Fuji Speedway has one of the longeststraights in motorsport, at 1.475 km (0.917 mi) in length.[4] The circuit has anFIA Grade 1 license at least until April 2026.[5]
Fuji Speedway Corporation was established in 1963 as Japan NASCAR Corporation.[6] At first, the circuit was planned to holdNASCAR-style races in Japan. Therefore, the track was originally designed to be a 4.000 km (2.485 mi) bankedsuperspeedway, but there was not enough money to complete the project and only one of the bankings was completed.Mitsubishi Estate invested in the circuit and took over the reins of management in October 1965.
Converted to a road course, the circuit opened in December 1965 and proved to be somewhat dangerous, with the wide banked turn (named "Daiichi") regularly resulting in major accidents.Vic Elford said:
"In 1969 I spent two months in Japan doing a test contract for Toyota and theirToyota 7 (5 litre V-8), which along with a big Nissan (6.3 litre V-12), was destined for CanAm. My last testing and then the subsequent Sports Car GP were at Fuji, but the track was run in a clockwise direction. 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 anddropped into the banking. At other tracks (Daytona, Montlhéry, etc.) you climb up the banking. One of the results was that although there were many brave Japanese drivers there were not too many with great skill and the death toll from that one corner was horrendous. To such an extent that the big Gp 7 cars were then banned in Japan and thus, neither Nissan or Toyota ever made it to CanAm."
In 1966 and 1967, the circuit hosted theJapanese motorcycle Grand Prix as the final round of theFIM Road Racing World Championship. The 1966 race was run on the full track with the banking, which meant that the Honda works team did not take part due to safety reasons; the following year, the race was run on a shorter 4.3 km track without the banked section.[7] In 1966, the track hosted a USAC Indy Car non-championship race won byJackie Stewart.[7] The track had a 24-hour race in 1967.[8]
After a fatal accident in 1974 on the Daiichi banking where driversHiroshi Kazato and Seiichi Suzuki were both killed in a fiery accident that injured 6 other people, a new part of track was built to counteract the problem, and the resultant 4.359 km (2.709 mi) course, which also eliminated 5 other fast corners, proved more successful.
The speedway brought the firstFormula One race to Japan at the end of the1976 season. The race had a dramatic World Championship battle betweenJames Hunt andNiki Lauda, and in rainy conditions, Hunt earned enough points to win the title.Mario Andretti won the race, with Lauda withdrawing due to the dangerous conditions. In 1977,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 toSuzuka instead. The Grand Prix returned to Fuji in 2007 following its renovation.
Fuji Speedway former layouts:Red 1966–1974,Blue 1984–1987,Green 1988–2004The abandoned "30° Bank" of the old track
Fuji remained a popularsports car racing venue; theFIAWorld Sportscar Championship visited the track between1982 and1988 and it was often used for national races. Speeds continued to be very high, and twochicanes were added to the track: one after the first hairpin corner, the second at the entry to the wide, fast final turn (300R). 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 has also been utilised fordrag racing.NHRA exhibitions were run in 1989, and in 1993Shirley Muldowney ran a 5.30 on the quarter-mile strip at Fuji. Local drag races are common on the circuit, at both 440 yd (402.336 m) & 1,000 ft (304.800 m) distances.
The track continued to be used for Japanese national races. Plans to host aCART event in 1991 were abandoned due to conflicts with theFédération Internationale du Sport Automobile. It was not until the autumn of 2000 that the majority interest in the track was bought byToyota from Mitsubishi Estate[9] as part of its motor racing plans for the future.
On May 3, 1998, there was a multi-car crash during a parade lap before aJGTC race caused by thesafety car slowing in torrential rain.[10]Ferrari driverTetsuya Ota suffered seriousburns over his entire body after being trapped in his car for almost 90 seconds,[11] andPorsche driverTomohiko Sunako fractured his right leg.[11]
In 2003, the circuit was closed down to accommodate a major reprofiling of the track, using a new design fromHermann Tilke. The track was reopened on April 10, 2005, and hosted its first Formula One championship event in 29 years on September 30, 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 thesafety car, in a race won byLewis Hamilton.
