Laguna Seca’s pit straight bridge has been demolished as part of upgrades which include a full resurface.
A new, wider bridge will be installed in its place ahead of the 2023 motorsport season, when the Californian circuit will again host the final race of the IndyCar Series, on the weekend of Sunday, September 10.
The removal of the existing structure virtually coincides with the venue’s 65th birthday, having opened with the 8th Annual Pebble Beach National Championship Sports Car Road Races on November 9, 1957.
Then, the layout was comprised of just nine corners, with no Andretti Hairpin, for example.
The iconic Corkscrew, on the other hand, has been an ever-present.
According to legend, propagated by the County of Monterey which owns the circuit, it came to be because of some pragmatism during construction.
“As the story goes, the construction foreman drove up the hill and informed the bulldozer driver he was going to lunch,” explains a piece on WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca’s website.
“When asked what the plan was for the next phase of the track, the foreman said just get down the hill any way you can.”
Laguna Seca is one of a number of IndyCar tracks which are undergoing or have recently undergone work.
Road America also recently saw a full resurface, and Detroit is a hive of activity ahead of the return of its event to the CBD, with a circuit which takes in elements of the original which hosted Formula 1 in the 1980s.
The 2023 IndyCar campaign kicks off at another street circuit, that of St Petersburg, on the weekend of Sunday, March 5.
Discussion about this post