2023 Laguna Seca Rennsport Reunion 7
Published on . Event was held at Laguna Seca (WeatherTech Raceway) on .
#auto show #California #cars #event #Laguna Seca #Monterey #photo gallery #Porsche #racecars #Rennsport Reunion
Wake up at 6 a.m., drive for two hours with a coffee break at Cat & Cloud, survive a traffic jam before Sand City, then another one on South Boundary Road, and here we are — parked on a dusty sandy hill with a front spoiler stuck in the ground.
Historic Porsches have been running on repaved Laguna Seca for a couple of hours now, and the view over turn 11 gives a glimpse of what the day will be like. Touching and kissing cars is off-limits, but looks and engine roar make you feel present.
My crossing over the main straight via the new golf cart & pedestrian bridge with engine roar passing through my whole body. It’s impossible not to smile and not to think about the day ahead.
Paddock meets you with the built-for-occasion Porsche Park — main stage, autograph zone, souvenir store with at least an hour-long line, transformers(!), and a very long poster wall with various Porsche models to be colored and signed by visitors.
Tag Heuer Heritage Display pavilion is an absolute eye candy with prominent racing cars on display: 356 Gmund coupe, 906/10, 908, rally 911s, 934, 935, Interscope 934 1/2, Le Mans cars: 936, 924 GTP, 917 longtail in Gulf colors, 914–6 GT.
I think many of these were flown in from Germany just for the event. The condition of these cars is on par with new cars coming off the factory line today. I could easily shave in their panels reflections.
Conventional round made-of-glass headlights of endurance racing cars often have a plastic cover on top, shaped as a slick continuation of cars body. They make a car look much more advanced, complex and composed. Even though it is mostly a thing of the past, it beats the modern one in perceived complexity and craftsmanship.
Main straight pit garages are converted into an old town street with a service shop and race car stable interiors. 550 Spyder, 904 Carrera GTS, 917 CanAm, 962, 911 GT1, 2006 RS Spyder, 919 Hybrid, 918 Hybrid, 2023 963 Hybrid and Mission X concept cars were on display. Each one representing an important chapter of Porsche racing history.
You can walk through themed garage towards the pits lane and enjoy the view of cars flying by with a cup of $10 coffee or a beer with a general admission ticket. Astroturf flooring, plastic furniture, and shade provided by the hospitality floor above garages made for a comfortable break rest area with a perfect view.
PCA Club Racing teams occupy another pavilion. There are no trailers or tents but two rows of purposefully modified Porsche cars from 1980 to 1999 and a line of toolboxes in between. Racers, mechanics, and coaches are busy preparing and fixing cars, or casually chatting about the condition of a repaved Laguna Seca tarmac anomng other things.
The Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup filled another pavilion with athletic and vicious-looking 992 GT3 Cup cars. It seems more organized and uniform in comparison to PCA Club racers. 992 cars look huge compared to classic 911 shapes of 70-th and 80-th. Car liveries are more creative than beautiful, with a few worthy exceptions.
A fantastic selection of Porsche road cars occupies the last sun and rain-safe area. On display are R-group cars, multiple Carrera GTs in bright colors, and more 918s, 959s and RUF cars than I had seen in my life.
This is the most packed paddock in Laguna I had ever witnessed. On top of racing teams and participant tents, there is a Porsche taxi to go around the track, a scavenger hunt, poster signing sessions and a whole parking filled of Porsche tractors. Which also raced I believe!
The staging pit area is set up between turns 10 and 11 with cars parked in a row at a 45-degree angle. It’s a great spot to take pictures and see cars rolling before heading to the track.
Racing-wise, two series came to the track with the primary goal of racing each other — PCA Club and Deluxe Carrera Cup. Other classes with historical and Porsche history-derived names, such as Gmund Cup, Weissach Cup and Werks Trophy were celebrating the significance of the racing past.
Still, the list of drivers is more than impressive: Mark Webber, Jochen Mass, Justin Bell, Patrick Long, Rod Emory, Jeff Zwart, Danny Sullivan, and Bruce Canepa were noticed in the starter’s lists.
Later I learned that Adrian Newey, Jerry Seinfeld, and Magnus Walker were also there.
Food options were plenty with pop-up biergartens. One was on top of Corkscrew with brand spanking new 911 S/ on a wooden (very Luftgekühlt-like) podiums.
Lakebed marketplace was going strong, and parking lots were taken over by “Porsche corrals” with all generations of P cars. The lawn area had PCA 75th Anniversary Exhibition with a colorful palette of 911s and 914s from the 60th and 70th.
I didn’t know at the time, but this is the largest Porsche-organized fan event in the world, with roughly eighty thousand people in attendance in four days — almost twice the number of Monterey Reunion visitors.
The fact that it is so special for the brand and the track makes this event a “must-see” for an automotive enthusiast — at least to see how complex, well organized and complex a car show can be. Porsche buffs don’t need extra motivation.
See you there in four or five years. Bring a foldable chair and sunscreen.
Until then keep it flat out!