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
F1Yankee (@f1yankee) said on 22nd May 2012, 7:28
it’s a shame gene isn’t driving a certain peugeot right about now
William Brierty said on 22nd May 2012, 8:41
Sorry Marc, I just did a 1:04.362 in a Ferrari F1 car (F2007) that has two fewer cylinders and groved tyres, thanks to Gran Turismo 5.
CNSZU said on 22nd May 2012, 9:39
An F1 car barely edges out a Champ car? That’s pathetic.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris) said on 22nd May 2012, 12:13
That’s comparing apples and oranges. This is an old Ferrari, on super hard demo spec tyres which are in a size the car was never designed for, running with a ‘safe’ engine map which will have a conservative limiter on it. An F1 car in full racing trim would be much faster.
SteveA said on 22nd May 2012, 15:57
dont forget the champcar record was done at the end of a week of testing where all the cars had managed to fine tune there setups & the track had been properly rubbered in.
have a proper f1 test at laguna seca for a couple days to get setups sorted & the track rubbered in & the modern f1 cars would go 2-3 seconds quicker.
JMLabareda (@jmlabareda) said on 23rd May 2012, 13:37
or more. I think the comparison at Montreal (don’t remember which year) between F1 and Champcar was 5sec+
Diogo Silva said on 22nd May 2012, 11:42
This is interesting – but surprised at how Bourdais in a Champ Car managed to be faster than the late 90s Indycars
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 22nd May 2012, 11:47
Laguna Seca is a fairly slow and twisty course, so it’ll be all about downforce.
Slowhands (@slowhands) said on 24th May 2012, 19:51
+1. And a car that’s compliant over the kerbs, because you have to use them pretty much maximally.
a4p (@a4p) said on 22nd May 2012, 13:29
What if Gene used a F2004 or a MP4-20, then? ;D
Aditya Banerjee (@) said on 22nd May 2012, 17:50
I still think he should have replaced Massa in ’09, not BADoer or FISHichella…
The Last Pope (@the-last-pope) said on 22nd May 2012, 20:09
He would have faired no better though. Fisichella was hardly slow in his last race before he joined Ferrari. No one expected Badoer to be that bad.