Ducati motorcycles at a track day with a group of riders in red shirts at a racetrack celebrating their passion

DROC at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

Laguna Seca is the bucket-list one. DROC has ridden with Ducati several times, on a Ducati-only track day open to riders of all levels.

Layout of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, drawn by Ducati Riders of Orange County from OpenStreetMap geometry, with the corner names labelled. WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 2.238 miles · 11 turns · the Corkscrew drops 59 ft in 450 ft Rahal Straight The Corkscrew Rainey Curve Andretti Hairpin 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Hot pit lane 400 m drocdesmo.com
Eleven turns over 2.238 miles. The Corkscrew is officially Turns 8 and 8A: it drops 59 feet in 450 feet of track, and the road keeps falling to Turn 9, which sits 109 feet below Turn 8. The numbering is the raceway’s own, pinned by the three corners OpenStreetMap names, Andretti Hairpin 2, the Corkscrew 8 and Rainey Curve 9, and the eleven corners in the geometry match the eleven they publish. Their turn-by-turn racing-lines flyer describes each one. Layout drawn by DROC from OpenStreetMap data, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. This drawing is © Ducati Riders of Orange County.

It is the Corkscrew, obviously, but the rest of the circuit earns its reputation too: blind crests, real elevation change, and a front straight that arrives faster than you expect.

Why it is iconic

The circuit opened in 1957, built on part of Fort Ord after the Pebble Beach road races were abandoned for being too dangerous, and almost everything has raced here since: MotoGP and World Superbike, Can-Am, Trans-Am, IMSA, CART, the American Le Mans Series, and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. The infield that is now Turns 3, 4 and 5 was added in 1988, stretching the lap from 1.9 miles to the 2.238 it runs today. Then there is the Corkscrew, officially Turns 8 and 8A, which drops 59 feet in 450 feet of track, the equivalent of five and a half stories, and does it blind over the crest so you commit before you can see the bottom. It is where Alex Zanardi went up the inside of Bryan Herta on the last lap in 1996, a pass people still argue about. The whole track was repaved in 2023, so the surface is new even though the corners are exactly where they have always been.

What makes it worth the drive is that none of it reads on television. The Corkscrew is steeper, Rainey Curve is faster, and the elevation change is bigger than any camera makes it look. You have watched this place your whole riding life, and then you get to ride it.

What a day here looks like

  • Ducati Day is organized by Ducati rather than by DROC, so entry goes through their process.
  • The 2025 edition put MotoAmerica racers and Ducati athletes on track alongside participants, including Jake Zemke, PJ Jacobsen, Kayla Yaakov and Cameron Petersen.
  • Monterey is a long way from Orange County. Treat it as a weekend, not a day.

Past days at this circuit

Getting ready

Bike prep, gear, and what to pack are all on the track days page. If this would be your first time on track, read that first: none of it is hard, but arriving without a working transponder mount or taped mirrors wastes your morning.

See upcoming track days

← All DROC track days