leanangler;300380 wrote: Darin,
I hear you, it is very hypocritical, but beings I'm from the NorCal area, I gotta throw out a couple of details that some folks might not know.
Laguna Seca is owned and operated by Monterrey County, so it is not a privately owned racetrack. The unfortunate fallout from that is the local county voters have a large say in what happens at the track and when. Several years ago they passed a county measure that only 6 events per year can exceed the 92 db limit. (motogp, wsbk, ama, indy car, the car historic races and one other event I can't remember). The long and the short of it is, every other event must meet the sound restriction.
I've ridden Laguna many times with 2 different Orgs and everybody has to abide by the same rules. The County actually has a paid employee to sit in a little air conditioned shack on the outside of turn 5 where they have a decibel meter installed. All the Orgs have a 1 strike policy, if black flagged you get one chance of fixing the bike to be compliant. Second strike = pack your $hit and go home.
The other unfortunate part of Laguna (which is one of the reasons why MotoGP didn't sign a new contract, SPORT RIDER mag did a great article on it ~last month) is that any proceeds that the track generates feeds the Moterrey County general fund. Those funds do not get channelled back into the track facility, which is why some of the buildings and infrastructure are literally falling down. Don't get me wrong, it is absolutely my favorite track to ride, but to do it, you have to throw on the stocker and do it.
