MONTEREY, Calif. — The folks at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca invited me to attend Ferrari Racing Days May 10-12 at the legendary Northern California race course.
It is a race track I have been visiting since I was a kid and one of the first places where I called a race over the PA system. It is also a venue that will be receiving numerous upgrades during the coming years.
Readers can learn about those changes on pages 30-32 of this magazine, however, a private conversation with WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca CEO Tim McGrane provided some additional insight.
A new camping area is being planned for the turn 10 shelf. This will be located on the hillside inside of turn 10 and it will provide great views of the action as cars and bikes race out of Rainey Curve headed toward turn 11, which is one of the best passing zones on the race track.
McGrane reported that track officials are also considering a Glamping area that would be built down the hill on B Road at the site of the old archery area.
A large two-story temporary hospitality center is being erected on the outside of turn three. The structure certainly doesn’t appear temporary. This will be a tremendous addition to the paddock, offering close-up views as the racers charge out of the Andretti Hairpin and over to turn three.
There are also plans to replace the pedestrian bridge that crosses the track at the start-finish line. When they do this, the temporary hospitality building will be replaced by a permanent structure that will be connected to the bridge. This building will run all the way to what is now the Souvenir Store.
At that point, it will turn left and connect to the Newman Building, creating one long L-shaped structure.
More VIP suites are planned for the outside of turn four, one of the fastest sections of the circuit. There are grandstands there now. The VIP suites will be in addition to the grandstands. As a result, the television compound has been moved from the outside of turn four to the outside of turn 11.
McGrane added that plans are being made to resurface the complete 2.2-mile course next year.
These are exciting additions that will make one of the world’s most spectacular race tracks even more appealing to fans and competitors.
An action-packed schedule includes the World Superbike Championship in July, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion in August and back-to-back weekends with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the NTT IndyCar Series in September.
– Ferrari has figured out how to keep its customers’ passion for the famed Italian brand stoked while selling lots of cars, parts and merchandise at the same time. Ferrari Racing Days at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was a perfect example.
Three different categories of the Prancing Horse were in action — the Ferrari Challenge Series, the XX Programme and Corse Clienti.
The Ferrari Challenge Series is a one-make series that is broken down into four different divisions — all utilizing the 488 Challenge machine. In talking to various competitors in the paddock, we learned a first-year budget will run you just shy of $1 million for the season. That includes a new 488 Challenge racer ordered from your local Ferrari dealer.
Every year after that, the budget is approximately $500,000 per season.
This year, the North American calendar is made up of six events in the U.S. and one at Italy’s famed Mugello circuit.
The dealers tend to have their own teams, prep the cars, bring them to the races and get the helmet-carrying driver ready to race.
Stepping up to the XX Programme is a significant jump in budget. The FXX K Evo sold new for more than $2.7 million. The FXX K Evo is the fastest of the XX Programme machines. It’s based on the La Ferrari, produces 1,050 horsepower and has a top speed of just under 220 mph.
There are four variants of XX Programme machines, including the 599XX, FXX, FXX Evo and FXX K Evo. They are spectacular-looking and sounding beasts.
Almost all of the cars are kept at Ferrari’s headquarters in Maranello. When it’s time to go play at one of the world’s top racing circuits, the fleet of cars and a large contingent of Ferrari engineers travel to meet the lucky owners for a weekend of high-speed lapping sessions, but no races.
The final group is Corse Clienti. These owners have bought used Ferrari Formula One cars from the Scuderia. Ferrari maintains these machines in Maranello. On event weekends, just like the XX Programme, the cars and engineers travel around the globe to meet their fortunate owners for some of the most exclusive track days around.
At Laguna, there was a pair of 2004 F-1 machines in action. One was raced by Michael Schumacher and the other by Rubens Barrichello. The sound of the V-10 powered red rockets as they charged through the Corkscrew was magnificent.
Passione Ferrari!