From the Paddocks to the Pits - L.A. Honda World Powers Honda Racing at Laguna Seca

L.A. Honda World takes massive pride in our status as the ONLY factory-authorized Honda dealership with our own official race team.

On September 12th through 14th, our dealership traveled to Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas, CA to watch AND participate in the second-to-last race in the 2019 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.

We had three of our Honda Civic Type R TCR race cars participating in the race. The blue #37, which stands in 2nd place for the season, was piloted by Tom O’Gorman and Shelby Blackstock. The Red #73 was piloted by Mike LaMarra and Mat Pombo. The yellow #52 was piloted by Colin Mullan and Harry Cheung.

Not only did our team observe the race and watch the meetings, we were able to get involved from the paddock to the pits and work on the cars!

On Friday, September 13th, Practice 1 and 2 took place. The practices allowed the racers to familiarize with how the vehicles behave on the tarmac of Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca and identify potential issues. Our L.A. Honda World team were an integral part of addressing any issues and fine-tuning the cars performance for the race.

Laguna Seca is famous for turns 8 and 8a, known as the Corkscrew. The Corkscrew features a nearly 60 foot drop (3 stories) in elevation coming off of blind spots from an uphill entrance, and provided no shortage of exciting action during the weekend.

The following day saw the race, but not before a fan walk, where L.A. Honda world stole the show.

Saturday, September 14th was the big day. The race was fierce and aggressive, with cars taking damage from bold attempts at overtakes when the stakes weren’t always high. After 2 hours of consistent performance from the racers and our very own team, who refueled and handled pit stop activity, Tom O’Gorman and Shelby Blackstock pulled off a solid 3rd place podium finish in the blue #37 Type R TCR. Everyone performed passionately, fending off aggressors and defensively maneuvering accidents along the way. The entire L.A. Honda World team created an environment that will not be forgotten.