Laguna Seca first weekend on new surface

[Richard Hybels]

SCCA will be at Laguna next weekend after a total repave that was finished just a few days ago.
There are some theories afoot about what to expect including a crash fest.
Anyone have experience on a fresh repave?
Road America was said to be four seconds quicker for Indycar with a néw surface but I’m sure it has been raced on before they arrived.

[SteveG]

I have raced through 2 repaves at Sears Point and 1 at Laguna Seca.
Of the 3, the first Sears Point repave in the '80s was a disaster. It was paved in late fall then sealed 2 weeks before the first drivers school weekend. No one could make a lap without spinning on an extremely slick surface. The trick was to run rain tires. The next school 2 weeks later was much much better.
The second Sears Point repave was meh, racing surface was fine but the track had been significantly reconfigured so it had to be mostly relearned because what used to be difficult and dangerous wasn't any longer.
I can't recall if SCCA was the first race after the last Laguna Seca repave in the '00s but the track was smooth and really fast. I believe Chuck set a new lap record that was a couple of seconds faster than the previous.

My opinion - the racing surface will be fine for most classes and it will be faster. I'd be going with my car if it wasn't for events outside my control.

Steve

[Lastminuteracin]

I remember helping a buddy at that Sears Point school in the 80’s. It was slicker than snot. Like driving on ice. I’d hope technology has gotten better. I’d assume a little slick at first and gripping up every session there after. Unless of course it wasn’t allowed to cure properly and starts coming up. Praying for it to have been done right. .

[SteveG]

Unless of course it wasn’t allowed to cure properly and starts coming up. Praying for it to have been done right. .

Ummm, I believe the track management has indicated that the tarmac is properly cured, 8 days required was the statement. And I'm pretty sure that San Francisco Region SCCA and the 48 volunteer workers that are putting on this regional under their supplemental regulations that include required cameras and 15 watt rain lights are good to go.
To sort of quote Jim Morrison, I'm not sure petitioning the lord with prayer will make any difference.
I hope that the current 206 entries have a real good time next weekend that includes a free test day on Friday.


Steve

[SteveG]

I just learned that race weekend was cancelled...
The second hand information I have:
A formula car caught fire and burned a hole in the new tarmac yesterday, I don't recall which turn.
The county sent out a road inspector who was unhappy with the repair work AND found ripples forming on the outside of a few turns.
The same inspector returned at first light this morning, determined the surface was not ready for use then promptly canceled the rest of the weekend.
It was a big weekend (238 entries) for SFR SCCA. A good percentage of the entries came up from SoCal, I feel real bad for those who had big tows to attend.

AND they CANCELED the MotoAmerica Superbike race next weekend! This is usually a very big spectator event.

Steve

P.S. There is speculation that the repave was treated as a county road project (I.E. Lowest bidder) NOT a race track repave (I.E. custom tarmac and specialized engineering).

[Lotus7]

P.S. There is speculation that the repave was treated as a county road project (I.E. Lowest bidder) NOT a race track repave (I.E. custom tarmac and specialized engineering).

Given the political ****show that has surrounded Laguna for the last 5 years, this isn't out of the realm of possibility;
sad end result either way, as its such a beautiful track to race at.

[Rick Kirchner]

Evidently the pavement contractor was Granite Construction. If you live in the Southwest, you know that the majority of Granite's work is just ****.

However, it's largely due to the specs the states provide them with.

When I test drove for Honda at their huge track in Cantil, I was taking a familiarization ride with the facility manager. They have a stretch there called "the 101" that has that typical Granite Construction waviness. I made a Granite joke, and the facility guy said he was in charge of the paving for Honda, and that Granite did it all. It was just a difference in specs.

The main track was as smooth as Indianapolis.

[BeerBudgetRacing]

As I heard - Right before T8 (Top of the corkscrew) - offline as the driver moved offline while on fire..

Cancelling the MotoGP is a disaster. They were supposed to have some big dog and pony show about the upgrades and a ribbon cutting for the new bridge.

