A Photo Gallery of Motorcycles at Laguna Seca

Laguna Seca is one of the most famous racetracks in the world. Built in 1957, the fabled track is just over 2 miles in length, with 180 ft of elevation change. Best known for the notorious “Corkscrew” tight turn near the top back of the track, it boasts a blind left crest at Turn 8 immediately followed by a hard right plunge down to Turn 8A in only 450 feet, with a drop of 5.5 stories in elevation. The whole track is insanely challenging, for automobiles and motorcycles alike.

And it is loved, dare we say revered, by those who race its curves.

Several of our Road Dirt crew have spent time at Laguna Seca, with both Ted and Ryan having piloted motorcycles around it, while Geoff & Barb have shot epic photos around its perimeter. Among many other organizations that race on the course, MotoAmerica runs there every year, and the Nickless “Dynamic Duo” captured some amazing shots of racers around the track in 2023.

So in anticipation of the 2024 racing season, here’s a photo gallery of some of their favorite shots from last year’s motorcycle races. Enjoy!

(L to R) Screamin’ Eagle exhaust system of Harley-Davidson factory rider #33 Kyle Wyman;  Exhaust system of Sacramento Mile/SDI Racing/Roland Sands/Indian rider #50 Bobby Fong;  Vance & Hines exhaust of Jiffy Tune Racing Harley-Davidson rider #55 Eric Stahl;  Custom system of Indian Motorcycle/Progressive/Mission Foods rider #99 Jeremy McWilliams.

(L to R) Warhorse Racing HSBK/Ducati Panigale V4R, #2 Josh Herrin puts his knee and elbow down in Laguna Seca’s Turn 5;  Westby Racing LLC/Yamaha YZF-R1, #11 Mathew Scholtz gets knee and elbow down, also in Turn 5;  Tylers Cycle Racing/BMW M 1000 RR #6 Cameron Beaubier goes knee-down with his elbow very close to the curbing in Turn 5.

(L to R) Tylers Cycle Racing’s #6 Cameron Beaubier BMW M 1000 RR utilizes an Alpha Racing custom swingarm;  #23 Cory Alexander runs a slightly different Alpha Racing custom swingarm, on his Tylers Cycle Racing M 1000 RR;  #99 PJ Jacobsen sports another variant of an Alpha Racing custom swingarm.  True on-track R&R, minute details make the difference;  Tom Wood Powersports #21 Nolan Lamkin races with the stock BMW S 1000 RR swingarm.

The “Front-Tuck” will never be a fashion trend in motorcycling.  The front tire of Richie Escalante’s Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000RR washes out in Laguna Seca’s Turn 5.  Richie always rides at the limits, but this time his knee and elbow could not save this loss of traction.  He was bumped and bruised in the crash but still finished 4^th in all three races.

(L to R) Eddie Lawson enjoys seeing some prints from 1977 at Sears Point (Sonoma Raceway) that I shot with Kodak TRI-X film when he was NOVICE #74, on his T D Enterprise sponsored Yamaha TZ250.  I gave him three different prints and he signed one for us; Eddie was happy to sign this print for us, after his surprise to see the prints that we gave to him.  While looking at the first photo he slowly asked, “Where did you get that?” I replied, “I took it at Sears Point in 1977.” That elicited a smile from the legend. 

If you know, you know.  Childhood and lifelong friends Kenny Roberts and #27 Skip Aksland were on hand for Rainey’s Ride to the Races.  A fan walks by, recognizes them and seems to say, “Whoa!”

Jake Gagne congratulates a bruised and battered Mathew Scholtz on his tough-it-out 8^th place finish in Sunday’s race 3.  Mathew had a rough Turn 9 crash in race 1 on Saturday while battling for 3^rd, that brought out the red flag.  Mathew finished an honorable 6^th in Sunday’s race 2.

REV’IT! TWINS Cup rider #18 Jackson Blackmon’s crew left him an encouraging note on his Trackday Winner/Blackmon Racing, Yamaha R7 fuel tank-  “It’s got 3 speeds Here, There + Gone!”  This was shot in Laguna Seca’s Turn 9, “Rainey Curve”.

We are looking forward to more great motorcycle racing in 2024! We hope to see you at the races!

Geoff & Barb Nickless

*For more on the upcoming MotoAmerica season, click HERE.