Thunderhill East 3 Mile w/ Bypass
Thunderhill East 3 Mile w/ Bypass Notes:
Thunderhill Raceway Park is a motorsport complex located in northern California, an hour and a half drive away from Sacramento. It is without a doubt the most versatile racing facility in America, having several possible layouts such as 2-mile, 3-mile, and 5-mile road courses, as well as a 315’ x 550’ skidpad and a 662’ x 363’ autocross pad. Thunderhill follows designs planned by Steve Crawford, who envisioned building two independent road courses next to one another: a 2.87 miles East track and a West track with 1.99 miles. The 5-mile combination of both racetracks forms the longest road course in the United States.
Thunderhill East started operations in 1993, adding the West course in 1995. The East track takes advantage of the natural elevation changes in the field, having 15 exhilarating turns where drivers often lose sight of what is coming right ahead of them. The straight segments are ample and long enough to allow easy passing between drivers. Thunderhill West is more technical, requiring top driving skills to leverage momentum while taking its ten turns, which come in quick succession. The 25 Hours of Thunderhill, the most famous event of the circuit and longest endurance racing competition in America, takes place on the combined 5-mile road course since 2003.
East 3 Mile w/ Bypass Notes:
Thunderhill Raceway's East 3 Mile with Bypass configuration represents the faster variant of Northern California's club racing home, spanning 4.620 kilometers counterclockwise through 15 turns across Willows' agricultural landscape 145 kilometers north of Sacramento. The Bypass designation indicates avoidance of The Cyclone—a blind 90-degree left-hand turn cresting a hill—in favor of a straight section that reduces lap times by 3-4 seconds while lowering technical demands compared to the Cyclone alternative. This configuration choice allows event organizers and track day operators to adjust difficulty based on participant skill levels, with the Bypass offering more forgiving high-speed flow versus the Cyclone's abrupt elevation-change challenge demanding precise brake-turn-throttle transitions.
The East 3 Mile circuit's 15-turn layout combines long straights rewarding drafting and top speed with tight technical sections testing chassis balance and driver smoothness. Turn 1's heavy braking zone after the front straight creates the primary overtaking opportunity, while mid-circuit combinations through Turns 6-9 establish rhythm critical for competitive lap times. Sacramento Valley's extreme climate creates 40°C+ summer track temperatures contrasting with cool spring and fall sessions where morning fog burns off to afternoon heat. The 1997 expansion added six turns and the Bypass option to the original shorter layout, creating the present 4.62-kilometer configuration. NASA, SCCA, AFM motorcycle racing, and numerous track day organizations utilize Thunderhill East as California's most accessible full-facility road course, offering 24-hour endurance events and year-round operation. The Bypass configuration particularly suits intermediate drivers building confidence before attempting the Cyclone variant's blind-crest challenge that separates Thunderhill experts from casual visitors.
| Name | Organization | Date |
|---|
