First trip to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7
Said to be Porsche's largest ever event, it was held for four days from September 28, 2023 (Thursday) to October 1, 2023 (Sunday) at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in California, USA. There's 'Rennsport Reunion 7”.
This time, over 91,000 people participated over the four days, breaking the previous record.
When this event was first announced, I was sitting in front of my computer screen, holding my fingers in my mouth and thinking, ``That's great!'' But the more I thought about it, the more I started thinking, ``I want to go.'' Just when I was starting to think, ``I wonder if it's going to happen,'' someone told me in a blog comment or on SNS that they were going, and I was like, ``Let's go after all!'' ^^
Preparations began about six months before the event. Even so, the hotels near Laguna Seca were getting more and more booked because they were more expensive (as expected, the more expensive hotels were filling up (lol)).
I managed to arrange flights, hotels, rental cars, tickets, etc., and the day of my departure to the United States finally arrived. I haven't been able to go abroad at all in the past few years due to the coronavirus situation, so it was my first time abroad in a long time, and I was really excited just to get on a plane. Well, I didn't even notice that the plane was taking off and was fast asleep.
First, we will fly from Japan to San Francisco, and then drive to a town called Monterey.
It's been a while since I drove in America.
A photo of a Porsche 356 Speedster was displayed at a cafe I casually stopped at in San Francisco, and it was just a coincidence that there was a photo of a Porsche here, but still, I was looking at this photo without thinking. I was beginning to really feel the joy of coming to the Porsche event.
Well, from now on, I would like to record my participation in my first Laguna Seca and my first large-scale Porsche event, Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7 (2023).
It seems that many people were interested in the event, so I wanted to include a lot of photos, so it's a long post, so I hope you'll feel free to skip through it.
I participated in Rennsport Reunion 7 (hereinafter referred to as RR7) for a total of 1.5 days, including a full day on September 29th (Friday) and a half day on September 30th (Saturday) out of the four days of the event. It was quite a bullet trip.
Rennsport Reunion 7: My first day of participation 9/29 (2nd day)
First of all, on the night of the previous day, the 28th, there were a lot of Porsches parked in the hotel parking lot, and I thought, ``Oh, everyone, it's an RR7~'', but among them, there was a covered car in a corner of the parking lot. There is one car with a car covered in it.
My husband said, "Isn't that a 356?"
The next morning, while it was still dark at home and everyone was getting ready to leave, it was 356 that came out from under the cover.
I was able to talk to the owner and take some photos, and it was fun to start interacting with Porsche even before the RR7 started. fun. It's fun.
RR7 gates open at 7am.
Although various things actually started inside the event venue (stores opened, etc.) at 8 o'clock, quite a lot of people were already heading to the venue aiming for the gates to open at 7 o'clock.
The words "LAGUNA SECA" finally appeared.
I'm so excited! !
When I entered the premises, I was greeted by several Porsche cars, but if you look closely, you will see that all of these cars are "paintings". signboard.
As I walked along, I thought, ``Oh, there's a picture over there too,'' and it turned out to be a real Targa.
At the event, there were various parking areas such as parking lots conveniently located close to the venue that could be purchased in advance, RV parks, and parking areas for those who wanted to display their cars at the event, but the general public Ticket purchasers who only wish to enter and enjoy the event will park in the "General Parking".
While looking sideways at the venue where many Porsches were parked↓, we first headed to our parking lot, the general parking lot.
Well, the road to this parking lot is quite a road that makes you wonder, "Is this an off-road experience?" It's wild that everyone is going through this with Porsche.
Is this really okay? While I was thinking that, I was running through an empty place and a small bush...
Well, really nothing (lol).
Finally, I saw what looked like a parking lot.
It's spacious anyway. The land is too vast.
I parked my car in the order I arrived at the parking lot, but when I parked my car, I realized that I was already at the exhibition area. There are also Porsches that make you think.
It's amazing.
Looking at the number, it seemed like they were coming from the east coast.
I saw the participants interacting with each other beforehand for this event, and it seemed like many of them had traveled great distances to participate, saying things like, "I'm coming from Florida!"
If you look at the route from this state to Laguna Seca on Google Maps, it's over 3,100 miles (about 5,000 km).
No, the distances covered are too different.
Park your car and walk to the venue.
In the case of general admission, there were no tags or anything, so you just had to check your ticket when you entered the parking lot, and then you could enter the venue without any further registration.
We will finally enter the circuit.
I would like to write about this separately, but since this event focused on "art," there were artworks that could be seen in various places at the venue.
The entrance road is also decorated with artwork printed on it.
First time seeing Laguna Seca track.
He is completely a nobori-san.
I look to the right, I look to the left, and I don't even know which way to go.
But for now, there are Porsches everywhere.
This is the square in front of the main stage.
Anyway, first of all, Laguna Seca is famous for its downhill section called Corkscrew, so I thought I'd head there.
There is also a point on the course at the Porsche Experience Center Tokyo in Japan where a corkscrew is recreated ^^
So, I would like to walk through Laguna Seca, which is deserted at dawn and the food area is not open yet, and climb to the top of the hill where I can see the corkscrew.
I wasn't familiar with the venue, and the event hadn't started yet, so I didn't really know where I was when I walked.
Still, the scenery I can see from the side is full of Porsches, so I can't stop looking at them.
Porsches were lined up in the ``Porsche deluxe Carrera Cup North America'' tent with each driver's name posted.
Since it has not yet opened, many cars are still covered.
This seems to be a resting place for drivers↓
In addition to cup cars, there were a huge number of Porsches, including classic Porsches, but I would like to take a look at these once the venue opens properly.
The first thing I aimed for in the morning was the place where this Porsche bus was located.
By the way, the inside of this Porsche bus looked like this.
The driver, an old man, called out to me, ``Come in,'' and showed me the inside and gave me a sticker.
The inside is spacious.
The place where this Porsche bus stopped was the Porsche taxi (shuttle bus) stop that goes up the hill.
When I looked up at the hill...
Oh, "CORKSCREW" is written there.
And can you see that there is quite an off-road uphill slope in front of it?
There was also a shuttle bus experience that took Cayenne up that hill, and when I climbed the hill first thing in the morning, I first tried this Cayenne off-road hill climbing experience.
This Cayenne is not dirty at all (lol).
The driver said that he had washed the car several times on the way, but it would soon get like this.
But this looks like a Cayenne that drives off-road and is also cool. Is it full of sand here? Cayenne and its situation are rare in Japan.
The Cayenne I drove is the latest version with model year 2024. great. All of a sudden, the 2024 model is being used so hard and is being driven off-road.
By the way, I also tried going down from the hill using the Cayenne off-road shuttle ^^
The drivers are all friendly, so the drive goes by quickly as we chat about various things.
At other times, I even went down on foot.
In addition to the Cayenne off-road shuttle for the round trip to the top of this hill, there were also shuttles that took Taycan and Panamera to the top of the hill using normal roads.
I also used it once in Panamera. comfortable.
I got excited talking about Japan with the driver, saying things like, ``Oh, you came from Japan?? I went to Shinjuku before the coronavirus!'' and we didn't even talk during the short distance to the top of the hill.
At this event, I had many opportunities to talk with so many people about trivial things, and all of those things became wonderful memories.
...Back to the story, we first arrived at the top of the hill where we could see the Corkscrew first thing in the morning. Porsches can be seen here and there.
Porsche 911 S/T
That's what I thought.
This 911 suddenly appeared in front of me.
Eh, eh, eh, this is it.
This is unexpectedPorsche 911 S/TIsn't that so? !
Suddenly.
This time, the Porsche 911 S/T was unveiled to the public for the first time in the United States, but it was just sitting there, with no enclosure, and no one in particular to take care of it.
I was surprised that it was placed so normally, but I was also very excited.
It was early in the morning, and there weren't many people up on the hill yet, so I was able to take my time and watch as many times as I wanted.
I wanted to know what the correct body color was for this S/T, so I looked for someone to help, but there was no one there, and even when I asked someone who worked at another job, they said, ``Hmm, I don't know.'' So I didn't understand.
I'm pretty sure the explanation on the screen next to the car was about the clock, not the S/T at all (lol).
I think Flacht means the Flacht Motorsport Center, which is close to the Weissach Development Center.
This is where Porsche racing cars are said to be born.
Porsche 911 Dakar (911 Dakar)
When I looked ahead from the 911 S/T to go further into the back, this time I saw it in front of me.911 DakarBut.
Well, the way this car looks is really cool. Or rather, how to place the car.
They purposely placed it in a rugged, rocky place, and the effect was really cool.
Further insideGT3 Cup..
Behind it...oh. That isCayenne S Transsyberia..
Cayenne S Transsyberia
This is also displayed perched on top of a stone, which is really cool.
In terms of Trans Siberia connections, we found a total of 4 Trans Siberias at this event.
This is the second one↓
This 957 Cayenne Trans-Siberia S is said to be one of 26 Cayennes built to participate in the Trans-Siberia Rally, and was the only Trans-Siberia in America at the time.
This is the vehicle that actually ran the Trans-Siberian Rally.
This is the third one. This is the first time I have seen a silver-colored Trans Siberia in real life.
This one was also displayed on a stone, which gave it a different impact and was a great way to show off each Porsche model.
So this is the 4th one. This car was actually driven on the circuit that day.
Let's go back to the top of the hill.
The Porsches at dawn had morning dew on them and looked even more cool.
There are also Porsches quietly in the trees.
Laguna Seca Corkscrew
As I walked deeper and deeper, I finally saw it.
This is the corkscrew section ↓
The corkscrew you see in front of you has quite a height difference, and the Porsches running from above look like water flowing down, and it really feels like ``Porsches are flowing down from above''.
You can see Laguna Seca from the other side of the hill, and it was a very pleasant place.
At the top of the hill in the morning at the end of September, the wind was blowing and the temperature was low (15-6 degrees? But it felt like it was much colder).
The beer garden on the hill will also be open from 9am. More on this separately.
It's getting long, so next time I'd like to get down from the top of the hill and walk around the event venue.
Related Sites:Rennsport Reunion 7 Official Site
Source:(Official) Sunday at Rennsport: Seventh record breaking Reunion draws to a close
Rennsport Reunion 7 (2023) Blog:
①911 S/T, Dakar, Trans Siberia, Corkscrew
②Tractor, Vision 357, Spider RS, Mission X, GT3 R Rennsport, EV GT4
③Tag Heuer Heritage Experience
④Sonderbunsch, 356, Sports Classic, Shop
⑤Movies, events, art, food
⑥What made me happiest about RR7 and more
⑦Extra edition
Related article:
◆USA: Tickets for Rennsport Reunion 7 now on sale & Japan: Porsche Festival to be held in June
◆7th Annual Rennsport Reunion To Be Biggest Event Ever: World Premiere To Be Held
◆Cars' Lightning McQueen and Sally Carrera to reunite at Laguna Seca for the first time in over a decade
◆Transformers 911 Carrera RS3.8 and Mirage appear in Rensport Reunion 7
I'm Rika, the author of this article. Ever since Porsche 911 became my favorite car, I've become totally addicted to Porsche, and I can't stop loving Porsche, so I started this blog. My favorite cars are 911 Carrera (991.2), 911 Carrera Cabriolet (992.1), and 911 Carrera T (992.1).
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