WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (formerly Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Laguna Seca Raceway) is a real-world circuit located in Monterey, California, United States. It has appeared in every mainline games since Gran Turismo 2. Its inclusion in Gran Turismo Sport is part of Update 1.53.
==Events==
The recreation of Laguna Seca in the series is a near replica, with every turn, ridge, and bump (Corkscrew included) from the real life circuit being incorporated virtually. It appears in the following events in the series:
===Gran Turismo 2===
====GT League====
*US Nationals; 2 Laps
*Pacific League; Race 1 - 3 Laps
*Gran Turismo World League; Race 2 - 5 Laps
====Special Events====
*4WD Challenge; Race 3 - 5 Laps
*Muscle Car Cup; Race 3 - 2 Laps
*Pure Sports Car Cup; Race 1 - 2 Laps
*Tuned NA Car No.1 Cup; Race 3 - 5 Laps
*Gran Turismo All Stars; Race 5 - 5 Laps
*Super Touring; Race 3 - 3 Laps
*GT300 Championship; Race 2 - 5 Laps
*GT500 Championship; Race 1 - 5 Laps
====Endurance Events====
*Laguna Seca 200 Miles; 90 Laps
===Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec===
====Beginner League====
*Lightweight K-Car Cup; Race 3 - 2 Laps
*Stars & Stripes; Race 3 - 2 Laps
*Tourist Trophy; Race 2 - 2 Laps
*Vitz Race (Toyota); Race 2 - 2 Laps
*Evolution Meeting (Mitsubishi); Race 1 - 2 Laps
*Gran Turismo World Championship; Race 5 - 2 Laps
====Amateur League====
*American Championship; Race 5 - 3 Laps
*Gran Turismo World Championship; Race 2 - 5 Laps
*German Touring Car Championships; Race 4 - 3 Laps
*FR Challenge; Race 2 - 5 Laps
*Stars & Stripes; Race 3 - 3 Laps
*Gran Turismo All Stars; Race 1 - 5 Laps
*All Japan GT Championship; Race 5 - 5 Laps
*Race of Red Emblem (Nissan); Race 2 - 3 Laps
*Dream Car Championship; Race 2 - 5 Laps
====Professional League====
*MR Challenge; Race 2 - 10 Laps
*4WD Challenge; Race 2 - 10 Laps
*Gran Turismo All Stars; Race 1 - 15 Laps
*All Japan GT Championship; Race 5 - 20 Laps
*Vitz Race (Toyota); Race 2 - 10 Laps
*Formula GT; Race 7 - 33 Laps
====Endurance League====
*Laguna Seca 200 Miles; 90 Laps
====License Tests====
*License Tests A-2, iA-5 and S-6
===Gran Turismo 4===
*License Test B-10
*Driving Missions 12 and 27
====Beginner Events====
*FR Challenge; Race 4 - 2 Laps
*Sport Truck Race; Race 2 - 2 Laps
====Professional Events====
*World Classic Car Series; Race 5 - 2 Laps
====Extreme Events====
*Gran Turismo All Stars; Race 3 - 7 Laps
*Real Circuit Tours; Race 4 - 10 Laps
*Formula GT World Championship; Race 10 - 85 Laps
====American Events====
*United States Championship; Race 5 - 5 Laps
*Stars & Stripes; Race 1 - 3 Laps
*Muscle Car Championship; Race 2 -3 Laps
====Japanese Events====
*All Japan GT Championship; Race 6 - 7 Laps
====One Make Races====
*Renault Megane Cup; Race 3 - 2 Laps
*Audi A3 Cup; Race 3 - 2 Laps
*Club "RE" (Mazda); Race 1 - 2 Laps
*Mazda RX-8 Cup; Race 1 - 2 Laps
*Mitsubishi Mirage Cup; Race 4 - 2 Laps
*Nissan Club "Z"; Race 4 - 3 Laps
*Race of the Pleiades (Subaru); Race 5 - 3 Laps
*Lotus Classics; Race 2 - 2 Laps
*Blackpool Racers (TVR); Race 3 - 3 Laps
*Corvette Festival (Chevrolet); Race 2 - 4 Laps
*Shelby Cobra Cup; Race 4 - 2 Laps
====Endurance Events====
*Laguna Seca 200 Miles; 90 Laps
===Gran Turismo 5===
