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, chosen after the nearby Pebble Beach Road Races were abandoned for being too dangerous. In 1974 the property was deeded to the Monterey County Parks Department, becoming part of the park system.
The first race was held on November 9, 1957, won by Pete Lovely driving a Ferrari. In subsequent years the track hosted USRRC, Can-Am, Trans-Am, Formula 5000, IMSA GT, CART, IndyCar, the American Le Mans Series, Grand American, Monterey Historic Automobile Races, Speed World Challenge, AMA, the Superbike World Championship, and MotoGP — though 125/Moto3 and 250/Moto2 classes are not admitted.
The circuit's signature feature is the "Corkscrew" at Turns 8 and 8A — a downhill, blind-crest combination with 59 ft (18 m) of elevation drop, widely regarded as one of the most challenging turns in motorsport.
Turn 2, a technical double-apex, has been named the Andretti Hairpin in honor of Mario Andretti, a former Formula 1 World Champion. Turn 9 is called Rainey Curve after 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle champion Wayne Rainey, a resident of nearby Salinas, California. The straight between Turns 6 and 7 is known as the Rahal Straight, named after four-time consecutive Champ Car race winner Bobby Rahal.
The original track was 1.9 miles (3.1 km) in length. In 1988 an entire infield section was added — present-day turns 3, 4, and 5 — extending the circuit to its current length to meet FIM minimum-length requirements for MotoGP events. Subsequent modifications included relocation of pedestrian bridges and expansion of gravel pits outside turns 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10. The original media center was demolished in 2006 to provide additional runoff at Turn 1. Also in 2006, the hump on the Rahal Straight was flattened to accommodate MotoGP riders, though some argue this increased wind effects on motorcycles.
In 1989, following the end of the Formula One United States Grand Prix in Detroit, Laguna Seca was considered as a replacement venue. The track had been improved partly with this in mind, but was ultimately deemed too remote and too small for an F1 crowd; Phoenix was granted the Grand Prix instead.
Champ Car racing was a prominent fixture from 1983 through 2004, before the race moved to the San Jose Grand Prix. On the last lap of the 1996 CART race, Alex Zanardi passed Bryan Herta on the inside of the Corkscrew to take the victory. Uruguayan driver Gonzalo Rodríguez died during practice for the 1999 CART race after crashing at the same corner; runoff was subsequently installed at the end of the Rahal Straight.
Champ Car announced in September 2007 a return to Laguna Seca over the May 16–18, 2008 weekend, but the merger of Champ Car and IndyCar resulted in cancellation. On July 17, 2018, IndyCar announced a return to Laguna Seca, with the event held September 20–22, 2019.
On August 20, 2006, Toyota F1 test driver Ricardo Zonta set an unofficial lap record of 1:06.309, beating the previous record of 1:07.722 set by Hélio Castroneves in a Penske Champ Car during qualifying for the 2000 CART Honda Grand Prix of Monterey. The record was taken by Sébastien Bourdais on March 10, 2007 (1:05.880 during Champ Car Spring Training), then again by Marc Gené on May 19, 2012 (1:05.786 in a Ferrari F2003-GA during the 2012 Ferrari Racing Days).
Christian Lundgaard holds the unofficial qualifying record at 1:06.4610. At the 2008 Monterey Sports Car Championships, David Brabham set a pole 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 of 1:21.811 on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.
The 2019 McLaren Senna holds the current production car lap record: driver Randy Pobst recorded 1:27.62 during MotorTrend's 2019 best driver car award testing. In 2018, Earl Bamber clocked an unofficial 1:07 in the Porsche 919 EVO without deliberately targeting the record.
The track hosts the annual Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (formerly the Monterey Historic Automobile Races), considered one of the two greatest historic racing events alongside the Goodwood Festival in England.
Non-racing uses include the Sea Otter Classic cycling festival, which has become the largest cycling festival in the United States. On September 17, 1987, Pope John Paul II celebrated mass at the raceway before 72,000 people. The Grateful Dead performed five times at the track — twice in May 1987 (filming the music video for "Touch of Grey" later that night) and three consecutive nights in July 1987. In spring 2020 the raceway hosted graduation ceremonies for local schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The track's primary corporate sponsor is WeatherTech, a partnership that began in April 2018. Previously, Mazda held the naming rights for 17 years. Day-to-day operations and event management are handled by A&D Narigi Consulting, LLC, with John V. Narigi serving as General Manager and President. Until January 1, 2020, operations were managed by the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP), a non-profit organization. A 2015 study by California State University, Monterey Bay commissioned by SCRAMP found the raceway generated $62.1 million to the Monterey County economy and $5.2 million in state and local taxes.
Gonzalo Rodríguez — 1999 Honda Grand Prix of Monterey
Dani Rivas — 2015 MotoAmerica (SBK meet)
Bernat Martínez — 2015 MotoAmerica (SBK meet)
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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