Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca 2015 Season in Review

October 9, 2015 by Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Monterey, Calif., Oct. 8, 2015 – The final checkered flag has waved, the transporters have driven out of the paddock gate and the 2015 major event season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is now one of records and memories.

Nearly a quarter-million motorsports fans attended the five major events, an increase of more than 30% over last season's 183,589 attendance mark. That meant five weekends of great racing and another great year of memories and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca history. It also created a tremendous economic impact for the hotels, restaurants, shops and other businesses of the Monterey Peninsula as well as the charitable organizations associated with the raceway.

The season began with the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda, the fourth stop on the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship schedule. Nearly 50,000 spectators attended the May 1-3 event where the four-class TUDOR Championship was the marquee race of a weekend which also included the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo North America and Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup.

The No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP of Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante earned the overall victory in the two-hour, forty-minute grand prix, while the No. 11 RSR Racing team of Bruno Junqueira and Chris Cumming captured the Prototype Challenge class and sixth overall. In the GT classes, John Edwards and Lucas Luhr drove the No. 24 BMW Team RLL BMW ZR GTE to top honors in the GT Le Mans class and Patrick Lindsey and Spencer Pumpelly earned the GT Daytona class win in the No. 73 Park Place Porsche 911 GT America.

Congratulations to this season's IMSA Champions:

Prototype – Joao Barbosa/Christian Fittipaldi, No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP

Prototype Challenge – Jon Bennett/Colin Braun, No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09

GT Le Mans – Patrick Pilet, No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR

GT Daytona – Bill Sweedler/Townsend Bell, No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia

Grand Sport – Andrew Davis/Robin Liddell, No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro Z28/R

Street Tuner – Stevan McAleer/Chad McCumbee, No. 5 CJ Wilson Racing Mazda MX-5

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The more than 50,000 two-wheeled racing fans who attended the World Superbike Championship/Moto America weekend, July 17-19, saw some of the best motorcycle racing on the world stage as well as the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca debut of a new American motorcycle racing series headed by a former world champion.

In World SBK, Kawasaki Racing's Jonathan Rea entered the event with what turned out to be an insurmountable lead for the championship. That said, Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider Chaz Davies proved his mettle and showed his plans for the 2016 season by sweeping both rounds at Mazda Raceway.

Moto America showcased its five classes of competition in the Monterey back yard of series president, co-founder and three-time 500cc World Champion Wayne Rainey. Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha teammates Josh Hayes and Cameron Beaubier traded Superbike race wins Sunday as they ran away with the championship eventually won by Beaubier.

The danger of motorsports, however, was brought into sharp focus with the passing of Bernat Martinez and Daniel Rivas due to injuries sustained in the final Moto America Superbike race. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to their families and friends.

Congratulations to this season's Moto America champions:

Superbike - Cameron Beaubier No. 6 Monster Energy Graves Yamaha

Superstock 1000 – Jake Gagne, No. 32 Roadrace Factory Red Bull Yamaha

Supersport – J.D. Beach, No. 95 Yamalube Y.E.S. Graves Yamaha

Superstock 600 – Joe Roberts, No. 27 WheelsinMotionMotorsport.com Meen Yamaha

KTM RC 390 Cup – Gage McAllister, No. 25 NCR Development/California Supermoto Schools KTM

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The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion once again set the standard for historic motorsports gatherings both here in the United States and throughout the world. This year's featured marque, the Shelby GT 350, was celebrated for its 50th anniversary and was represented in the paddock and on track by 38 cars that seemed to double in size for the official group photograph. A total of 550 period-correct cars in 15 classes showcased marques from Alfa Romeo and Ferrari to Porsche and Talbott, from Formula 1 to Formula 5000 and everything in between.

