listed as: