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Fuji Speedway 1974-85

1965-73 | 1974-85 | 1986-92 | 1993-2004 | 2005 to date

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Circuit info:

Address:: Fuji International Speedway
Oyama-cho
Sunto-gun
Shizuoka
410-1308
Japan
PH:: (81) 550-78 1234
Fax:: (81) 550-78 0205
Circuit length:: 2.709 miles/4.360 km
Circuit type:: Permanent road course

Circuit history:

The original Fuji Speedway was run anti-clockwise and a featured a fearsomely-banked turn at one end. It had orginally been intended to form a full 2.5 mile oval course with banking at both ends, but the money ran out leaving a half-oval, half-road course hybrid.

Initially the course was designed to be run anti-clockwise but there were several huge crashes at the banking and a number of deaths, and it was quickly decided to reverse the direction of racing. Even this failed to prevent further carnage, as sportscar star Vic Elford explains: "In 1969 I spent two months in Japan doing a test contract for Toyota and their Toyota 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 and dropped into the banking. At other tracks (Daytona, Monthlery, 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."

Fuji Speedway was finally reconfigured in 1974, with a tight hairpin bend consigning the banking to history. In its new form, Fuji won the rights to stage the first ever Japanese GP in 1976 - and what an event it turned out to be. In the shadow of Mount Fuji, the circuit is often cloaked in mist, but that weekend the heavens opened to create a cliffhanger race for the world championship, eventually won by James Hunt.

The following year saw tragedy strike, when Gilles Villeneuve somersaulted his Ferrari into a group of marshalls and photographers after a clash with the Tyrrell of Ronnie Peterson. Two of the bystanders were killed and Fuji's GP hopes were dashed.

Following the loss of the Japanese GP, Fuji's top event was an annual round of the World Sports Car Championship. Speeds of the Group C cars rapidly exceeded Fuji's aging infrastructure, and with run-off limited at the final turn, the decision was made to insert a chicane to slow the cars down.

After the demise of the World Sports Car Championship, Fuji's played host to a regular end-of season F3 invitational, which saw the cream of up-and-coming drivers fight it out for victory as part of a mini-series which also included the Macua street race.

Racewinners included Michael Schumacher and Tom Kristensen, while the accompanying touring car race also proved popular with leading European runners taking part.

Further revisions were made to Fuji in 1993 after further accidents highlighted safety concerns. A new chicane was added at the Suntory Corner, while another was inserted between the hairpin and Dunlop Corner. This, however, was only used by motorcycle racers.

The circuit continued in this format to the end of the 2003 season, hosting Japanese GT, F3 and Formula Nippon races. In the 1990s, it also hosted an international touring car race - entered by teams in the run-up to Macau. Fuji then closed for redevelopment as part of circuit owner Toyota's ambitious plans to snatch the Japanese Grand Prix away from Suzuka.

The Herman-Tilke designed redevelopment opened in 2005 and boasted impressive new facilities. The drivers seemed reasonably impress with the circuit, even if there was perhaps a feeling that some of the unique character of Fuji may have been lost. Nevertheless the revamp paid off, with Fuji winning the contract to host the Japanese F1 Grand Prix from 2007 onwards.