Another Event For Laguna

Press Release | June 27, 2009

The following is from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca…Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca announced that a new event the ‘Festival of Legends – Wings and Wheels’ will be debuting in fall 2010 at the world renowned race track. A special preview of the event will be on display at this year’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix in the Yamaha Market Place on July 3 – 5, 2009.The Festival of Legends exhibit at the race will have an eclectic range of historical motorcycles, including the new future F-450 racing class, linking motocross, supermoto and road racing models with those classic bikes from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s celebrated past racing pedigree.The event in 2010 will be a major social event celebrating the halcyon days of motor racing, as it used to be with all the spectacle and glamour of the era and a magical step back in time. The atmosphere, dress, food and music will celebrate life on racetracks in 1970s in a unique weekend celebration.Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca has a rich motorsports history and The Festival of Legends will celebrate the circuit’s romance with motor racing. The track has been graced with epic races from many American motorcycle legends including Eddie Lawson, Kenny Roberts Sr. and Wayne Rainey and this event will bring together the famous European riders with Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s legendary riders.The genesis of the world renowned track were the Pebble Beach Road Races which were held on the twisty and very narrow roads of Pebble Beach, California, from 1950 through 1956. These races led to the formation of the circuit, its modern-day successor which held its first race in 1957.The Festival of Legends will celebrate Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s exciting racing and wonderful nostalgia, taking visitors back to the 1970s and the romance of the motorcycle as the circuit has a rich history of motorcycle racing. It was at the track where Harley-Davidson won its final AMA Road Racing National with Cal Rayborn in 1972 and a teenage Kenny Roberts finishing an amazing third on a Yamaha behind Gene Romero on a Triumph.Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s link to the future with the new F-450 class, is underscored by the fact that in 1973, was the first time that a big bike production race was run, won by Yvon DuHamel on a Kawasaki from Steve McLauglin on a Honda and Reg Pridmore on a BMW, the genesis of what is now Superbike racing.In 1974 Kenny Roberts on a Yamaha scores the first of his many wins at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in the Superbike International. He went on to win three world championships, 32 AMA national wins, 24 Grand Prix wins and 7 wins at the track and as a Team Owner, many more with protégé Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson.The ‘Wings and Wheels’ part is yet another creative stroke of this famous circuit, to link everything past and present in a manner that embraces not just the gear heads, but something new to embrace a festival that all can come, enjoy, be dazzled, as not just another event but a true festival.Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was established in 1957. The world-renowned raceway has been operated since its inception by the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP), a not-for-profit 501C(4) corporation. Each race season, SCRAMP donates its net proceeds to the volunteer groups that help put on the races.Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca’s world-class 2009 racing schedule includes the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix featuring MotoGP World Championship July 3-5, the 36th Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races August 14-16 and the Monterey Sports Car Championships featuring the American Le Mans Series October 9-11.

By Press Release