*Pick-Up Truck Challenge - 3 Laps
*Supercar Nostalgia Cup - 3 Laps
*Muscle Car Championship - 5 Laps
*NASCAR Series - 5 Laps
*American Championship - 10 Laps
*Laguna Seca 200 Miles - 90 Laps
*License Test iA-3 (The Laguna Seca Raceway's Notorious "Corkscrew") - turn 8/8A, corkscrew
*License Test S-5 (Applied Overtaking-Laguna Seca Raceway) - whole lap
===Gran Turismo 6===
*Classic Muscle Car Series - 3 Laps
*Tour of America - 4 Laps
*GT World Championship - 6 Laps
===Gran Turismo Sport===
====GT League====
*FR Challenge; Race 7 - 3 Laps
*Z Heritage; Race 5 - 3 Laps
*Super Formula Championships; Race 7 - 7 Laps
*Midship Challenge; Race 6 - 7 Laps
*Nostalgic 1979; Race 8 - 6 Laps
===Gran Turismo 7===
====Licence Centre====
*Master B-10: Final Exam
**Gold: 0:30.550
**Silver: 0:31.400
**Bronze: 0:33.500
====World Circuits====
*American FR Challenge 550; Race 2 - 2 laps
*American Clubman Cup 700; Race 2 - 5 laps
*World Touring Car 700; Race 3 - 10 laps
*Sunday Cup Classic; Race 4 - 2 laps
*Japanese Clubman Cup 550; Race 6 - 3 laps
*Porsche Cup; Race 6 - 5 laps
====Missions====
*The Sun Also Rises: Mixed Class Race Overtaking 3
**The Pass; Dodge SRT Tomahawk VGT (Gr.1)Be the fastest in a race with Gr.1 and Gr.4 cars. The course is narrow and there is a big difference between the cars. Even a small misjudgement can lead to catastrophic results.
***Gold: 1st
***Silver: 2nd
***Bronze: 3rd
==Layout & Sectors==
The 3.60-kilometres (2.24-miles) circuit consists of 11 turns, some slow and technical (notably 2 and 11, both hairpins) mixed with several faster corners. Laguna Seca also features more elevation changes than most circuits, with the drop from the top of the course (Turn 8) to the bottom (at Turn 2) at over 300 feet (91m). Turn 8 (and 8A) are thought by most professional drivers to be among the most difficult corners in the world. The complex, known as The Corkscrew, consists of a tight left hand turn at the top of the hill which releases into a steep downhill right.
===Sector 1===
Turn 1 should be taken at full speed with minimal turn angle on the steering wheel. Gently bring the car to the right. Turn 2 is the long left Andretti Hairpin. Start braking using marker board '4' on the right as your reference point. It's downhill until you enter the corner, so it's vital to keep the car straight when reducing your speed. Turn along the center of the track halfway into the corner, and once you arrive at the apex at the latter half of the second set of curbstones on the inside, get back on the throttle.
Get your car on the left and use marker board '2' as your reference to brake, as you head into turn 3. Set your apex on the far end of the corner. Where the inside curbstones turn white, get back on the throttle to make your exit.
===Sector 2===
Continuing into turn 4, brake just after passing marker board '2' and make sure to hit the apex. The corner exit is banked slightly to the left, so control your throttle carefully to ensure you don't drift wide towards the outside.
Start braking into turn 5 using the bridge and marker board '3' on the right side as your cue to brake. Bring the car onto the inside bank and set your apex just after the red half circle curbstones. At the very end of the inside curbstones, get back on the throttle and make your exit.
