2016 Marks 45th Season of Championship Motorcycle Racing at Mazda Raceway
MONTEREY, Calif. – Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca began its now legendary status as an iconic motorcycle racing venue when Cal Rayburn and his No. 14 Harley-Davidson fended off the likes of Smart, Nixon, Romero, Carruthers, Scott, Brelsford, Hately and others to win the AMA-sanctioned Kawasaki Superbike International on July 23, 1972.
It was the start to what’s grown into nearly a half-century of the ultimate in motorcycle road racing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Motorcycle racing fans will be able to add to those lifelong memories July 8-10 at the
Motul FIM Superbike World Championship GEICO Motorcycle U.S. Round featuring the MotoAmerica Honda Superbike Showdown of California. In addition to the nonstop racing on the track, fans can get up close to all of the action in the paddock including the chance to meet their heroes, visit the dozens of vendor displays in The Marketplace and on Ducati Island, and participate in the many activities throughout the facility. Fan favorite Nicky Hayden, the 2006 MotoGP World Champion and two-time Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca MotoGP winner (2005, 2006), returns to competition at Mazda Raceway for the first time since 2013 as the newest member of the Honda World Superbike Team.
The 2016 major events season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca marks the 45th year of hosting championship national and international motorcycle road racing at the world-class central California coast raceway. MotoGP, which opened 2016 season with the Grand Prix of Qatar, staged 15 Grand Prix events at Mazda Raceway from 1988 to 2013.
American Eddie Lawson won Mazda Raceway’s inaugural U.S. Grand Prix on a Yamaha and would go on to take the 1988 World Championship, the third of his four season titles (1984, 1986, 1988-89). Wayne Rainey continued the U.S. (and Yamaha) streak in 1989 by winning the first of three straight Mazda Raceway titles on the way to three World Championships (1990-92). Mazda Raceway didn’t host a World Championship round in 1992 but, when the series returned the next year, John Kocinski picked up the American mantle and made it five straight for the home country on a Cagiva. Italian Luca Caladora broke the All-American win streak in 1994, but notched another victory for Yamaha, before the series took a 10-year hiatus from the raceway.
The world’s greatest motorcycle road racers returned to Mazda Raceway in 2005 competing under the MotoGP banner. The list of winners is a Who’s Who of the short list of riders who dominated the sport for more than a decade. Hayden earned his first series victory in front of the home country fans and his repeat victory the next season powered him and his Honda team to the 2006 World Championship. Two-time champion Casey Stoner’s first of three victories came in 2007 on a Ducati but his other two, in 2011 and 2012, were earned on Hondas. Seven-time champion Valentino Rossi won in 2008 on a Yamaha, Danny Pedrosa in 2009 on a Honda, three-time champion Jorge Lorenzo earned the win for Yamaha in 2010, and 2012 World Champion Marc Marquez closed out the MotoGP era at Mazda Raceway with the win for Honda in 2013.
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca MotoGP Notes:
? The Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca racing surface was lengthened between the 1987 and 1988 seasons from 1.9 miles to 2.214 miles and finally 2.238 miles by creating two additional turns (Turns 3 & 4) in the lakebed area, making for a total of 11.
? The inaugural race in 1988 was the first international motorcycle road racing Grand Prix held in the United States since England’s Mike Hailwood earned the victory in the 1965 season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway. It was the first of Hailwood’s eight wins that season on the No. 1 MV Agusta that propelled him to his fourth consecutive 500cc World Championship.
? In 2005, Nicky Hayden made his victory lap both patriotic and a family affair. He carried an American flag in his left hand while giving his dad, Earl Hayden, a ride on the back of his bike.
? Valentino Rossi earned his first U.S. Grand Prix victory, and only win at Mazda Raceway, by overtaking Casey Stoner with a “Zanardi-like” pass in the gravel at The Corkscrew in 2008. In a turnabout of fair play, Rossi was passed for the win in similar fashion at The Corkscrew in 2013 by Marc Marquez.
SCRAMP celebrates 60 consecutive seasons of hosting world-class motorsports events in 2016. This year’s schedule continues the decades-long tradition of showcasing national and world championship series’ of sports car, open wheel and motorcycle racing, as well as one of the most prestigious annual historic car racing events in the world.
Tickets for the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship GEICO Motorcycle U.S. Round featuring the MotoAmerica Honda Superbike Showdown of California and every major event on the 2016 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca calendar are on sale now. Click HERE for more information or call the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Ticket Office at 831.242.8200.