Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Financing is in place, engineers are drawing up plans for track improvements, construction has been scheduled and all the blanks are being filled in, in preparation for the MotoGP World Championship event coming to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.

That’s the word from Gill Campbell, General Manager of the facility, who told Roadracingworld.com Wednesday, “(Construction) will start as soon as our racing season is over, hopefully, after the American Le Mans (car) race in October. The first thing that will happen is the Turn Nine bridge will get moved. We’re having engineering (plans) drawn up even as we speak, then we have to go through the permit process.”

Campbell said local government officials are excited to have MotoGP coming to the Monterey Peninsula, so she does not anticipate any major hurdles or delays in the permitting process.

And all of the financing is in place to pay for the track improvements and the event sanctioning fee to Dorna thanks to a yet-to-be-announced sponsor.

“I can’t tell you who that’s going to be right now, but hopefully within the next couple of weeks I’ll be able to announce that,” said Campbell, who pointed out that Dorna sold the title sponsorship of the event to Red Bull and that Red Bull is not paying for the improvements to the track, as has been incorrectly reported elsewhere.

Further improvements for spectators – such as terraced seating cut into the hillside surrounding turn two, a new pedestrian bridge at the start/finish line, permanent bathrooms and more – will be funded through the “Steps to the Corkscrew” fundraiser, which is selling personalized bricks in a pathway leading from Turn 10 to a balcony overlooking the Corkscrew to fans.

Although the MotoGP paddock is very restricted at normal venues, Campbell said a limited number of paddock access passes will be sold, “similar to what we were able to do with World Superbike. (Dorna) absolutely understands that America is very different and for this event to grow and continue in the U.S. there are some things that will have to be different for this venue.”

And what support races will MotoGP share the paddock and racetrack with? Campbell said she hopes that will be determined within the next 30 days. As happened with World Superbike at Laguna Seca, AMA Superbike could provide the support program. Contacted Wednesday and asked about that possibility, AMA Pro Racing Superbike Series Manager Ron Barrick said, “I personally don’t know of any obstacles that would prevent that from happening.”

As far as ticket sales for the MotoGP event, which is still over 10 months away, “Oh my God! Our phones have been ringing off the hook. It’s insane. It’s a great insane,” said Campbell.

During the ever-growing World Superbike events of recent years at Laguna Seca, there had been rumors that the track was near its fire-code-mandated fan capacity, but Campbell said there is only a guideline of 50,000 people in the park per day. “But there’s nothing that holds us to it…if we were to get 50,000 people in the park per day it would be incredible,” said Campbell.

The Red Bull U. S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is scheduled for July 8-10, 2005 and hotel rooms are already going fast.