Mazda

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Google Street View

4 September 2009 - The Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in California can now be viewed from your PC on Google Street View. Racing fans can travel the entire circuit, starting at Andretti's Hairpin to the infamous Corkscrew Curve, from the perspective of a race car participating in the final leg of the 2008 American Le Mans Series. The tour was filmed using a spherical, multi-lens camera mounted to a vehicle, and combined with additional photographic imagery, GPS and other geo-spatial data to produce a true image of the race track at eye level.

This makes Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca the first racing circuit in the world to be available at Google Street View. For 52 years, the circuit has been venue for some of the most important racing events in the United States, including the Speed World Challenge and the WSBK Superbike World Championship, among many others. As one of the world's toughest circuits, with 11 curves, a length of 3.6 km and an elevation change of 91 metres, it has been host to thousands of prototype test-drives over the years as well.

One of its most famous prototypes was a small, two-seat roadster from Mazda in the late 1980s. The production model of this car would later enter the Guinness Book of Records as the world's best-selling two-seat sports car ever, the Mazda MX-5, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

Mazda is the raceway's main sponsor and continues to test prototypes for the US market on a regular basis, and to hold its own racing series throughout the US, including the Mazda MX-5 Cup and Formula Mazda.