my MotoGP report

I am not related to Mark. Really.

I have been going to Laguna Seca for at least 6 years now. For the WSB races and then last year for
the MotoGP. Every year has been downhill as the event got more popular and this year was the final
straw. Over the years there have just been too many hassles and crap and I just can't deal with it
any more.

Some of this is going to sound like whining but I have paid Laguna a ton of money and it has never
been worth it.

First they took our Turn 3 paddock suite away last year and gave it to industry folks. To
compensate they created the Turn 2 suites but that was a poor substitute. There is never any
working sound in the Turn 2 suites so we can't hear the announcers. The TVs are crappy tube TVs
mounted in a bad location that are nearly impossible to see and that don't work half the time. Any
hospitality tent or manufacturer tent had better TVs, with working sound, than we had in the turn 2
suite.

With a suite you get "preferred" parking. What a load of crap. We were promised parking in the lot
right behind the turn 2 suites this year but once again they put us on Fox Hill. That is a
nightmare. Getting off of Fox Hill takes hours and you have to compete with all the traffic out of
the paddock on Sunday night.

In the end there are just too many people. Laguna Seca really cannot handle 40,000 people much less
the 55,000 they had on each of the weekend days. They just don't have the capability to move that
many people in and out of the facility and they don't have the infra to support that many people. I
know they are trying but all indications are that they failed again this year, despite all the changes.

And I haven't even mentioned the heat. It was truly unbearable. I am ashamed to say that we didn't
even go on Sunday. We spent the day on the beach in Carmel instead and watched the race on TV. We
just couldn't bear the heat and the crappy facilities.

If they could just cap ticket sales at 30,000/day. But they will never give up that extra revenue.

Jim N.

 

Precisely why I didn't go back this year -- they'll try to blame hotel
price gouging.. Parked in traffic for two hours just trying to get into
the track. Then the bridge over turn one was gridlocked. That's just
fuckin' dangerous. I didn't think they would fix the problem. I mean,
come on, was last year the first time they've ever held an event?
The NASCAR oval probably does 150,000 for race day. Talk to them.

They need to move the event. Maybe to Miller.

Last year's weather was awesome.