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 mission.
The mission 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 monitor file with a 1m13.924s (108.987mph) flying lap, which got here in April 2022. Matt Campbell’s Penske Porsche 963 hit a 1m14.774s (107.748mph) lap on the previous floor through the present GTP technology’s – that changed DPi – inaugural journey to Laguna Seca final 12 months.
For Bourdais, who is available in because the defending race winner with No. 01 Cadillac V-Collection.R co-driver Renger van der Zande, a current check confirmed promise of elevated grip, which can seemingly result in a bounce in tempo.
“We did come and check with each Cadillacs, each BMWs and each Penske Porsches, so we did have time to experiment and check out fairly a couple of issues,” mentioned Bourdais. “Grip has gone up rather a lot.
“It’s most likely going to be not less than a few seconds quicker and it’s at all times an superior feeling while you drive on a repaved monitor. I’ve at all times loved Laguna, however tyre degradation was excessive, and grip was fairly low on the finish of the cycle of the previous pavement.
“So, now it’s full power, most assault and dedication, so it’s a ton of enjoyable to muscle these GTPs round. It is best to see some fairly unimaginable speeds across the weekend.”
crash, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Picture by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
When trying again on the IndyCar spherical on the brand new floor, van der Zande observed vehicles “flying off” due to the shortage of grip off the one racing line.
Nonetheless, in current IMSA testing vehicles didn’t endure the identical subject, with “grip in all places” on the monitor. With that, although, he believes the elevated speeds will nonetheless result in a number of vehicles venturing off beam but in addition tighten up the sector.
“These new tarmac adjustments will most probably carry the sector collectively,” van der Zande mentioned. “I anticipate a detailed battle once more.
“Additionally, strategy-wise it’s going to be very fascinating due to the tarmac, so we’ll see what performs out. It seems to be like we’ll be fairly a bit quicker than the GT vehicles at Laguna Seca in comparison with the opposite tracks. From that perspective, it’s simpler to overhaul them.”
With 34 vehicles unfold throughout three courses, with GTD Professional and GTD additionally on monitor this weekend, managing visitors may very well be more durable than regular with quicker lap instances.
“When the cornering speeds enhance, visitors tends to have a much 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 a much bigger impact on the race. Laguna nonetheless tends to be a lot of a one-lane monitor, and it will get soiled on the surface.
“The multi-class racing tends to assist widen the road, however because the monitor 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-Collection.R: Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais
Picture by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
Contemplating how a lot faster the tempo may very well be per lap this 12 months, he was requested if that may play a job in power deployment and pit technique: “It is going to be larger since you want extra power to go quicker,” Bourdais replied.
“It simply doesn’t occur by means of cornering speeds. You might be on the throttle. We are inclined to have pretty large home windows with the GTP vehicles over these races, so we’ll see the way it shakes out.
“However it ought to be possible on two stops.”