It is a long way from Europe to California but a trip to Laguna Seca is always worth it. If only for the new kicks and cheap Levis!

Laguna is one of those iconic tracks that everyone knows, and immediately thinks about the Corkscrew and the many racing incidents that have written its name in legend. My first memory was 1998, watching on TV, when Akira Yanagawa and Doug Chandler crashed on the entry to the corner. Of course people now remember it for the battles between Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner and more recently with Rossi and Marquez.

This weekend didn’t see so much drama but in the second WSBK race spots of rain began to fall as the lights went out on the start gantry. Chaz Davies admitted afterwards he had wondered what to do but then thought ‘just go for it’. And go for it he did. Tom Sykes joked in the post race press conference that he knew you needed big balls to race at Laguna but when he saw Davies fire down the Corkscrew with the rain falling he knew the Welshman had the biggest pair on the day.

There was a suggestion, however, that we may not be back here in the future. The Laguna Seca track is unique in so far as the land is formally designated a State Park and is owned by Monterey County. The facilities are operated by the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP). SCRAMP has been on the go for over 50 years and created what we know as Mazda Raceway when the military handed the land over to Monterey County in 1974.

The County however no longer has the resources or (it seems) the will to invest in the circuit and talk at the weekend was that they were looking to sell up. SCRAMP themselves are a not for profit organization so couldn’t fund the operation themselves.

It would seem that the most likely candidate to take over would be the International Speedway Corporation (ICS) that operates and manages a number of very lucrative NASCAR tracks. That would see Dorna having to negotiate a new deal and most people seemed a bit pessimistic about that.

It would be a shame to see Laguna lose any form of International motorcycle racing so hopefully an agreement can be reached. Otherwise these jeans are going to have to last a long time.

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