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Track Week: Laguna Seca
The Corkscrew at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is the most cheated on turn in all of automotive video game history. Laguna Seca, spanish for Dry Lagoon, was built on the US Army’s Fort Ord in the late 1950’s. Signs on the approach to the track still warn of explosives and the artillery ranges are guarded by barbed wire fences. Fort Ord incidentally is on the Superfund list of toxic clean up sites. It is even labeled on the National Priorities List of the worst Superfund sites.
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The raceway was built in response to the abandoning of the Pebble Beach Road Races, which were deemed too dangerous after a racer crashed his Ferrari in to a tree and died. What followed is one of the most well known tracks in America, thanks to a slew of video games including the popular Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsports series. Laguna Seca is home to more than just armchair racers, as the track is home to the Skip Barber Racing School as well as events such as the Rolex Monterey Historic Races. The American Le Mans Series, AMA Superbike, and MotoGP series also make an annual trip to the track.
The Ultimate ArmChair Racing Test
In the 7th season of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson decides to put the realism of Gran Turismo to the test.
Clarkson pulls a 1:41 at the simulated track in Gran Turismo 4 in an NSX-R. Driving a real NSX, granted not an NSX-R, he only managed to muster up a 1:57 on the RealStation. Clarkson attributes the discrepancy in times to the ability to defy physics in the video game and his driving skill, or lack thereof.