SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

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Many racing fans think the Corkscrew is the toughest corner at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, but they’d be wrong. Iconic? Yes. Thrilling? Ditto. Toughest? No. Rather, we go to the opposite end of the circuit, to the front straight, and investigate the infamous Turn 1.

Located just past the start/finish bridge, Turn 1 isn’t really much of a “turn” so much as a blind-crested kink that vanishes to your left as it dives toward a tricky, double-apex hairpin that will accordion a pack of cars into a frantic mess.

In any real sports car, you will hit the kink at well north of 100 mph. And although everyone has their favorite line, three things are certain: You have to keep your foot on the gas, you must have absolute faith in your car’s chassis as you get very, very light, and you have preposterously little space in the subsequent braking zone to cut your speed in half.

It feels like both an instant and an eternity. It’s a true test of a car’s character and of a driver’s intestinal fortitude. Your car’s rear end dances; your breathing stops. Frankly, it scares the hell out of me.

So there I was, ripping down the front straight in the Lamborghini Huracán Evo,