Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127122
w z ~ ~ ~ .. o <( ,.- :; .... CIl :::; U > U a:: 0 .... 0 :; 00 00 <, z <{ 0') :; C I""""l w a:: u. ~ c-r .... a:: ..c U <{ > '" c ;... ro w .... 0 ::E -' c;: .... u. <( a:: u a:: '" 0 .... 0 J: 11. In it s new. lengthened form. Laguna Seca Raceway w ill host the second round of the 1988 FIM World Championship Series. Countdown to the United States GP To Highw., 61 MonlereylS81iNlS Laguna prepares lor the world By Paul Carruthers MONTEREY, CA, FEB. 15 " O ur phones -h ave never been as busy as they h ave been for this event," 'said Lee Moselle, e utive director of t h e;Sports Car R a 'l1g Ass iation ~f the Mprtierey Penin- su la SCRAMP) du .ng a press! con'ference in trod ucing mem- ! ยท b ers 0 f t h e. med ra to th e new Iylengthened Laguna Seca RaceSOUTH eo"""DRY Ro..,O The .2 9 6 -m ile addition is clearly evident in the illustrat ion shown above'. (Below) The spectator view from above turn f our should prove to be a popular vantage spot; the entire new loop is visible from the hillside . 22 way, th e site of th e upcoming April 10 round of the FIM 250 and 500cc World Ch ampionship Road Ra cing Series. After excava tio n th at saw 100,000 cubic yards of earth moved a t th e faci lity, Laguna Seca Ra ceway has ' been lengthened from th e original 1.9 mil es to its present length of 2.196 mil es to meet FIM standards. The new circuit features an additio na l three turns, transforming th e origina l nine-corner track in to a n 11turn (seven left , fo ur right) co urse. T he FIM was sched uled to give the faci li ty a final ins pectio n o n Februarv 20. , A new loo p , taking th e track back into the infi eld from turn two a nd rejoining th e original track a t the o ld tu rn three, was added io give th e track the need ed len gth; the ori gina l turn four (now turn six ) has also been cha nge d. It 1I0.W features a tigh ter ' radius, givi ng the corner slow er speeds a nd more runoff a rea o n the a utsid e. T he cost of th e new loop a nd the cha nges to tu rn four have been es ti ma ted a t mor e than $ 1 million. Mose lle ra lsorannounced that th e 0!1 NBC television a t 2:00 p .m., Apnl 17, a week aft er th e event. The 250cc race will be telecast by ESPN o n April 23. People and Properties In c., the company handling th e TV rights to th e event, is also negotiating with o the r cou ntries in a n effort to give th e race, " wo rldwide co verage." . " It will mak e Laguna Seca and Montere y internati onalized, " Mosell e said. Mosell e a nd SCRAMP Presid ent Ed Magn er thanked three-tim e World Champion Kenn y Roberts for hi s efforts in making th e United States Grand Prix a reality. . " We don't think of Kenny as a rider. 1gu ess we never hav e," Magner said. " We think of him as a friend. " Rob erts, wh o was also in attendan ce a t th e pr ess conference , said, " I stood up in Europe and told everyo ne we wo u ld have a race here. I knew La guna would be the place to show off Am erica ; I'm glad it 's happen ed here a t Laguna. It 's a big co mmitm eri t fro m th e .peop le here a t Laguna. As a rider - an ol d rider - I' m very exci ted. It 's a good facil it y Ameri cans can be proud of. It shou ld be one hell of a show." Whi le describing the costs of the new co ns tru ction , Moselle pointed 500c~ !ace will -be sho wn