MotoGP | 2021 | Round 15 | COTA | USA | Oct 1-3

Make them the feature race and it would likely outdraw MotoGP.

 

Good. That race is always boring.

 

I could make the drive to Indy a lot easier than COTA . Bring on Indy!!

 

agree. i rather drive 10 h than 20

 

Yeah, Indy. 76 minutes, suckas!!!

 

59 from my place sucka

 

Bragging is not classy you poopieheads

 

Has anyone bought tickets for next years event already? Looking at the COTA site, nothing available in the T15 area in the top row or 2, or in the first few rows. Hard for me to believe those are all sold already. I'm wondering if seats are being held for later release.

 

I bought tickets for next year while I was at the track, but I got them for the main grandstand. There's no way T15 is full, but I don't know how you would get tickets right now. I tried searching on ticketmaster but I couldn't find anything, so they might not be released to the public yet.

 

"Listen here. I said LISTEN HERE BITCH!"

 

Someone remind me why Laguna is a non starter these days in the GP conversation.

 

Laguna has a history of great turnouts the first couple years, then dwindles to nearly nothing.

 

Indy is 16 hours for me. COTA is 35 min. F**k all you guys.

 

You are from texas. U dont count!!

 

Good thing you don’t need a certain medical procedure.. you’d have to drive 16 hours to Indy to get it done

 

Laguna news

THE MONTEREY County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to allocate $750,000 to begin work on improvements at Laguna Seca and pledged to develop a plan to fully fund the $9.4 million in projects, in part by relying on private donations and other potential non-taxpayer-funded sources. The initial funds will pay for design of a new start/finish bridge, permits for repaving the track, and upgrades to a large hospitality structure.

To get those projects completed will cost another $8.65 million, according to public works director Randell Ishii. John Narigi, who was hired by the county to run the Laguna Seca Recreation Area and took over in January 2020, told supervisors the bridge, track resurfacing and Turn 3 building are “all critical and time sensitive.”

The rickety bridge is full of mold and dry rot, and will likely fail inspection in January 2024, which would effectively render the track unusable. He called the 50-year-old bridge “an embarrassment.” He also said Rennsport, a multiday Porsche reunion that has drawn 75,000 people in the past, wants to return in 2023 but won’t do it without the new bridge. “They were very clear to me there needs to be an investment,” he said. “The Peninsula is a key destination for them, but not without a start-finish bridge, one that can handle golf carts and pedestrians simultaneously.”

The racing surface was last paved in 2007 and has become slick, worn and dangerous enough to generate complaints from IndyCar drivers on national TV. The repaving was scheduled for 2020 but didn’t happen due to pandemic belt-tightening, and now the international group that oversees racing, including track safety, is “strongly urging us to have it resurfaced by 2022,” Narigi said. The Turn 3 hospitality structure, meanwhile, is just a shell, and sponsor Rolex is requesting upgrades to make it more usable and hospitable.

“This is a huge brand we do not want to lose because of issues with a structure that can be easily resolved before the 2022 event,” Narigi said. “This is not just an ask for Laguna Seca as a park and racetrack, but rather an investment request in the No. 1 public asset in the county that generates direct spending and much-needed tax revenue,” he added. “It generates more tax revenue and direct spending than any other event venue in your county."

He recited some of the numbers from 2019: $10.4 million in taxes paid by people who came to Laguna and who spent an estimated $116,701,611 on shopping, restaurants, hotels, entertainment and transportation in the county while here. Narigi said his staff have worked to improve conditions and appearances at the track, which has suffered deferred maintenance for 20 years, at a cost to the company of $60,000 to $70,000, but that they need help. And he noted increased marketing of Laguna’s camping, hiking, biking and other activities has led to a rise in occupancy and revenues, resulting in $1 million returned to the county.

More than a dozen speakers, many from hospitality organizations and businesses, urged the supervisors to fund Narigi’s requests. No one opposed it. Janine Chicourrat, GM of the Portola Hotel and chair of the Monterey County Hospitality Association, said the county should act now, before someone is injured on the bridge or dies on the track due to their poor conditions.

“To kick the can down the road on two life-safety issues is just flat wrong,” she said, adding that the county has received a lot of federal Covid relief and could easily direct funds toward those necessary improvements. “And if you cannot figure out a way to take care of life-safety issues at that track, it’s just a huge letdown to our community.” Barry Toepke, who oversees the large, legacy events at Laguna, said describing it as a “rustic” facility “doesn’t cut it anymore,” and sponsors and others who want to support the track and see it succeed won’t commit without significant buy-in from the county. “Repaving and the bridge are critical to demonstrate our ownership stability,” he said.

Supervisors’ responses were generally favorable, though a couple argued for more financial contributions from donors and Narigi’s group, which aims to make the Laguna Seca Recreation Area profitable. “We’ve asked someone to come take over and run this for the county,” District 2 Supervisor John Phillips observed. “I just don’t see how anybody can take and run a place where you have 20 years of deferred maintenance.” He also said Laguna Seca “is the only county asset that we haven’t maintained.” “I don’t think there’s any question that it needs to be done,” he said. “It’s just, where does the money come from?”

Mary Adams, 5th District supervisor, said the $1.8 million in track earnings being held by the county could help fund the work, with the rest coming from the cannabis fund, which had a balance of more than $20.6 million as of Oct. 4, according to Ishii. “We have got to get going on this now,” she said, because supply-chain issues might lead to more delays.

District 3 Supervisor Chris Lopez said he didn’t disagree with the need but suggested the county be reimbursed with revenues from Laguna Seca and that donors step up, too. First District Supervisor Luis Alejo challenged track supporters to donate 20 percent of the necessary funds. “We need budget staff to come forward with different strategies,” he said. Options include cannabis funding, hotel tax revenues, a bond — though that would take considerably longer — and private funding according to Ishii.

Only District 4 Supervisor Wendy Root Askew showed no interest in supporting the county-owned track, saying that there are many other worthy demands for taxpayers’ funds. She also disliked the fact the requests weren’t made during the regular budget cycle and that Narigi’s group hasn’t yet provided a business plan. “I’m feeling very uncomfortable with the way this has come forward,” she said. “We expected to see a clear business plan.” Supervisors voted 4-1, with Askew dissenting, to allocate $750,000 now and return in early December to determine how to cover the rest of the bill.