Fuji Speedway

Fuji International Speedway

Location	Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Time zone	GMT +9
Major Events	Japanese Grand Prix, JLMC, Japan GT
5th and current configuration (2005–present)
Circuit Length	4.563 km (2.835 mi)
Turns	16
Lap Record	1:18.426 ( Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 2008)
4th configuration (1993–2004)
Circuit Length	4.469 km (2.777 mi)
Turns	12
Lap Record	1:14.854 ( Takuya Kurosawa, Lola, Formula 3000, 2008 )
3rd configuration (1985–1992)
Circuit Length	4.440 km (2.759 mi)
Turns	10
Lap Record	1:14:088 ( Kazuyoshi Hoshino, Nissan R92CP, JSPC, 1992 )
2nd configuration (1974–1984)
Circuit Length	4.360 km (2.709 mi)
Turns	8
Lap Record	1:10.02 ( Stefan Bellof, Porsche 956, Mount Fuji 1000 km, 1983 )
Original circuit (1965–1973)
Circuit Length	6 km (3.728 mi)
Turns	15
Lap Record	1:32:57 ( Vern Schuppan, March-Ford F2, 1973 )

Fuji Speedway (富士スピードウェイ, Fuji Supīdowei) is a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s and hosted the first Formula One race in Japan in 1976. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing. When it first opened, it was managed by Mitsubishi. Fuji Speedway was purchased by Toyota Motor Corporation in 2000. Fuji Speedway is known for having one of the longest straights in motorsport tracks, at 1.5 km (0.93 mi) in length.

History

F1 launches in Japan

Main gate of the circuit

Fuji Speedway Corporation was established in 1963, as Japan NASCAR Corporation. At first, the circuit was planned to hold NASCAR-style races in Japan. The track was designed to be a 4 km (2.5 mi) high-banked superspeedway. There was not enough money to complete the project and only one of the banked turns was ever designed. Mitsubishi Estate Co. (a part of Mitsubishi) invested in the circuit. They took over the management rights in October 1965.

The track was converted to a road course. Fuji speedway opened in December 1965. The banked turn was somewhat dangerous, and caused several major accidents. According to Vic Elford "The reason that banking was so horrific, was that at the end of the straight we went over a blind crest at around 190/200 mph and dropped into the banking. At other tracks (Daytona, Monthlery, etc.) you climb up the banking."

A new part of track was built to fix the problem. The new 4.359 km (2.709 mi) course was more successful. In 1966, the track hosted a USAC Indy Car non-championship race, won by Jackie Stewart. The speedway brought the first Formula One race to Japan at the end of the 1976 season. Mario Andretti won the race, and James Hunt earned enough points to win the world championship title.

In 1977 Gilles Villeneuve was involved in a crash that killed two spectators on the side of the track. Formula One stopped racing at the speedway and Japan. When Japan was added back to the F1 schedule ten years later, it went to Suzuka instead. F1 didn't return to Fuji until 2007.

National racing venue

Fuji Speedway former layouts: Red 1965–1985, Green 1986–2004

The abandoned "30° Bank" of the old track

Fuji remained a popular sports car racing venue. FIA World Sportscar Championship visited the track between 1982 and 1988. Fuji was often used for national races. Two chicanes were added to the track to slow down the speeds. Even with these changes, the main feature of the track remained its long 1.5 km (0.93 mi) straight, one of the longest in all of motorsports.

The long pit straight has also been used for drag racing. NHRA exhibitions were run in 1989. Local drag races are common on the circuit.

The track is still used for Japanese national races. In 2000 the majority of the shares of stock were bought by Toyota. Toyota was making plans for future motor racing.

Renovations

In 2003 the circuit was closed to for a major reprofiling of the track. A new design from Hermann Tilke was used. The circuit reopened on 10 April 2005. It hosted its first Formula One championship event in 29 years on 30 September 2007. The race won by Lewis Hamilton.

Rebuilt grandstand in the 2000s

The circuit hosts the NISMO Festival for historic Nissan racers. Toyota also hosts its own historic event a week before the NISMO called Toyota Motorsports Festival. Nearby is a drifting course, which was built as part of the refurbishment.

The only time the circuit is run on a reverse direction is during the D1 Grand Prix drifting round. 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 and the first of the three to take place on an F1 circuit.

As part of the 2003 renovations, most of the old banked section of track was removed. Only a small section remains.

Following both poor ticket sales and bad weather it was decided by FOM that the Japanese Grand Prix would be shared between Fuji Speedway and Suzuka on alternate years. Suzuka would hold the next race on 4 October 2009. After the global recession and its own financial problems, Toyota decided to stop hosting of Japanese Grand Prix.

Records

Category	Record	Driver	Car	Date
1974–1984
World Sportscar Championship	1:10.02	Stefan Bellof	Porsche 956	1 October 1983
Formula One	1:12.23	Mario Andretti	Lotus 78-Ford	22 October 1977
Formula Two	1:12.62	Geoff Lees	March 832-Honda/Mugen	14 August 1983
1984–1992
All Japan Sports Prototype Championship	1:14.088	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Nissan R92CP	2 May 1992
Formula Two	1:18.31	Satoru Nakajima	March 842-Honda/Mugen	15 April 1984
Fuji Grand Champion Series	1:21.800	Masanori Sekiya	March 89GC Mugen	29 October 1989
1993–2003
Formula 3000	1:14.854	Takuya Kurosawa	Lola T92	10 April 1993
Formula Nippon	1:15.304	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Lola T96/52	19 October 1996
Le Mans Prototype	1:16.349	Ukyo Katayama	Toyota GT-One TS020	6 November 1999
JGTC (GT500)	1:23.886	Yuji Tachikawa	Toyota Supra	3 May 2003
Formula Three	1:26.344	Tatsuya Kataoka	Dallara F302 Toyota	6 April 2003
Japanese Touring Car Championship (Group A)	1:31.131	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Nissan Skyline GT-R R32	31 October 1993
JGTC (GT300)	1:31.356	Suga Ichijo	Mosler MT900R	3 May 2003
Japanese Touring Car Championship (Super Touring)	1:33.035	Naoki Hattori	Honda Accord	1 November 1997
Super Taikyu	1:35.173	Kasuya Shunji	Nissan Skyline GT-R R33	7 November 1998
2005–
Formula One	1:17.287	Felipe Massa	Ferrari F2008	11 October 2008
Formula Nippon	1:25.525	Benoit Treluyer	Lola FN06-Toyota	31 March 2007
Le Mans Prototype	1:31.065	Daisuke Ito	Courage LC70-Mugen	2 June 2007
Super GT (GT500)	1:33.066	Takashi Kogure	Honda NSX	3 May 2007
Japan Le Mans Challenge (LMP1)	1:33.117	Shinsuke Yamazaki	Zytek 04S	2 June 2007
Formula Three	1:35.173	Kazuya Oshima	Dallara F306-Toyota	3 March 2007
Super GT (GT300)	1:40.682	Haruki Kurosawa	Honda NSX	3 May 2005
Super Taikyu (ST-1)	1:46.304	Masataka Yanagida	BMW Z4 Coupé	4 August 2007

Fuji Speedway in video games

The Fuji circuit is known to fans of the arcade racing game Pole Position, as cars raced on the circuit.

Fuji is also featured in a number of video games including Top Gear, several Gran Turismo games and TOCA Race Driver.

Fuji Speedway in television

The Fuji circuit is featured prominently in the Japanese television drama Engine as the main setting for the racing scenes. It is also the home of the (fictional) "Regulus Cup".

Other websites

• Fuji Speedway official website Archived 2004-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
• Fuji Speedway info from official F1 website
• Trackpedia's guide to the Fuji Speedway Archived 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
• BBC's circuit guide to the Fuji Speedway
• Google Map