The Laguna Seca track was on the real life MotoGP calendar until 2013, but it remains on the recent MotoGP games as a Historical Track. And although the layout looks really simple, it’s actually a very tricky circuit to nail, with the very challenging “corkscrew” section of turns 7/8 and off camber corners in general throughout.

For a bike setup, you need something that’s stable under braking for sure, and that you feel comfortable with in general, as you need some serious practice to get your reference points nailed to put together a good lap.

I think it’s probably practice more than a bike setup that matters around here, but I did test one setup that worked OK; it’s basically a modded verison of my template setup I usually start with on most tracks.

Here’s a MotoGP class bike setup for MotoGP 23 for Laguna Seca:

• Suspension (Front Fork):
  • • Front pre-load – 2
    • Oil Quantity – 3
    • Front Spring Hardness – 4
    • Front Swingarm compression – 3
    • Front Swingarm extension – 3
• Rear Single Shock Absorber:
  • • Rear Pre-load – 4
    • Swingarm connector – 3
    • Rear spring hardness – 2
    • Single shock absorber compression – 3
    • Single shock absorber extension – 3
• Vehicle Geometry:
  • • Steering head inclination – 4
    • Trail – 4
    • Steering plate position – 3
    • Rear swingarm length – 5
• Transmission:
  • • Gears (1-6) – 5-5-4-4-4-3
    • Final ratio – 5
    • Slipper clutch – 7
• Brakes:
  • • Front disc – 340 mm High Mass
    • Rear disc – 220mm
• ECU
  • • Traction control – 5
    • Engine braking – 4
    • Anti-wheelie – 5
    • Power mapping – 2

The braking is extremely tricky on this track, so I use the 340 mm High Mass disc to make it a bit easier. If you can use the 355mm disc, it will give more stopping power, but makes lock-ups and crashes under braking more likely.

I couldn’t really find any other setups that worked well for me around Laguna Seca, so I’m just sticking to this one for now.

Moto2 and Moto3 Setups For Laguna Seca

For the less powerful Moto2 and Moto3 bikes, check out my MotoGP 23 starter setups page, where we’ve also got generic setups for these classes as well that you can test against the game default to find improvements in stability or lap time.

Be aware though, this circuit is quite hard to get right and needs a lot of practice even on the slower class bikes.

Tips For Riding Around Laguna Seca

This is a really tricky circuit to nail every single corner and put together a strong lap. You’ve got tricky off camber corners and elevation change that can make for some really tricky braking zones.

Here’s some extra tips for riding around here.

Pit straight – The pit straight actually veers very slightly left twice – just as you cross and start finish line and again just after. These kinks would be flat out in 4 wheel cars, but on a bike you need to lift slightly for these. The second of these also counts as turn 1.

Turns 3-6 – Once you get the pit straight and the sharp left hairpin of turn 2 out the way, the middle section of the track is a pretty straightforward sequences of alternating pairs of right and left handers – two rights, two lefts. For turns 4, 5, and 6, you’ve got overhead bridges or signs that act as good braking points. You can use the rear brake to hook the bike into the apex of these corners.

Corkscrew (slow in, fast out) – This is the turns 7/8/8a section that’s the trickiest on the whole circuit. It flows like this – right kink, sharp downhill left, right. Braking point is just before or as you reach the overhead “Tissot” sign. Although it’s really tempting to try and carry a lot of speed into this section, it doesn’t work on a MotoGP bike. You need to get all of the speed scrubbed off in a straight line as you enter turn 7, to make the corner, and then coast through the sharp downhill left hander of turn 8. Brake hard for 7, and then add some rear brake if needed to tuck into 8, but don’t apply any accelerator until you’ve reached the bottom of the hill and can power out of 8a and onto the subsequent left handers as you exit the corkscrew section. Hard section to nail and just needs practice, but reserve your speed when entering on a bike.

Exploring Laguna Seca on MotoGP 23