Turn 6 is a high-speed left hand corner with a dip near the apex, making it easy to lose control of the car and go off track. Use the bridge and marker board '3' as your cue for braking. Try to keep load shifts of your car minimal, and be prepared for uneven surfaces. Once you pass the apex, get back on throttle up the Rahal Straight.
Past the peak of the hill, use the white line just past the curbstones on the left as your mark for braking, and decelerate along the curbstones on the right hand side that form turn 7 as you head into the Corkscrew. Getting through turn 8 on the inside, return the steering wheel straight while at partial throttle to clear turn 9. Because you will be entering turn 9 from where you will have no visibility of the inside, it will be best to understand the car's position using the white surface on the far left. Move smoothly to the right.
===Sector 3===
Once you are under the bridge, let off of the throttle and enter Rainey Curve. Turn along the center of the track, and hit the apex at the latter half of the curbstones. Be careful when to give it full throttle, as you will be on a descent and will have picked up sped. Once you are out, get on the left right away and start braking around where the curbstones begin.
For turn 11, make sure you don't miss the banked area on the inner side. Once you accelerate out, get on the right immediately, and prepare for turn 12. Brake just before the number '3' marker board, making sure to drop speed adequately. To make a quick exit for the main straight, set your apex on the latter half of the curbstones on the inside.
==Replay Demo==
thumb|center|500 px
==Reverse Version==
thumb|right|340 px
*In Gran Turismo 2, the track has an unused reverse version. The real track itself was not designed to be driven on backwards, so this is likely the reason this variant was not used. This version uses earlier road surface graphics, and has two replay cameras defined. This variant has no AI pathfinding, as the opponents will either simply stand still or will drive in a straight line into the wall and remain there. Additionally, you cannot pit in on this variant either. As a result of the unfinished state, textures may "pop" in and out and the draw distance seems to be lower as well.
==Trivia==
*When the track first appeared in Gran Turismo 2, it was the first real world circuit to debut in the series.
*In Gran Turismo 2, the player can break out of the track and find an inaccessible strip of land, which was formerly believed to be a drag strip.
**Transporter trucks belonging to Formula One teams Benetton, Jordan, and Sauber can be found trackside, as well as in GT3.
*In an episode of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson attempted to match his Gran Turismo 4 time on this track in real life using a Honda NSX '01. He was, however, unable to come close to the 1:41 set on the game, managing only a 1:57 in real life. Clarkson put this down, not to imperfections in the game, but to the consequences of high-speed driving, citing that the real-life implications of an error are much more than just a ruined lap time. As a result, this "fear-factor" is not present in a computer game.
*In Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec, the track is raced during near sunset, as opposed to the normal daytime setting found in later games.
**Starting from Gran Turismo Sport, however, the track can be set to be in Dusk conditions.
*When the track was added to GT Sport, it was the first and only track to have the Circuit Experience added immediately, rather than on the succeeding content update.
**In addition, the Circuit Experience's car choice, the Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R '15 is a nod to GT2's and GT3's S-License tests on the track, which uses the Dodge Viper GTS-R Team Oreca '99 and the Dodge Viper GTS R Concept '00, respectively.
**Coincidentally, Laguna Seca became the last track to be added to GT Sport.
* Gran Turismo 3’s depiction features self-advertising from PlayStation; their logos can be seen on the straightaway leading to Turn 5, the Corkscrew, and near Turn 11.
==Notes==
Category:GT2 Circuits
Category:GT3 Circuits
Category:GT4 Circuits
Category:Tourist Trophy Circuits
Category:GT PSP Circuits
Category:GT5 Circuits
Category:GT6 Circuits
Category:GT Sport Circuits
Category:GT Sport DLC Circuits
Category:GT7 Circuits
Category:American Circuits
Category:Circuits with an average gradient above 3%
Category:MotoGP Circuits
Category:Circuits with Scapes locations