Turn 5 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca may not be one of the first corners that everyone talks about when discussing this track, but it’s certainly one of those corners that has more going on than it first appears. And it can be a major player in the course of a race.
To start with, it’s one of the better passing opportunities at the track as it comes at the end of a fairly long straight. Even though the track does not really go in a straight line from Turn 4 toward Turn 5 (as is the case for most “straights” at Mazda Raceway), you are flat on the throttle. With the preceding Turn 4 being a fairly high-speed corner, this approach to Turn 5 allows for high top speeds and, combined with the tight radius of the corner, requires enough braking to allow good passing opportunities. To confuse things a little though, it also leads onto short straight toward Turn 6 and, therefore, definitely has some exit speed priorities as well.
