In the Paddock and On The Track at Laguna Seca!

Catching the Sunset from the top of Laguna Seca, November 2021

Aside from just being an amazing event to attend, and meeting all sorts of lovely peoiple, and seeing new CycleKarts, and, and... It was also a chance to really just Have Some Fun in CycleKarts! It had been more than a dozen years since I had this much fun to just tear around, go exploring in a C-K, and really rediscover how much GENUINE FUN they truly are. A much-needed rekindling of my interest in CycleKarting, bringing it back alive, rather than just pontificating online and remaining behind the curtain.

To some degree, this gathering marks the start of the Second Chapter of Stevenson CycleKarting, as the poor old machines have been locked away in storage and sort of forgotten for a dozen years. Now I feel like they are Very Much going to have a new life, when we get more space for them, and I am itching to build a couple more!

As you can see below, we were certainly in the company of Fantaastic Beasts! The Amazing 917s, Stirling Moss' 300SLR which set such an unbelievable speed on the Mille Miglia, the Gurney Eagles —The epitome of the Astronaut-Era Formula One!

One of the biggest thrills of the long weekend was surely the lap-and-a-half we got to run on the track! Our event was bracketed by some tremendous machines: McLaren GP cars of recent years — crazy-fast and WILD sounds — went out just before us. And barking right on our heels were the behemoths of sportscar racing: The Porsche 917s! The low, shovel-noses of the Can-Am cars had me worried that they'd zip up from behind and scoop us all off the track!

With that setting in mind, we were led out to in front of the paddock and parked for the first-ever Le-Mans-style start at Laguna Seca! Happily, I was first off the line (I've had plenty of practice jumping in the Delage out at Stoneleigh, and I went for it!) The newer C-Ks with twice as much power passed me pretty quickly, but I was glad to be able to stay in the front pack until the big hill. The Corkscrew was worrisome. But it turned out to be a well-designed turn, as it kind of gathered up the Delage and tossed it toward Turn Nine...That is one frighteningly quick turn, in a 26-year-old CycleKart (with 26-year-old tires!) By the time I wheezed through that fast descending left, we were ALL going faster than we expected to, but everyone made it fine!

Overall, a wonderful and really exciting chance to take our little machines out on a REAL track! (I felt a bit like like Peter Quince and his fellow players might have after performing for the Duke in M. S. Night's D.: Thrilled at our little efforts having been received with such kindness and generous understanding.)

On to more photos!

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To the left, Doug driving the Stevenson Delage around the paddock to get a feel for how things have changed. It was an interesting opportunity for comparison, both for the newer builders to have a chance to feel how we set up the first CycleKart, and for me to feel how the newer (frequently more powerful!) CycleKarts feel.

Below are a couple of shots from when a few of us took advantage of the empty, SMOOTH gravel parking ares, then went exploring to drive up to the top of the Corkscrew — Good Fun!

The first-ever Le mans start at Laguna Sece Raceway! Photos by Allan Rosenberg