Final yr noticed a full resurfacing of the 11-turn, 2.238-mile street course for the primary time since 2006, which additionally included a brand new pedestrian bridge on the entrance straight as a part of a $14.9 million undertaking.
The undertaking started shortly after final Might’s IMSA occasion and was accomplished by July, with IndyCar the primary main collection to race on the brand new – and faster – floor in September.
Ricky Taylor holds the DPi observe file with a 1m13.924s (108.987mph) flying lap, which got here in April 2022. The present GTP technology – that changed DPi – featured Matt Campbell’s Penske Porsche 963 hit a 1m14.774s (107.748mph) lap on the previous floor throughout its inaugural journey to Laguna Seca final yr.
For Bourdais, who is available in because the defending race winner with No. 01 Cadillac V-Collection.R co-driver Renger van der Zande, a current take a look at confirmed promise of elevated grip, which can possible result in a soar in tempo.
“We did come and take a look at with each Cadillacs, each BMWs and each Penske Porsches, so we did have time to experiment and check out fairly just a few issues,” mentioned Bourdais. “Grip has gone up rather a lot.
“It’s most likely going to be not less than a few seconds quicker and it’s at all times an superior feeling once you drive on a repaved observe. I’ve at all times loved Laguna, however tire degradation was excessive, and grip was fairly low on the finish of the cycle of the previous pavement.
“So, now it’s full pressure, most assault and dedication, so it’s a ton of enjoyable to muscle these GTPs round. It’s best to see some fairly unbelievable speeds across the weekend.”
crash, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Photograph by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Photographs
When trying again on the IndyCar spherical on the brand new floor, van der Zande observed vehicles “flying off” due to the shortage of grip off the one racing line.
Nonetheless, in current IMSA testing vehicles didn’t endure the identical challenge, with “grip all over the place” on the observe. With that, although, he believes the elevated speeds will nonetheless result in a number of vehicles venturing off track but additionally tighten up the sector.
“These new tarmac adjustments will most probably carry the sector collectively,” van der Zande mentioned. “I anticipate a detailed struggle once more.
“Additionally, strategy-wise it’s going to be very fascinating due to the tarmac, so we’ll see what performs out. It appears to be like like we’ll be fairly a bit quicker than the GT vehicles at Laguna Seca in comparison with the opposite tracks. From that perspective it’s simpler to overhaul them.”
With 34 vehicles unfold throughout three lessons, with GTD Professional and GTD additionally on observe this weekend, managing site visitors could possibly be more durable than regular with quicker lap instances.
“When the cornering speeds improve, site visitors tends to have an even bigger affect on tempo since you’re getting checked up and shedding extra time within the corners,” Bourdais mentioned.
“It’s the identical for everyone, however timing the place you hit site visitors and the way it pans out tends to have an even bigger impact on the race. Laguna nonetheless tends to be a lot of a one-lane observe, and it will get soiled on the surface.
“The multi-class racing tends to assist widen the road, however because the observe grips up and rubbers up on line it tends to get dirtier and it’s a bit much less encouraging you to go across the outdoors of individuals and pull an optimistic transfer.”
#01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Collection.R: Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais
Photograph by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Photographs
Contemplating how a lot faster the tempo could possibly be per lap this yr, he was requested if that may play a job in power deployment and pit technique: “It will likely be increased since you want extra power to go quicker,” Bourdais replied.
“It simply doesn’t occur by way of cornering speeds. You’re on the throttle. We are likely to have pretty vast home windows with the GTP vehicles over these races, so we’ll see the way it shakes out.
“But it surely must be possible on two stops.”
