Laguna Seca track record unofficially falls to Ferrari’s Gene
F1 pictures
Marc Gene has unofficially beaten the track record at the Laguna Seca circuit in the USA driving a 2003 Ferrar1 F2003-GA.
Gene was driving the car at the Ferrari Racing Days event at the California circuit. He covered the 3.6km (2.24-mile) circuit in 1’05.78.
That beats the previous fastest time of 1’05.88 set by Sebastien Bourdais driving a Panoz DP01 Champ Car in 2007.
Although F1 has never raced at the famous circuit, home of the Corkscrew corner, Ricardo Zonta set a 1.06.30 in a Toyota TF106 at the track in 2006.
Champ Car last raced at the circuit in 2004. A1 Grand Prix made a single visit to Laguna Seca in 2006.
Pictures: Marc Gene in a Ferrari F2003-GA at Laguna Seca
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- Marc Gene, Ferrari F2003-GA, Laguna Seca, 2012
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- Marc Gene, Ferrari F2003-GA, Laguna Seca, 2012
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- Ferrari F2003-GA, Laguna Seca, 2012
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- Ferrari F2003-GA, Laguna Seca, 2012
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- Ferrari F2003-GA, Laguna Seca, 2012
See more pictures of the car here:
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Images © Ferrari spa/Ercole Colombo
Euro Brun (@eurobrun) said on 21st May 2012, 16:14
By far my favourite American circuit. A shame it will never be viable for F1.
xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag) said on 21st May 2012, 16:16
What time did he do?
xjr15jaaag (@xjr15jaaag) said on 21st May 2012, 16:16
Never mind that previous comment: I hadn’t read the article properly
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65) said on 21st May 2012, 16:19
Woah, that’s slow. I got the Gold in the Special License in Gran Turismo 2 in 1:12.883 :P
*good times*
Hallard (@hallard) said on 22nd May 2012, 0:09
Man that takes me back… I wish I still had my PS1 (and accompanying memory card) so I could compare lap times with you!
A-Safieldin (@a-safieldin) said on 22nd May 2012, 0:40
I did it in 58 sec in GT3 in the Williams-esque FW16-ish car.
DamionShadows (@damionshadows) said on 31st May 2012, 21:16
Yea, I set a time below a minute driving the one that looked more like the 86′ Lotus I think.
JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1) said on 21st May 2012, 17:00
I wonder what a well set up F2004 with a top driver in it could have managed?
xeroxpt (@) said on 21st May 2012, 19:06
Ye, still an 08 car should be quicker in this kind of track.
Robert_EST (@robert_est) said on 22nd May 2012, 5:29
Unlikely as F2004 still holds majority of the lap records in current F1 track calendar.
Rocca said on 22nd May 2012, 11:02
Well even with that 2003 Ferrari on a proper race weekend with put down rubber and driven in real anger the laptimes would be a lot faster. So this isn’t quite comparable to a race record in any other series that may have driven there imo.
TexAgF1 (@texagf1) said on 21st May 2012, 17:26
I am always confused by these events because of the tires. Is he running Pirelli slicks?
Felix Hemsted (@demos12) said on 21st May 2012, 19:24
if they are, the almost certainly won’t be a set of race-spec tyres
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 21st May 2012, 22:52
@texagf1 He is indeed.
BasCB (@bascb) said on 23rd May 2012, 13:34
The teams get promotion event tyres for these kind of things (track days, filming days, etc.), those are a lot harder than the normal tyres used for racing
Mikeycool said on 21st May 2012, 17:34
I was wondering how that ferrari got through the corkscrew, but then i saw the ground clearence of the car in the pics :)
DC (@dujedcv) said on 21st May 2012, 17:58
I wonder what time would Montoya achieve in FW25
Buran (@buran) said on 21st May 2012, 18:56
Check this out.
1. http://youtu.be/oO2rokX6sTY F2003 Pass-By
2. http://youtu.be/WjBwqFXUaEA F2003 Onboard
SafirXP (@safirxp) said on 21st May 2012, 19:46
Thanks for the links! Love the track and the corkscrew! Always wondered when I’ll get to see onboard shots of an F1 going around this track!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 21st May 2012, 20:14
@buran Nice footage, thanks – he was six seconds off Gene, though!
Slowhands (@slowhands) said on 21st May 2012, 20:36
Not hard to see why: missing apexes, leaving lots of track at entry and exit, late to maintenance throttle and not brave enough once he got on the throttle, very timid through the Corkscrew.
Can’t say that I blame him, though– driving F1 machinery on the limit on an unforgiving, technical, and old-school track like LS is not for the faint of heart!
Slowhands (@slowhands) said on 21st May 2012, 20:44
for example, look at the 2 pics of Gene coming through the Corkscrew– at the top he’s so much on the throttle that his right front is completely unloaded, and on the way down he’s all over the kerbing of the second apex, in fact his RF is going to cut well inside it.
AndresM (@andresm) said on 21st May 2012, 20:55
Wow! a Ferrari in the corkscrew.
squaregoldfish (@squaregoldfish) said on 21st May 2012, 21:21
So is it unofficial because it wasn’t part of a race event?
BasCB (@bascb) said on 23rd May 2012, 13:37
yep
Aetost (@aetost) said on 21st May 2012, 22:55
Was this a Ferrari special event? If so, it is curious they still run the original livery that includes current McLaren sponsor Vodafone and omits Santander.
Dane. (@dane-1) said on 22nd May 2012, 0:11
The other driver is a friend of mine, Bud Moeller. He is an amazing guy; owns & races a Ferrari 312-T5 & is also part of the Ferrari Clienti program. They have run track days at Imola & Spa in the past, & Infineon Raceway two weeks ago… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YMKsjSkon8
This is some great footage of him racing at Road America in the T5 a few years ago… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN8tFnOHR3U
Steven (@modtl) said on 22nd May 2012, 1:23
Looking odd a Ferrari car adorned in Bridgestone stickers driving with Pirelli tyres!!
AndrewMansell (@andrewmansell) said on 22nd May 2012, 1:37
Argentinian driver laping around minute 8, in a 04 ferrari also at Laguna Seca.
By the way, he uses Kimi’s helmet :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec2UBr0i_-k