Final 12 months noticed a full resurfacing of the 11-turn, 2.238-mile street course for the primary time since 2006, which additionally included a brand new pedestrian bridge on the entrance straight as a part of a $14.9 million venture.
The venture started shortly after final Might’s IMSA occasion and was accomplished by July, with IndyCar the primary main sequence to race on the brand new – and faster – floor in September.
Ricky Taylor holds the DPi observe report with a 1m13.924s (108.987mph) flying lap, which got here in April 2022. The present GTP era – that changed DPi – featured Matt Campbell’s Penske Porsche 963 hit a 1m14.774s (107.748mph) lap on the outdated floor throughout its inaugural journey to Laguna Seca final 12 months.
For Bourdais, who is available in because the defending race winner with No. 01 Cadillac V-Sequence.R co-driver Renger van der Zande, a current take a look at confirmed promise of elevated grip, which can probably result in a soar in tempo.
“We did come and take a look at with each Cadillacs, each BMWs and each Penske Porsches, so we did have time to experiment and take a look at fairly a number of issues,” mentioned Bourdais. “Grip has gone up loads.
“It’s in all probability going to be not less than a few seconds quicker and it’s all the time an superior feeling once you drive on a repaved observe. I’ve all the time loved Laguna, however tire degradation was excessive, and grip was fairly low on the finish of the cycle of the outdated pavement.
“So, now it’s full power, most assault and dedication, so it’s a ton of enjoyable to muscle these GTPs round. It’s best to see some fairly unbelievable speeds across the weekend.”
crash, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Photograph by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
When trying again on the IndyCar spherical on the brand new floor, van der Zande seen automobiles “flying off” due to the dearth of grip off the one racing line.
Nonetheless, in current IMSA testing automobiles didn’t undergo the identical difficulty, with “grip all over the place” on the observe. With that, although, he believes the elevated speeds will nonetheless result in a number of automobiles venturing astray but additionally tighten up the sphere.
“These new tarmac modifications will probably deliver the sphere collectively,” van der Zande mentioned. “I count on an in depth battle once more.
“Additionally, strategy-wise it’s going to be very attention-grabbing due to the tarmac, so we’ll see what performs out. It appears like we’ll be fairly a bit quicker than the GT automobiles at Laguna Seca in comparison with the opposite tracks. From that perspective it’s simpler to overhaul them.”
With 34 automobiles unfold throughout three lessons, with GTD Professional and GTD additionally on observe this weekend, managing visitors might be harder than regular with quicker lap instances.
“When the cornering speeds enhance, visitors tends to have an even bigger affect on tempo since you’re getting checked up and dropping extra time within the corners,” Bourdais mentioned.
“It’s the identical for everyone, however timing the place you hit visitors and the way it pans out tends to have an even bigger impact on the race. Laguna nonetheless tends to be a lot of a one-lane observe, and it will get soiled on the skin.
“The multi-class racing tends to assist widen the road, however because the observe grips up and rubbers up on line it tends to get dirtier and it’s a bit much less encouraging you to go across the outdoors of individuals and pull an optimistic transfer.”
#01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Sequence.R: Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais
Photograph by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
Contemplating how a lot faster the tempo might be per lap this 12 months, he was requested if that may play a job in power deployment and pit technique: “It will likely be greater since you want extra power to go quicker,” Bourdais replied.
“It simply doesn’t occur by cornering speeds. You might be on the throttle. We are inclined to have pretty vast home windows with the GTP automobiles over these races, so we’ll see the way it shakes out.
“But it surely must be possible on two stops.”