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/127255
~ L G N SECAPREVIEW Aracer's eye'view of Laguna Seca AU A a ....... TURNONE: Turn one is flat out o n a 250. It doesn 't even really feel like a ....... corner, but you change into sixth gear as you go over th e rise. _ TURN TWO: After yo u crest the hill, you th en head toward turn two . You T backsh ift (racer-ese for downshifting) to second gear for this one , and I try to enter it a bit wide and apex it late. I'v e seen a variety of different ways of approachi ng turn two , and there never really seems to be a wh ole lot of tim e gained th ere. Some guys, lik e Jimmy Filice, were out past th e wh ite line on the ent ra nce, while some guys were on the insi de. I' d find mysel£ kind of in the middle o n th e entran ce. I just try to apex the corn er late. A lap with John Kocinski hot By Paul Carruthers n last year 's 250cc Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, John Kocinski qualified on the pole, stalked Jimmy Filice for a few laps , and then promptly ran away . from th e rest of the field to win his second-ever GP. The following is a lap . of the 2. I88-mile, l l -turn road co urse as seen through the face shield of Kocinski's helmet. I .TURNTHREE: From there you change up into third as you go down the short straigh t that takes you to turn three. Then it's back to second for the right........ hander. This is also a corner where I enter wide and apex late. This one's ........ prett y tricky becau se there are no curbs on the outside , so the road j ust goes into gravel. You have to be careful because you can't see the edge of the road until you' re right there, and that makes i t a difficult corner to get around. It's a little hard to judge and if you get in too hot, yo u' re out in the dirt. _ TURN FOUR: Then you accelerate - upshifting once to third , up that next T short straight and that puts yo u into turn fou r. This is a corner you just want to mak e it through. You just go into this one like an y normal corner beca use i t's not very difficult. It 's a lit tle dodgy, though, because once aga in there's no curb on the ou tside. And th ey've also put speed bump-type curbs on the inside for cars and you can 't afford to hoo k yo ur knee on o ne of those. • . TURN FIVE: From there you accelerr .e up to fifth gear as you head into turn ... five; there's a kink in th e straightaway, bu t it ,toesn 't am ount to an yth ing . I _ then downshift and take th is corner in second ,; ear. Going into th is one is fin e, but at the three-quarter point of the corner is wn e- . .:.• .lew track connects to the old track, so th ere 's a pavement change there. Y, ..I have to be careful because it can cause you to lose traction, and a lot of guys highside right there. There's a bump and the bike gets light, so you just hav e to be as smooth as possible. 12 TURN SIX: After tum five, yo u accelerate up th e hill into fourth gear. Then ~ you backshift into third for the next left-hander, This corner is a tough one JIll"""" becau se you can 't see it until you 're in i t. You always have to know wh ere you ' are . Going in there is a dip, so it upsets the bike some. You ha ve to try to keep it under control while remembering exactly where you are.