Tsukuba Circuit (Japanese: 筑波サーキット, Tsukuba Sа̄kitto) is a motorsport race track located in Shimotsuma, a neighboring city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, about 60 km (37 mi) north of central Tokyo. It is 2.045 km (1.271 mi) long, with 32 pit garages and a 437 m (0.272 mi) long back straight.[1] There is a small chicane used only for motorcycle racing that increases the track's total length to 2.070 km (1.286 mi).
Location | Shimotsuma, Ibaraki, Japan |
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Time zone | JST |
Capacity | 8,500 |
Broke ground | 1966 |
Opened | 22 June 1970; 52 years ago (1970-06-22) |
Major events | MFJ Superbike Tsukuba 1000 Tsukuba Time Attack |
Car Circuit (1970–present) | |
Length | 2.045 km (1.271 miles) |
Turns | 12 |
Bike Circuit (1990–present) | |
Length | 2.070[1] km (1.286 miles) |
Turns | 13 |
The track was established in 1966 with the aim of attracting young people to participate in motor sports, but was not actually completed until 1970.[2] At the present time, an event is held every week.[3] The track has a large variety of corners, ranging from wide sweepers to hairpins.[2] The circuit accommodates 8500 spectators on the track, 3000 in the stands, 5000 on lawn seats, and 500 standing over the pits.[2]
The illustration of the course guide shows that there are various courses other than the main course.
In 2001, the minibike course that had been called the "East Course" was completely renovated and opened as Course 1000 (TC1000), which is almost 1,000 meters in circumference. The TC1000 is a safe course that is open to cars and motorcycles, and features excellent visibility, making it ideal for beginners.
The trapezoid-shaped area just outside the last corner of the main course is the Gymkhana track. Gymkhana is a popular motor sport in Japan, and the All Japan Gymkhana Championships are held by JAF. Practice sessions and Gymkhana competitions are held at the Gymkhana track.
The Oval Course, located between the first corner and the second hairpin of the main course, is a course for training Auto Race drivers. Auto Race is a unique form of public gambling motor sport in Japan.
Admission is free on weekdays and ¥500 on weekends, but only when there are no scheduled events. Visitors are allowed to drive on the track with a license. Tsukuba Circuit is not convenient to public transportation, so it is best accessed by a private car. The nearest station can only provide access via lengthy taxi ride.
Tsukuba's "Time Attack" event (alternatively known as Super Lap or Tuner Battles) originated in Japan when the tuning media organized the event on race circuits such as Tsukuba, as a proving ground for street tuned cars built at a large budget by highly respected tuning companies. As a result of the quick rise in popularity, tuners developed specialized cars to beat the competition,[4] including the purpose-built HKS CT230R Lancer Evolution with a body made entirely out of carbon fibre.
Unlike other timed motorsport disciplines such as sprinting and hillclimbing, the car is required to start off under full rolling start conditions following a warm-up lap, where they will have to accelerate out as fast as possible to determine how fast they enter their timed lap.[4] Commonly, as competing cars consist of modified road-going models, they are required to wear tires authorized for road use. In all, drivers are allocated to three laps in a final event run; warm-up, timed and cool-down.[4]
The following is a table of best Time Attack times, last updated 11 April 2022:
Pos | Team | Car | Best lap (sec) | Top speed (km/h) |
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1 | HKS with Nobuteru Taniguchi | Toyota 86 TRB-03 (slicks) | 49.445 | 238.253[5][6] |
2 | Escort Drag Racing Service | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 50.342 | ---.--- [8] |
3 | Scorch Racing with Under Suzuki | Nissan Silvia (S15) | 50.366 | 245.622[9] |
4 | Top Fuel Drag & Street Shop | Honda S2000 (AP1) | 51.762 | 233.080[10] |
5 | Garage G-Force | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII | 52.391 | 223.927 |
6 | Racing Factory AutoBahn | Toyota Soarer (JZZ30) | 52.454 | 248.447[11] |
7 | Vibrant Performance with PZ Tuning | Honda Civic (FG4) | 53.071 | 237.781[12] |
8 | Esprit | Honda NSX (NA1) | 53.474 | 239.734[13] |
9 | Car Shop Dream KJM with Voltex | Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) | 53.489 | 225.894 |
10 | HKS | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX CT230R | 53.589 | 228.xxx[14] |
11 | Revolution | Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) | 53.673 | 225.894[15] |
12 | Friends Racing | Nissan Silvia (S15) | 53.821 | 223.602 |
13 | Kyushu Danji | Honda NSX (NA2) | 54.101 | 222.635[16] |
14 | DLanguage | Subaru Impreza (GRB) R205 | 54.115 | 225.282 |
15 | Admix Racing Service with Seyamax | Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32) | 54.118 | 221.584[17] |
16 | Autech Tsukada (ATTKD) | Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32) | 54.145 | 232.909[18] |
17 | Sakamoto Engineering | Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) | 54.252 | 225.282[19] |
18 | Sun Automobile with Garage HRS | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII CyberEVO | 54.392 | ---.--- |
19 | M Speed | Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34) | 54.481 | 229.348 |
20 | Endless | Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) | 54.483 | 212.014[20] |
21 | Top Fuel Racing | Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) | 54.585 | 224.439 |
Tsukuba Circuit has appeared in numerous video games, including iRacing, Forza Motorsport, 2, 3, and 4, Gran Turismo 4, PSP, 5, 6, 7 and Sport, Tourist Trophy, Enthusia Professional Racing, rFactor, and D1 Grand Prix.
The track is commonly used for tuner events and has appeared in the final installment of the Shuto Kousoku Trial series, SKT Max. The circuit has also gained popularity because of its use by Best Motoring to test and race a variety of vehicles.
Japanese Touring Car Championship circuits (1985–1998) | |
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D1 Grand Prix circuits | |
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Current Courses (2022) | |
D1SL Courses |
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Past Courses |
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All Japan Sports Prototype Championship | |
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