Fuji Speedway
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| Location | Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan |
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| Time zone | GMT +9 |
| Major Events | Formula One, JLMC, Japan GT |
| Circuit Length | 4.563 km (2.835 mi) |
| Turns | 16 |
| Lap Record | 1:24.753 (Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 2007) |
Fuji Speedway is a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The circuit hosted the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix in 2007, after an absence of 30 years, replacing the Suzuka Circuit.[1] It is owned by Toyota Motor Corporation.
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[edit] History
Fuji Speedway Corporation was established in 1963, as Japan NASCAR Corporation. At first, the circuit was planned to hold the race of the NASCAR form in Japan. Therefore, the track was originally designed to be as a 4 km (2.5 mile) high-banked superspeedway, but there was not enough money to complete the project and only one of the bankings was ever designed. Mitsubishi Estate Co. invested in the circuit, and took the management right on October 1965.
Converted to a road course, the circuit opened in December of 1965 and proved to be somewhat dangerous with the banked turn regularly resulting in major accidents. A new part of track was built to counteract the problem, and the resultant 4.359 km (2.7 mile) course proved more successful. The speedway brought the first Formula One race to Japan at the end of the 1976 season. The race had a dramatic World Championship battle between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, and in awful rainy conditions, Hunt earned enough points to win the title. Mario Andretti won the race, with Lauda withdrawing due to the dangerous conditions.
There was less celebration after the second race in 1977 as Gilles Villeneuve was involved in a crash that killed two spectators on the side of the track, leading to Formula One leaving the speedway. When Japan earned another race on the F1 schedule ten years later, it went to Suzuka instead. F1 didn't return to Fuji until 2007.
Fuji remained a popular sports car racing venue and was often used for national races. Speeds continued to be very high, and two chicanes were added to the track, one just past the first hairpin corner, the second at the entry to the very long, very fast final turn (300R). But even with these changes the main feature of the track remained its approximately 1.5 km (0.93 mi) long straight, one of the longest in all of motorsports.
The long pit straight also has also been utilised for drag racing. NHRA exhibitions were run in 1989, and in 1993 Shirley Muldowney ran a 5.30 on the quarter-mile strip at Fuji. Local drag races are common on the circuit.
The track continues to be used for Japanese national races, but plans to host a CART event in 1991 were abandoned and it was not until the autumn of 2000 that the majority of the stocks of the track was bought by Toyota from Mitsubishi Estate,[2] as part of its motor racing plans for the future.
In 2003 the circuit was closed down to accommodate a major reprofiling of the track, using a new design from Hermann Tilke. The track was reopened on 10 April 2005. The circuit hosted its first Formula One championship event in 29 years on September 30th 2007. In circumstances similar to Fuji's first Grand Prix in 1976 the race was run in heavy rain and mist and the first 19 laps were run under the safety car, in a race won by Lewis Hamilton
The circuit has always hosted the NISMO Festival for historic Nissan racers, since the takeover and refurbishment in 2003, the event took place at TI Circuit. When the festival returned in 2005, the organisers allowed the circuit owner to bring in their Toyota 7 CanAm racer to re-enact the old Japanese GP battle. Toyota also hosts its own historic event a week before the NISMO festival called Toyota Motorsports Festival. Close to the circuit is a drifting course, which was built as part of the refurbishment under the supervision of "Drift King" Keiichi Tsuchiya. The short course nearby was built under the supervision of former works driver and Super GT team manager Masanori Sekiya and there is a Toyota Safety Education Center, a mini circuit. In addition to motorsports, Fuji also hosts the Udo Music Festival.
The only time the circuit is run on a reverse direction is during the D1 Grand Prix round as Keiichi Tsuchiya felt the new layout meant reduced entry speed, making it less suitable for drifting.[3] The series has hosted its rounds since 2003, with the exception of the 2004 closure, the circuit became the first to take place on an international level racetrack[4] and the first of the the three to take place on an F1 circuit. The course starts from the 300R section, slide through the hairpin, then through 100R and ends past the Coca Cola curve. With the reprofiling, as cars no longer run downbank, entry speeds have since been reduced.[5]
Despite being out of use for over three decades, a big part of the circuit's banked portion is still in existence, abeit in a decaying state.[6]
[edit] Records
[edit] The new corners
This is the official listing of the new twelve corners. Only some corners have Japanese names, most of which are a result of sponsorship agreements. The rest are named after the radius of the corner in meters.
- First Corner 27R
- 75R
- Coca Cola Corner 80R
- 100R
- Hairpin Corner 30R
- 120R
- 300R
- Dunlop Corner 15R
- 30R
- 45R
- Netz Corner 25R
- Panasonic Corner 12R
The Dunlop corner differs with the configuration used. In the full configuration, it consists of a tight right hairpin turn followed by a left-right flick. In the GT course it is a medium speed right-hander, bypassing turns 11 and 12.
[edit] Fuji Speedway in videogames
The Fuji circuit is well known to fans of the arcade racing game Pole Position, as cars raced on the circuit in the popular loop. Fuji Speedway (renamed "Namco Circuit" in the Namco Museum ports) was thus the first circuit ever to be featured in a video game.[citation needed]
Fuji is also featured in Top Gear, in the 1986-1992 layout, and Gran Turismo 4, as well as Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, where the circuit is available in its current post-2003 layout in two versions (with or without turns 8 and 9), the faster 1974-85 layout, and the chicane-ridden 1986-92 layouts; and in TOCA Race Driver, in its 1993-2004 layout. For Grand Prix Legends, rFactor, GTR - FIA GT Racing Game 2, GT Legends and RACE 07 - The Official WTCC Game the track is available as free downloadable add-on. The circuit was not featured in either TOCA Race Driver 2 or TOCA Race Driver 3.
[edit] Toyota bias and control
During the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, Fuji Speedway prohibited the spectators from setting up the flags and banners to support the teams and drivers[11][12], with the exception of the Toyota F1 team whose owner also owned the circuit.[13] Therefore, there were very few flags and banners in the event compared with other Grand Prix events.[14][15]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Fuji signs deal for 2007 — March 14, 2006
- ^ Suzuka responds to Fuji pressure - December 23, 2000
- ^ JDM Option Vol.21
- ^ JDM Option Vol.21
- ^ JDM Option Vol.21
- ^ 30度バンクを走る！ (Japanese)
- ^ After abolishing the high-banking in 1974
- ^ The chicanes were added in 1984 and 1987.
- ^ The chicanes were added in 1984 and 1987.
- ^ Reprofiled by Hermann Tilke in 2003
- ^ "Notes on the reserved seat", kansenzyuku.com, 2007-09-28. Retrieved on 2007-09-30. (Japanese)
- ^ "日本ＧＰ・横断幕の事 (About banners at the Japanese GP: Q&A with Mr. Ikeya, Fuji Speedway)", champion-ship, 2007-10-01. Retrieved on 2007-10-01. (Japanese)
- ^ "Captured image from the race on Sunday", Formula One Administration, 2007-09-30. Retrieved on 2007-09-30. (Japanese)
- ^ "横断幕はどこ？ (Where are banners?)", AUTOSPORT Japan], 2007-09-30. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
- ^ "Kenji Sawada's Report from circuit", Kenji Sawada, an official F1 photographer, 2007-09-30. Retrieved on 2007-09-30. (Japanese)
[edit] External links
- Fuji Speedway official website
- Fuji Speedway info from official F1 website
- A visit to the Fuji Speedway
- Trackpedia's guide to the Fuji Speedway
- BBC's circuit guide to the Fuji Speedway
- Google Map
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