Salinas, California · US
Famous for the legendary Corkscrew turn, this 2.238-mile road course in Monterey County hosts IMSA, IndyCar, and the Monterey Motorsports Reunion during Car Week.
Laguna Seca is short, hilly and unforgiving, with around 55 metres of elevation change packed into just over 3.6 kilometres of dry, dusty California hillside. The Corkscrew is its signature and one of the most distinctive corners anywhere: a blind crest at the top followed by an immediate plunging left-right that drops roughly 18 metres between apexes. Rainey Curve follows immediately and catches out anyone who compromised the exit; the Andretti Hairpin at Turn 2 is a patient, technical double-apex.
The circuit is built into a natural bowl, so spectator sightlines are excellent and the walk up to the Corkscrew is worth doing at least once. General admission parking is free during major events, and Monterey-Salinas Transit Line 38 runs from the Monterey Conference Center. Monterey and Carmel are the obvious bases, and Car Week in August turns the whole peninsula into an event.
The circuit was built in 1957 on part of what was then the US Army's Fort Ord, after the Pebble Beach Road Races through the Del Monte Forest were abandoned as too dangerous for the speeds cars had reached. Around $1.5 million was raised from local businesses and individuals, and the track was constructed in about 60 days.
The first event, the eighth running of the Pebble Beach Road Races, was held on 9 November 1957 and won by Pete Lovely in a Ferrari 500 TR. Local folklore holds that the Corkscrew's layout was improvised: the construction crew were heading to lunch and the foreman told the bulldozer driver to get down the hill any way he could.
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