Rebuilt grandstand in the 2000s
The circuit has hosted theNismo Festival for historic Nissan racers since refurbishment in 2003; the event previously took place atOkayama.[citation needed] When the festival returned in 2005, the organisers allowed circuit owner Toyota to bring in itsToyota 7Can-Am racer to re-enact an old Japanese GP battle. Toyota also hosts its own historic event a week before theNismo festival called the Toyota Motorsports Festival. Close to the circuit is adrifting course, which was built as part of the refurbishment under the supervision of "Drift King"Keiichi Tsuchiya and former works driver and Super GT team managerMasanori Sekiya. There is a Toyota Safety Education Center and 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 theD1 Grand Prix round, as Keiichi Tsuchiya felt the new layout meant reduced entry speed, making it less suitable for drifting.[12] The series has hosted its rounds since2003; with the exception of the 2004 closure, the circuit became the first to take place on an international level racetrack[12] and the first of the three to take place on an F1 circuit. The drift course starts from the 300R section and ends past theCoca-Cola corner. With the reprofiling, as cars no longer run downbank, entry speeds have since been reduced, the hill at the exit making acceleration difficult.[12] As part of the 2003 renovations, most of the old banked section of track was demolished. Only a small section remains to this day.
During the2007 Japanese Grand Prix, Fuji Speedway met with a lot of problems, including the paralysis of the transportation network provided by the shuttle buses, poor facilities including some reserved seats without a view, lack of organization, and expensive meals such as simple lunch boxes being sold for 10,000yen (US$87) at the circuit.[14][15]
Newspaper accounts of the event also alleged problems with Toyota bias and control. The circuit prohibited spectators from setting up flags and banners to support teams and drivers,[16][17] with the exception of theToyota F1 team.[18] Therefore, there were very few flags and banners in the event compared with other Grand Prix events.[19][20]
For the2008 Japanese Grand Prix race, organizers responded to lessons learned the previous year by reducing the total number of spectators allowed at the event. Compared to 140,000 persons allowed for Sunday events in 2007, attendance was restricted to 110,000.[21] Additionally, walkways and spectator facilities were improved, along with larger screens.[22] However, the race was also affected by rainy weather, which has historically interfered in a number of past races at the circuit, and later in 2013, led to interference with a6-hour endurance race at the track for theFIA World Endurance Championship.
Following both poor ticket sales and weather, it was decided by FOM that the FIA Japanese Grand Prix would be shared between Fuji and Suzuka on alternate years, with Suzuka holding the next race on Sunday, October 4, 2009. After theGreat Recession and its own operational deficit,Toyota discontinued the hosting of Japanese Grand Prix beginning in 2010.[23]
In April 2022, Toyota announced the construction of the "Fuji Motorsports Forest", whichToyota Fudosan [ja], a real-estate company ofToyota Group, was pushing forward as the "Motorsports Village" project until then. The project precedes the completion of theShin-Tōmei Expressway andsmart interchange near the circuit.
With the regional redevelopment plan centered on Fuji Speedway, the Fuji Speedway Hotel (operated byHyatt) including theFuji Motorsports Museum was built on the west side of the circuit and opened in October 2022.
This is the official listing of the twelve corners that make up the current circuit layout, in use since 2005. 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 metres.
The Dunlop corner differs with the configuration used. In the full configuration, it consists of a tight righthairpin turn followed by a left-right flick. In the GT course, it is a medium-speed right-hander, bypassing turns 11 and 12.
The Fuji circuit is featured prominently in theJapanese television dramaEngine as the main setting for the racing scenes, as well as the home of the (fictional) "Regulus Cup".
The track was also featured in an episode of the 11th season of the British automotive showTop Gear, in which hostJeremy Clarkson drives aNissan GT-R.
Part of theGaki no Tsukai 2013 New Year's Holiday No-Laughing Earth Defense Force punishment game was also shot at Fuji Speedway.
^abAfter abolishing the high-banking in 1974, TheDunlop Tyres chicanes was later added in 1984, and the 27R Corners Shape was change in 1986
^service, Grandprix.com – First & fastest: The original online F1 news."Grandprix.com". RetrievedJune 29, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Felipe Massa,Ferrari F2008,2008,F1)
Andrew Gilbert-Scott,Lola T93/50,1994,F3000)
Jody Scheckter,Wolf WR1,1977,F1)
Vern Schuppan,March 722,1973,F2000)
Richard Carapaz (ECU) won the gold medal,
Wout van Aert (BEL) silver and
Tadej Pogačar (SLO) bronze.
Anna Kiesenhofer (AUT) won the gold medal,
Annemiek van Vleuten (NED) silver and
Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA) bronze.
Marlen Reusser (SUI) won silver and.svg)
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