If I recall correctly, I shot this photo at Turn 9 at Laguna Seca, just down the hill from the world-famous Corkscrew. I’ve always thought of Laguna Seca in three sectors, with Turn 9 being the start of the final third. Once you drop down from the Corkscrew it’s a fun, nicely cambered rollercoaster ride to Turn 11’s hard braking zone onto the front straightaway.
Picture Details:
- Car(s): Porsche 911
- Location: Weathertech Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey, CA
- Photog: Peter Nelson (IG + Twitter: @16vpete)
- Camera: Canon 6D MkII, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM Lens
Turn 11 seems hard to get right under racing conditions, especially if you’re leading the race. Overcooking it means getting into the wall, slightly overcooking it means a sloppy line well into the rumble strip, sacrificing corner-exit speed. It’s tricky. But Turn 9 and its equally fun sector-sibling Turn 10 are just straight-up fun. Though I understand that Turn 9 can be brutal if taken too fast off-line; the walls on either side of the tarmac aren’t too far away. Especially if there are two-or-more cars diving down from the Corkscrew.
Cars with very defined, analogue inputs seem like they’d be the absolute-most fun through what I’ll refer to as Sector Three. Heavy steering with plenty of feel, a throttle body with an actual cable attached to an old school carburetor, etc. Like this old 911 I photographed during a Porsche Club of America race there a few years back. It sounded glorious through Sector Three, as did all of its competition. Ripping through Laguna Seca in an air-cooled 911, especially from the Corkscrew to Turn 11, is definitely the stuff of daydreams for me.
Here’s the image in 1080p:
