Five cautions in just two hours and forty minutes of racing - it was a wild one two years ago when the VSCA SportsCar Championship paid its inaugural visit to WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca. In the end it was eventual series champions Element Simracing taking victory after a series of post-race penalties against other competitors.
Last year’s edition of the race turned out to be a lot more quiet with only one caution period interrupting the action. But there was no shortage of drama, as several teams gambled on another late caution period only to find out their strategy would not work out.
In the end it was Race4Cat Motorsport taking the overall win. Can the Catalonian team return to winner’s circle in 2024 with their #23 Porsche 911 GT3 R, this time in GT PRO class competition?
Eleven turns including the world-famous corkscrew and elevation changes equalling up to eleven stories are some of the marquee challenges a grid of 54 cars will have to master and navigate in Saturday’s Course De Monterey.
The fourth of ten championship rounds in the 2024 VSCA SportsCar Championship also marks the return to the VSCA Sprint Cup as teams will have to adjust a much shorter race distance of two hours and forty minutes to get the job done compared to the last race at Sebring which was 12 hours long.
One big change for this year’s edition of the event will be a new start time. Teams and drivers will take the green flag at 5:45 pm and the race will finish just after sunset just past 8 pm.
“We wanted to spice things up a bit and felt a sunset race would be exciting for teams, drivers and fans. Laguna Seca has hosted sunset races before and it made for a good show. We hope this will continue that history and start a new tradition in VSCA.”, said series director Benjamin Fischer.
Coming off their overall and GTP class win in the 12 Hours of Sebring, the #51 World Of SimRacing Team Cadillac carries strong momentum into Saturday’s race and will try to make it two in a row. Leading the charge to challenge them will be the #15 Composite Performance Cadillac who are still looking for their first win in a points race in VSCA after winning The Roar Before The 24 in January.
In LMP2, Gowing Racing failed to take victory for the first time this season at Sebring last month. Instead it was the #46 Dallara P217 of Rising Panda Racing rising to the top. Can the Austrian team keep the pressure up on the points leaders and win again at Laguna Seca?
GT PRO points leaders and Sebring winners #84 Fischer Motorsport Porsche hope to continue their successful 2024 season campaign so far with another strong run at Laguna Seca. RPM Racing, DS Racing Esports Team and last year’s winners Race4Cat Motorsport - among others - will have different ideas. Who will claim the top step on the podium in GT PRO in the Californian desert?
And then there is GT AM with #5 Screeching Moose Motorsports Mercedes running away with the championship so far, winning four straight races. It looked like Digital Chicane and their #80 Ferrari was on its way to win at Sebring last month, before a post-race penalty meant the team wound up second officially. Will the feud between Screeching Moose and Digital Chicane continue on the track at Laguna Seca? What about the competition? Will the class see a new challenger compete for the win in the largest class of the series?
This and many more questions linger on the minds of teams, drivers and fans alike heading into this weekend’s Course De Monterey.
GreenFlag TV will broadcast the event live, from start to finish starting Saturday at 15:50 GMT and will provide the answers.