There were also the newest offerings from BMW, Porsche, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Chevrolet, Acura, Nissan and Michelin in Automotive Alley and the numerous car corrals filled to capacity. The on-track activities were further enhanced by multiple opportunities in the paddock to hear from and share stories with Sir Jackie Stewart, Scott Pruett, Brian Redman, John Morton and many other racing heroes of days past. The 65,000 in attendance over four days had a historic motorsports overload and the opportunity to do so again in 2016, with BMW as the featured marque, is now only less than a year away.

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Both open-wheel and sports car racing fans had much to take in and cheer for during the Pirelli World Challenge/Mazda Road to Indy weekend. The nearly 30,000 spectators on hand Sept. 11-13 witnessed some of the closest and best nonstop racing action of the entire year and champions crowned in the seven Pirelli World Challenge classes and three Mazda Road to Indy classes.

The main event in Pirelli World Challenge, Sunday afternoon's GT event, saw Allessandro Balzan take the checkered flag in the No. 29 MOMO/NGT Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3 Italia while Johnny O'Connell earned his fourth consecutive series championship after getting spun early on by fellow championship contender, and former teammate, Olivier Beretta.

Congratulations to this season's Pirelli World Challenge Champions:

GT – Johnny O'Connell, No. 3 Cadillac Racing Cadillac ATS-V.R GT3

GTA – Frank Montecalvo, No. 66 DragonSpeed Mercedes-Benz AMG SLS GT3

GT Cup – Colin Thompson, No. 11 Porsche of Bucks County Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

GTS – Michael Cooper, No. 10 Blackdog Speed Shop Chevrolet Camaro

TC – Corey Fergus, No. 00 Motorsports Promotions Porsche Cayman

TCA – Jason Wolfe, No. 36 Kinetic Motorsports KIA Forte Koup

TCB – Johan Schwartz, No. 25 Tech Sport Racing Chevrolet Sonic

In Indy Lights, the final rung of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder, Spencer Pigot came into the weekend six points behind point leader Jack Harvey but then swept both races to earn the season championship and the $1 million Mazda scholarship and guaranteed three-race IndyCar Series opportunity for next season, including the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. Also taking place that weekend was Mazda Raceway's third annual Military Appreciation Day, which was highlighted by Mazda, Operation Homefront and Chase Bank awarding three new Mazda CX-5s to three appreciative military families and a new home to another very appreciative military family.

Congratulations to this year's Mazda Road to Indy Champions:

Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires – Spencer Pigot, No. 12 Juncos Racing

Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires – Santiago Urritia, No. 81 Team Pelfrey

Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda – Nico Jamin, No. 2 Cape Motorsports w/ WTR

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Porsche Rennsport Reunion V provided a spectacular conclusion to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca's 2015 major events calendar. A three-day crowd of more than 55,000 witnessed the largest gathering in the world of Porsche race cars, with 321 historic entries taking to the track to rekindle memories of yesteryear as well as fan the flames of excitement for the famous marque's current lineup of U.S. and international competition, including the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup USA.

In addition to the nonstop on-track activity, nearly 1,500 Porsches were on display, including more than a dozen cars direct from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, 64 other historically significant cars in the Chopard Heritage Display, and more than 1,400 more parked in the 20 model-specific corrals throughout the facility. Finally, there was the list of legendary race car drivers on hand who earned Porsche its unparalleled success over the past seven decades: Jacky Ickx, Vic Elford, Hans Stuck, Hurley Haywood, Patrick Long, Jörg Bergmeister, Wolf Henzler, Mark Webber, Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber to name just a few. There was something for every motorsports enthusiast to appreciate, whether it was a 356, 911, 908, 917, 935, 962, or 919.

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The 2016 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca major events schedule is currently a work-in-progress and you can certainly count on the two- and four-wheeled competition on the soon-to-be-completed calendar to be amazing with great crowds to match. The green flag will once again be waving before you know it.

Visit MazdaRaceway.com and Facebook/MazdaRaceway to keep informed of activities and special events.

posted on conceptcarz.com