5 Things I Learned Riding At Laguna Seca Raceway

I've outlined the track day at Laguna Seca on the Aprilia Tuono elsewhere on the site (see Road Tripping To Laguna Seca here), but there were a few interesting (to me anyway) observations that I didn't include in those pieces. Here they are:

1. You absolutely have to be OFF the gas cresting the right-hand turn at the top of the Corkscrew, and get your weight over the front end. The bike will want to wheelie since the track drops away so quickly, and if you give it even a whiff of throttle you'll be on one wheel going down the hill. And it's hard to turn when your front wheel isn't touching the ground.

2. There's a sound limit of 92 dB at Laguna Seca. The big race events get a free pass but track-day riders have to be careful not to "pop" sound. There's a sound booth at the exit of Turn 5, so most track-day organizers lay out a chicane of cones up the hill to keep you from rolling the throttle to the stop and barking at the sound meter. Stock exhausts are encouraged.

3. Turn 1 is insane, and a proper test of one's bravery. It's wide open from the exit of Turn 11 all the way under the start-finish bridge and then over the crest of Turn 1. You can't see where the track goes and you're going triple digits, so your reference points need to be dialed. The Aprilia recorded a top speed of 151 mph over the top of the hill. That's fast enough for me!

4. Laguna Seca is better on a big bike. I've ridden Laguna on a 600 supersport (and I'm a huge fan of 250- and 300-class bikes), and while of course it was fun, the track flows better when you've got more horsepower to unleash between turns.

5. Laguna is an encyclopedia of corners. From blind, crested, wide-open sweepers like Turn 1 to totally flat turns like Turn 3 to beautifully banked corners like Turn 10 (plus totally novel arrangements like the Corkscrew), this track has a little of everything. There's a reason it's world famous.