[Richard Hybels]

What looked to be an awesome weekend with twice as many FF and FC’s as normal we got on track for 30 minutes at 10:30. Track was nice and the guys faster than me found it a bit slippery but aside from a couple of offs no major problems. I usually get pretty beat after 30 minutes but not yesterday owing to the nice surface according to a couple of guys.
We went to grid for a 2pm session and sat and sat and sat. By 2:40 I fired up and went to my trailer . About 3PM they said that the day was over.
At 7:52 AM today got an email stating that the weekend was over,

An F1000 did burn to the ground in T8. What we heard was that fire officials were nervous about the oils in the fresh asphalt catching alight.
I feel badly for the prep shops and others that will lose a ton of money. One friend flew in from Colorado and many other FF guys drove 350-400 miles to come.

I just learned that race weekend was cancelled...
The second hand information I have:
A formula car caught fire and burned a hole in the new tarmac yesterday, I don't recall which turn.
The county sent out a road inspector who was unhappy with the repair work AND found ripples forming on the outside of a few turns.
The same inspector returned at first light this morning, determined the surface was not ready for use then promptly canceled the rest of the weekend.
It was a big weekend (238 entries) for SFR SCCA. A good percentage of the entries came up from SoCal, I feel real bad for those who had big tows to attend.

AND they CANCELED the MotoAmerica Superbike race next weekend! This is usually a very big spectator event.

Steve

P.S. There is speculation that the repave was treated as a county road project (I.E. Lowest bidder) NOT a race track repave (I.E. custom tarmac and specialized engineering).

[Hardingfv32]

I wonder if the Region is on the hook for the track repairs.

At the 60th FV @ Pitt we were charged $800 for Speedi Dri for our sessions oil downs.

Brian

[Bob Wright]

Every track FRP goes to has a schedule for track damage in the contract: Speedy dry ranges from $15/bag to $30/bag and higher. Guard rail is usually $1,000 per section; tire walls, track surface damage, and more all have a cost to the renter. Every Series I know (other than SCCA) passes the charges on to the competitor who caused the damage, regardless of fault.

[Richard Hybels]

This was on the Region Facebook and sounds pretty accurate. I was in the 4th group out and that problem at the crest of the hill was very apparent.

The shut down was not due to the track fire. That was rapidly repaired by Granite Construction and the go-ahead to race was given Saturday night. However, the track was inspected and various areas of the track were found to be failing; for example Turn 2 was failing due to the heavy brake zone, Turn 6 had similar problems as did several other areas. IMHO the track was simply not allowed to cure the proper amount of time. There is another significant problem at the crest of the start/finish straight at T1 where the track is improperly finished leading to a ripple/rise that sends the cars sideways at the crest at full throttle. This was experienced by many drivers. The proper decision was made to end the race weekend and address the problems. It will be interesting to see if the Moto GP motorcyle event is run next weekend. I doubt it but who knows?

[Richard Hybels]

Was a double post

[John Nesbitt]

I wonder if the Region is on the hook for the track repairs.

At the 60th FV @ Pitt we were charged $800 for Speedi Dri for our sessions oil downs.

Brian

Every track FRP goes to has a schedule for track damage in the contract: Speedy dry ranges from $15/bag to $30/bag and higher. Guard rail is usually $1,000 per section; tire walls, track surface damage, and more all have a cost to the renter. Every Series I know (other than SCCA) passes the charges on to the competitor who caused the damage, regardless of fault.

Regions are often billed for track damage and/or clean-up. The damage may be recoverable in part from SCCA insurance. Fairly seldom does the track or Region directly bill a driver (Barber may be the exception).

I remember being safety steward at VIR one weekend, when the production cars were being incontinent and the SMs uncontrolled. Many calls for cleanup or Armco repair.

I spent some time riding with the track EV chief. Whenever a call for Armco repair came in, the response was, "Is this billable?"

If the answer was No, they sent one truck; if the answer was Yes, two trucks.