Some backroads, some classics.

A 10 day road trip through three US states took us to many memorable places and gave us the chance to drive on some spectacular roads. We drove a Chrysler 300c, it was a good choice, spacious, quiet, very economical and good to look at if you like current US styling, which in most cases I do.

Highway 1 CA.

Laguna Seca

There was a club event running when we got to the track, a company called Speed SF runs these events at Laguna Seca and Sonoma raceways, $280 gets you a full day at the track in four classes, behaviour was quite good and there were some interesting cars running. Nascar may take over the running of this circuit, not sure how it will fit in with the Nascar brand but the track is in real need of improvements for competitors and spectators. One of the classic circuits in the world but the facilities are primitive.The marine layer was really persistent and didn't clear until 11am. 

Wasting away in Monterey.

West bank of Lake Tahoe.

 Bonneville Salt Flats

This years speed week was cancelled because of heavy rain but that didn't stop Top Gear USA from going ahead with filming on the day we were there. We left before filming started but they were happy to talk to us and let as look at the cars as long as we didn't post photos of the actual cars or ''stars''.

600 kms. between Wendover [Bonneville] and Bishop, long straight roads and almost no traffic.

I was expecting Bishop to be a small run down town with a few motels, I was completely wrong, it's a very attractive place and has easy access to the Sierra Nevada, it's on my list for a return visit to explore some of the hiking trails in the area.

Death Valley

An amazing place, descending 4000ft with the temperature at 78. to -300ft and 104f. takes you into one of the most spectacular national parks in the USA. Go early and take plenty of water if you plan to hike into Golden Canyon and up to Zabriskie Point.

The end of the line for Route 66.

Laguna Seca - Moto GP.

July 2013

After our trip to Sepang last October we decided to add another Moto GP event to our travel plans, cheap flights across the Pacific with V Australia made Laguna Seca an easy choice. It's a track I have always wanted to visit. If you decide to do the same be warned that booking your grandstand seats in advance is a poor option. The Turn 4 stand was booked out almost a year ago leaving the Turn 11 stand as the only option. This grandstand is not very grand, a temporary structure situated along the main straight but only about 6 metres high at the highest point. Seats are allocated, you can't select where you sit, when we found that we had front row seats right on the start finish line we thought it would be a good place to watch from, turned out to be the exact opposite. There is a double wire catch fence the length of the straight which means that vision especially to the left is reduced by about 80%. You can see the bikes flash past at 300kmph directly in front and that's it. [I raised this issue with Mazda Raceway when we returned home but they have chosen not to respond, at the very least the seats should be sold with a warning that vision is greatly reduced.]

We used the seats that we had booked for the weekend for about 30 minutes on the Friday and spent the rest of the weekend at the top of the mountain, this is a great place to see most of the track, a two minute walk over the top and you are at The Corkscrew. It was a great experience and I don't regret going but this was Moto GP light, there were no Moto 2 or Moto 3 races, instead there was a local Superbike class and some E Bike races, the E bikes were interesting, watching a bike the size of a superbike come down the straight at 250kmph with absolutely no engine noise is quite weird.

One of my favourite riders, Colin Edwards. Unfortunately he is no longer on a competitive bike and must be getting close to the end of his Moto GP career. 

The package we booked was not expensive by Australian standards, US$140 gave us 3 days entry, grandstand ??? pit passes and a programme. Car parking added $30. We could get close to the garages on Friday but for the rest of the weekend it was too crowded in the pit area.

The view from the mountain is spectacular, no need to pay for grandstands.

The Ducati's cant challenge for the lead this year but must have amazing torque, this is Nicky Hayden 3/4's of the way down the main straight changing gear, probably doing about 280kmph at that point. Final photo is Colin Edwards taking a wide line down the straight.

Corvette v Porsche at Laguna Seca

Not exactly a backroad but it is one of the best motor sport video clips I've seen. A visit to Laguna Seca and The Pebble Beach Councours has been added to my to do list.

Thanks to Speed for an excellent video.