First, some Fuji history!
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Fuji has held a 6 hour race in each of the three seasons of the World Endurance Championship. However, the legacy of endurance racing at Japan’s foremost circuit goes back much further.
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It seems fitting that a track that is owned by the Toyota Motor Corporation should have such a rich history in the event. The Toyota 2000GT car is one of the most iconic low-volume production race cars and is today one of the most sought after collector cars. Among its noteworthy achievements was winning the first Fuji 1000 Kilometers on 9 July, 1967, thanks to the driving of Yoshio Otsubo and Shihomi Hosoya.
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It began a three year string of Toyota victories. Indeed Toyota has more victories (eleven) in the 1000 kms/6 hour races than any other manufacturer. The 1968 and 1969 editions were won by another famed Toyota model, the Toyota 7, which was their foray into Group 7/Can-Am racing. Current Dome Cars boss, Hiroshi Fushida was on the winning squad both times. During the following decade he added two more overall victories and this tally of four remains the record for drivers.
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There was a major sporting change in 1982 as the previous version of the World Endurance Championship arrived in Japan. The Fuji 1000 was part of that prominent international series each year through to 1988. Four of the rounds were won by Porsche 956s, with the Stuttgart based marque recording a total of ten overall victories, just shy of Toyota’s record.
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The 1982-1988 period was also significant in that there were two 1000 kilometer races each year. The (first iteration) WEC round was held in the autumn while the spring race was a national event. In 1985 it became part of the newly established All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship.
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In 1999 a race was billed as the’ Le Mans Fuji race’ and intended as a pilot for a planned Asian Le Mans series. It was won by the Nissan R391 of Satoshi Motoyama, Erik Comas, and Masami Kageyama. They and several of the class winners received invitations to Le Mans in 2000. The Japan Le Mans Challenge of 2006-2007 was won by Shinsuke Yamazaki and Hideki Noda in a Zytek.
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Fuji Speedway continued its proud association with global endurance racing in 2012 when the inaugural season of the FIA WEC visited for the penultimate round of the season.
Did you know?
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Toyota is the defending winner at Fuji, having taken both FIA WEC rounds held thus far. The driver lineups were identical in both 2012 and 2013. It leaves Kazuki Nakajima as the 17th Japanese driver to record at least two overall endurance victories at Fuji. In addition to (current Dome boss) Hiroshi Fushida with four, ahead of him is Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Fumiyasu Sato with three each. Meanwhile, Nicolas Lapierre and Alexander Wurz have joined an elite group of four other European drivers who have won the race twice each; Geoff Lees, Stefan Bellof, John Watson, and Jan Lammers.
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Three European drivers racing at Fuji have been Super GT series champions and they all race for Audi Sport! Loïc Duval (2010), Benoit Tréluyer (2008), and Andre Lotterer (2006).
Fuji – Theatre of Speed
The original configuration of the circuit was six kilometers in length and featured an extremely long straight which ended with a blind crest followed by a steep dip into a banked bowl. In 1974 Fuji was completely reconfigured and the banked section was eliminated, bringing the circuit length down to a just less than 4.5 kilometers. A series of chicanes were installed for the 1986 season and some other modifications took place before it was completely redesigned into its modern 4.563 kilometer length in 2005. It has retained one feature throughout—one of the longest front straights to be found in motorsport.
Track facts – Fuji Speedway
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Location: Oyama, Sunto District, Shizuoka Prefecture
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Time: GMY +9hours
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Length: 4.563 km (2.835 mi)
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Turns: 16
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Outright Lap Record: 1m18.426s by Felipe Mass, F1 GP in 2008
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Fastest FIA WEC lap (qualifying): 1m27.499s by Kazuki Nakajima, 2012
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Fastest FIA WEC lap (race): 1m28.088s by Kazuki Nakajima, 2012
Stat Attack!
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The inaugural 1000 Kilometers was held in 1967.
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The 2014 event will mark the 41st running of a major endurance race at Fuji.
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Fuji has one of the longest main straights in racing. 1.5kms!
2012 Race stats (note that the 2013 edition was held under safety car and half points awarded due to adverse weather conditions)
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Margin of victory: 11.223s
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On the winner's lap: 3 cars
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Leaders: 3 (Wurz/ Lapierre/ Nakajima-181 laps, Lotterer/ Tréluyer/ Fässler-45 laps, Kristensen/ McNish-7 laps)
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Race distance covered: 5721 laps (90.9%), 26105 km
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Total distance covered: 9154 laps, 41770 kms
CLICK HERE for 6 Hours of Fuji Timetable CLICK HERE for 6 Hours of Fuji Provisional Entry List
