WORLD SUPERBKE
WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 9/JULY 13, 2014
MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA/MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA
P46
DEEP FORBIDDING LAKE
Laguna Seca – the name
makes the hair on the back
of the neck stand up for true
bike racing race fans, given
the legends that have been
brought up in California,
raced GP and Superbike
at Laguna and have turned
what is an old dry lagoon into
an iconic speed venue for
Americans and non Ameri-
cans alike.
And that's before you even
mention the Corkscrew.
Motorcycling's very equivalent of base-jumping with
no parachute, the Corkscrew is a seemingly vertical cliff
that riders approach blind but at strong pace after flicking
left, dropping down an open asphalt lift shaft for half a
second then flicking hard right to make it through the
final part of most bizarre and – maybe – most photo-
graphed corner of all time.
But Laguna is so much more than just that crazy
quirk of asphalt and Mother
Nature.
Many other corners offer up
unique challenges of their own.
Blind, undulating, endlessly
easy to slide into or out of, and
turn one is so fast and fierce
it is more like a straight which
came out of the mold with a slight kink and bobble in it.
The most attractive thing about Laguna is not neces-
sarily its location near Monterey, its modern history or its
weird corners like the Corkscrew. It is most attractive in
the modern era in that as well as skill and race craft you
need guts and commitment to get good laps done.
This as much is anything is why Laguna is such a
cherished little sliver of tarmac looping around country-
side recreation center.
The exit of Laguna Seca's
signature corner – the
Corkscrew.
Sykes went on to victory in race two – his eighth of the year.
