Japanese Grand Prix to alternate between Fuji and Suzuka

F1 Back and Forth

Japanese Grand Prix to alternate between Fuji and Suzuka

Toyota and Honda struck a deal for the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix to alternate between Fuji International Speedway and Suzuka. Toyota purchased Fuji five years ago and massively upgraded the venue to make a pitch for the race, which will be held there this year for the first time since 1977. Honda, which built Suzuka in 1961 as a test facility, lost out. Under the terms of the deal, the race will be held at Suzuka in odd-numbered years, starting in 2009.

AutoWeek | Updated: 09/19/07, 1:01 pm et

Article URL: http://autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200709191258/FREE/70919007

I think it's great that the 2 tracks alternate. It's getting a little monotonous to only race in Suzuka when there're other great tracks within Japan. Nonetheless, Suzuka is one of my fav Japanese racing circuits, but the newly revised Fuji circuit is upgraded to Formula-1 standards, such as lots of run-off asphalt areas rather than stupid gravel traps. Plus that long main straight will allow lots of drafting and passing, which will yield great racing.

I also like this solution. Suzuka is a great race track with all kinds of corners... and a lot of them, but the Formula 1 races on it aren't always as interesting. Fuji is a more simple track, but I have more hope for takeovers on that one.

I also like this solution. Suzuka is a great race track with all kinds of corners... and a lot of them, but the Formula 1 races on it aren't always as interesting. Fuji is a more simple track, but I have more hope for takeovers on that one.
You mean overtaking? :) It's guaranteed at Fuji, especially at the end of that long main straight, no doubt those F1 cars can reach at least 350km/h there. The replacement of grassy areas and gravel traps with asphalt run-off areas is also a smart and logical move, less crashes and more "green flag" laps that should result from that. :thumbup:

Id personally like to see them race at Motegi Twin Ring. It will be interested to see the race next weekend. Suzuka is a great track, but IMO it has too many corners to allow for great racing. Unless someone makes a mistake its pretty much a game of follow the leader.

You mean overtaking? :) It's guaranteed at Fuji, especially at the end of that long main straight, no doubt those F1 cars can reach at least 350km/h there. The replacement of grassy areas and gravel traps with asphalt run-off areas is also a smart and logical move, less crashes and more "green flag" laps that should result from that. :thumbup:

Nah. I mean F1 teams that make corporate takeovers - it happens a lot on Fuji :D

I wonder if there's any hope of ever seeing them racing at night?

I wonder if there's any hope of ever seeing them racing at night? That won't happen for Formula-1, unless they equip the F1 cars with headlamps. Even if the circuit is fully lit with its own lights, it's still very dangerous for F1 cars to race without their own lights. I agree with you, it's a very cool idea and I'd like to see night time F1 racing too.

That won't happen for Formula-1, unless they equip the F1 cars with headlamps. Even if the circuit is fully lit with its own lights, it's still very dangerous for F1 cars to race without their own lights. I agree with you, it's a very cool idea and I'd like to see night time F1 racing too.

Actually the FIA is working to have 1 or 2 F1 races at night. All you need are really bright track lights. The cars themselves wouldn't need headlights as long as the driver can see. Securing the generators and temporary lights shouldn't be a problem for the temporary tracks like Melbourne or Monaco. Have you seen the lights construction companies use at night? It looks almost like daylight.

Actually the FIA is working to have 1 or 2 F1 races at night. All you need are really bright track lights. The cars themselves wouldn't need headlights as long as the driver can see. Securing the generators and temporary lights shouldn't be a problem for the temporary tracks like Melbourne or Monaco. Have you seen the lights construction companies use at night? It looks almost like daylight. I don't doubt the track lightings they have would suffice to make day out of night, but that's not really my point. My point was concerning absolute safety, such as what would happen if one section of a track's lighting suffers massive failure (which should be rare but you'll never know until it hits you). Unless every single inch of the circuit is properly lit (like oval racing tracks for Nascar which are much easier to light up since they're more "confined") with enough amount of safety backup to make sure there won't be power outage and such, IMO it's somewhat irresponsible to run F1 cars without them having on-board headlamps and tail-lamps. I know F1 cars do have tail-lamps, but currently it's just a rather small square of red-blinking light, which is hardly adequate and would require modification (such as full bright red during braking) to be truly effective under low-light visibility conditions.

All I'm saying is, if FIA or whoever has a way of working this out (but not sacrificing safety), I'm all for it. Hopefully it'll add more excitement to the monotonous "lack of passing" F1 racing of today, since the most drama F1 gets at the moment comes from the politics between FIA and the race teams (such as the McLaren espionage incident).

Each lighting section would have a backup generator that can last the rest of the race. I see your point regarding safety. Since the FIA is the sanctioning body for F1, their ultimate concern is safety during any race. They have quite a few issues to work out before night racing commences, and they still need to secure a track to hold the night race.

Here's an idea:

LED headlighting can provide sufficient forward lighting for night racing and can be integrated into the front wing assembly without much modification and without aerodynamic penalty (huge + if they are allowed to be enclosed and integrated). They would have to be setup in an array with either a magnifying glass or projector, or both. As is typical in F1, think small and light.

Here's an idea:

LED headlighting can provide sufficient forward lighting for night racing and can be integrated into the front wing assembly without much modification and without aerodynamic penalty (huge + if they are allowed to be enclosed and integrated). They would have to be setup in an array with either a magnifying glass or projector, or both. As is typical in F1, think small and light.
To be precise, each car probably needs a minimum of 3 (LED or otherwise) headlights, where 1 for pointing straight forward and downward, and 2 other ones are each pointing towards the left and right side on the car, so the drivers can see where they'd ride the curbs/rumble strips. I think that should be adequate at the very least :thumbup: