The circuit was planned by the Japan NASCAR Company, established in December 1963, which secured exclusive rights to host NASCAR-style races in the Far East following an agreement with NASCAR founder Bill France in January 1964. A 2.5-mile (4.0 km) high-banked superspeedway was to be built at the foot of Mount Fuji. In July 1964, Charles Moneypenny, designer of Daytona International Speedway, was invited to oversee the design, but found the steep terrain unsuitable for a superspeedway. Retired F1 driver Stirling Moss was hired as consultant; inspecting the site in August 1964, he dismissed the oval concept and argued for a European-style road course.
Following funding problems, the Japan NASCAR Company was reorganised in January 1965 and renamed Fuji International Speedway Corporation. The project restarted as a road course reflecting Moss's suggestions, though it retained a 30-degree banked first turn from the original superspeedway design. In October 1965, amid further management turmoil, Mitsubishi Estate stepped in and took over management. The circuit opened in January 1966.
The original layout was characterised by high speeds and the extreme danger of the 30-degree "Daiichi" banking. As driver Vic Elford described, at the end of the main straight drivers crested a blind rise at around 190–200 mph and dropped into the banking — unlike other banked tracks where cars climb up. Elford, who tested for Toyota at Fuji in 1969, noted the death toll from that corner was "horrendous," eventually leading to large Group 7 cars being banned in Japan. In 1966 and 1967, the circuit hosted the Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix as the final round of the FIM Road Racing World Championship; the 1966 race ran on the full track including the banking, causing the Honda works team to boycott for safety reasons; the 1967 event used a shorter 4.3 km layout without the banked section. In 1966, the track also hosted a USAC Indy Car non-championship race won by Jackie Stewart.
After a fatal accident in 1974 on the Daiichi banking killed drivers Hiroshi Kazato and Seiichi Suzuki and injured six others, a new 4.359 km course was built eliminating the banking and five other fast corners.
The revised layout hosted the first Formula One race in Japan at the end of the 1976 season. The race featured a dramatic World Championship battle between James Hunt and Niki Lauda; in rainy conditions, Hunt earned enough points to win the title. Mario Andretti won the race, with Lauda withdrawing due to dangerous conditions. In 1977, Gilles Villeneuve was involved in a crash that killed two spectators, leading to Formula One leaving Fuji Speedway. When Japan earned another F1 race ten years later it went to Suzuka Circuit.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, Fuji remained a popular venue for national and international events. The FIA World Sportscar Championship visited between 1982 and 1988. Two chicanes were added to manage speeds: one after the first hairpin corner, and a second at the entry to the wide, fast 300R turn. The long pit straight was also used for drag racing; NHRA exhibitions ran in 1989, and in 1993 Shirley Muldowney ran a 5.30 on the quarter-mile strip at Fuji. Plans to host a CART event in 1991 were abandoned due to conflicts with the FIA.
On 3 May 1998, a multi-car crash during a JGTC parade lap in torrential rain injured two drivers: Tetsuya Ota suffered serious burns after being trapped in his car for almost 90 seconds, and Tomohiko Sunako fractured his right leg.
In 2000, Toyota Motor acquired the majority interest in Fuji Speedway from Mitsubishi Estate.
In 2003, the circuit was closed for a major reprofiling using a new design by Hermann Tilke. The track reopened on 10 April 2005. Most of the old banked section was demolished; only a small portion remains. A new drifting course was built as part of the 2003 renovations under the supervision of "Drift King" Keiichi Tsuchiya and former works driver and Super GT team manager Masanori Sekiya.
The renovated circuit hosted its first Formula One championship event in 29 years on 30 September 2007. As in 1976, the race was run in heavy rain and mist; the first 19 laps were run under the safety car, and Lewis Hamilton won. The 2007 Japanese Grand Prix was criticised for transportation paralysis from shuttle bus failures, poor facilities, restricted views from some reserved seats, and high meal prices — simple lunch boxes sold for 10,000 yen (US$87). Toyota also drew criticism for permitting only Toyota F1 team flags and banners in the venue.
For 2008, attendance was reduced from 140,000 to 110,000 and facilities were improved, but the race again suffered from rainy weather. Following poor ticket sales and weather-affected races in both years, FOM agreed to share the Japanese Grand Prix between Fuji and Suzuka on alternate years. After the Great Recession and its own operational deficit, Toyota discontinued hosting the Japanese Grand Prix from 2010, and the race returned to Suzuka.
The current 12-corner layout, in use since 2005, includes: TGR Corner (27R), 75R, Coca-Cola Corner (80R), Toyopet (100R), Advan Corner (30R), 120R, 300R, Dunlop Corner (15R), 30R, 45R, GR Supra Corner (25R), and Panasonic Corner (12R). The Dunlop corner varies by configuration: the full layout uses a tight right hairpin followed by a left-right flick; the GT course bypasses turns 11 and 12 with a medium-speed right-hander.
Fuji Speedway hosts the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Fuji, the Super GT Fuji 500 km race on Golden Week, and the Super Taikyu Fuji 24 Hours. The D1 Grand Prix has held rounds at the circuit since 2003; it is the only event run in the reverse direction, which Keiichi Tsuchiya preferred for better drifting entry speeds. The circuit has hosted the Nismo Festival for historic Nissan racers since 2005 (previously at Okayama). In April 2022, Toyota announced the "Fuji Motorsports Forest" development, including the Fuji Speedway Hotel (operated by Hyatt) and the Fuji Motorsports Museum, which opened in October 2022.
During the 2020 Summer Olympics (held in 2021), Fuji Speedway served as the finish line for the Olympic road cycling races.
The circuit appears in numerous video games including the Gran Turismo series, Pole Position, and iRacing, as well as the Japanese television drama Engine and the anime Overtake!.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
Gallery · 4 related images
