Porsche and Laguna Seca, like peanut butter and jelly
For many Porsche fans, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on the Monterey Peninsula in California has essentially served as the German automaker’s unofficial home base. That’s thanks to not just many Porsche sports car victories at the track over the decades but also its recent role as host for multiple editions of Porsche’s haloed Rennsport Reunion, multi-day gatherings of rabid Porsche fans and astounding Porsche cars from around the globe.
Well, that unofficial marriage just got a bit more real, as Porsche Cars North America officials announced on May 5 that its storied marque is now The Official Car of the raceway, which is itself experiencing a renaissance in leadership and direction.
Now you can wring out a new Porsche at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
So what does this all actually mean? For one, it links Porsche to the raceway in a more formal sponsorship partnership, which will include a Porsche (no word on which model, but I’d vote for a 911 GT3 RS) serving as the official safety car for the TireRack.com Monterey Sportscar Championship IMSA Â race weekend, May 9-11. The race will be broadcast live on Sunday, May 11, at noon PDT/3 p.m. EDT on NBC.
But certainly even more exciting for Porsche-philes is word that the track will play host to another location for the automaker’s thrill-a-minute Porsche Driving Experience, which offers owners and would-be owners alike a host of driving school options that range from tips for teen drivers to hardcore on-track tutorials from pros. The existing PDE locations are at the company’s HQ in Atlanta as well at its Porsche Driving Experience Los Angeles track in Carson.
Related: VW Sell More EVs, Yet Makes a Lot Less Money
For longtime Porsche racer, restorer and track board member Bruce Canepa, the partnership is a natural
“Many of the greatest moments in motorsport history have happened at Laguna Seca,” Timo Resch, President and CEO of PCNA, said in a statement. “We are excited to be a part in the track’s exciting plans for the future and to allow the next generation of enthusiasts to get behind the wheel of a Porsche.”
The partnership no doubt was inked with the deft stewardship of ex-racer, noted classic car restoration shop owner and Porsche devotee Bruce Canepa, who helped Bill Gates and others with the importation of Porsche’s rest-of-the-world supercar, the 959, and currently is the sole distributor for Kalmar, a high-end Porsche restomod (think Singer, but from Europe).
“We are thrilled to welcome Porsche as the official car of Laguna Seca,” said Canepa, who also serves as a Friends of Laguna Seca board member. “I have been a fan and owner of their cars for five decades. This partnership brings together two iconic brands, and we are excited to celebrate our collective histories and race into the future together.”
Ever heard of The Corkscrew? There’s nothing quite like it in North America
Porsche’s legacy is extensive at this historic track, which opened in 1957 as a formal location for races that previously had wound through the Del Monte forests near Pebble Beach. WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca has so far hosted four Rennsport Reunions dating back 15 years.
In 2023, Rennsport Reunion 7 featured historic and new Porsches, top Porsche company officials, and 91,000 fans across the four-day event. In addition, last year Porsche notched it’s 600th and 601st IMSA victories at the track, while last February a Taycan Turbo GT became the fastest series-production EV to lap Laguna with a time of 1:27.87.
For those of you who have been to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, you know all about The Corkscrew, a sinuous left into a hard right that drops precipitously on the backside of the track, a famous turn that requires you to aim the nose of your car not at a cone but rather a hillside tree, so steep is the dropoff. And so fun.
If you’ve never experienced it, Porsche’s new driving school at Laguna Seca will remedy that pronto. The program is slated to open up in 2026. Get in line now.
Related: I Attended Land Rover’s Off-Road Driving School: Here’s the Muddy Truth
