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In my opintion, if you want a venue change for the Japanese GP you should go to Motegi, not Fuji. The revamped Fuji is not the fast circuit it used to be, as it got a Tilke-style revamp in 2005
The Motegi road corse is not only more technical than Fuji, but it has some great overtaking points, not to mention the facilities are great, they have already hosted many CART/IRL events there on the oval.
Or just leave it at Suzuka. Why are the switching anyway? Doesn't Honda own Motegi also? Do you have a map showing the old and new Fuji circuits? I 'd like to see what thy changed.
The new Fuji is basically the same as the old, however with a much, much wider track, and it has a little slow-speed section right after the last chicane.
That loooooong front straight should make for some interesting racing. Teams will have to run with an almost Monza-type setup or risk being passed.
I can't find an old diagram, but basically you just make turns 10-12 into one big sweeping turn similar to Parabolica at Monza and that's it.
I am sure he won't, I think the Fuji should prove interesting in the same vein as most of the new Tilke circuit. I wasn't that impressed with Bahrain or Malaysia, but Turkey, China and the revamped Hockenheim provides suitable on track setting for wheel to wheel racing, as we've seen this year. The challenge at Fuji will be like Indy, but with longer and faster corners.....
If the GP calender was determined on the merits of the tracks, then we would have had Spa this year. But money and politics have an important place in which tracks get to host a Grand Prix. Honda owns Suzuka, Toyota owns Fuji, it's that simple. I'm sure a lot of lobbying and passing of money happened between Bernie and Toyota before he was convinced. And the smart, money hungry bernie has set a perpetual competition between these two companies and their respective tracks. Right now they take turns in hosting, but what if in the future Toyota offers twice as much money to Bernie to have more races there? Then Honda has to cough up more cash to meet the raised bidding, or risk losing their own track, Suzuka.
The same scenario is going to be played out in Germany, between Nurburgring and Hockenheim. And it may happen elsewhere, probably France, USA, and Canada (Montreal and Ottawa)
bhallg2k wrote:... I can't find an old diagram, but basically you just make turns 10-12 into one big sweeping turn similar to Parabolica at Monza and that's it.
Present circuit:
1993-2004 circuit:
1986-1992 circuit:
1974-1985 circuit:
1965-1973 circuit:
This images are taken from the links I collected from RacingCircuits.com.
As ALL of you already know , you can find the layouts of all F1 circuits ever at my (unashamed self promotion!) page on tracks, under the link "Racetracks on Google Earth".
I also corrected/provided coordinates to watch all current circuits through several map services (new feature, using a Google Hack by Magnus) in the Wikipedia article of the track. Check the top right corner of the Wikipedia page about the circuit.
Last edited by Ciro Pabón on 09 Oct 2006, 05:10, edited 1 time in total.
Aside from Suzuka's charm and technicality, I kinda think that Fuji will provide better racing to watch. Fuji has at least 4 or 5 great places to pass, whereas Suzuka only has 1 or 2. And the inevitable low-downforce setups should do nothing but add excitement in S3.
Try out Gran Turismo 4, the run off areas are huge and it just blows in my opinion, it was the worst track to play on
Simon: Nils? You can close in now. Nils?
John McClane: [on the guard's phone] Attention! Attention! Nils is dead! I repeat, Nils is dead, ----head. So's his pal, and those four guys from the East German All-Stars, your boys at the bank? They're gonna be a little late.
Simon: [on the phone] John... in the back of the truck you're driving, there's $13 billon dollars worth in gold bullion. I wonder would a deal be out of the question?
John McClane: [on the phone] Yeah, I got a deal for you. Come out from that rock you're hiding under, and I'll drive this truck up your ass.
Why do some many like a track where overtaking is very hard?
Yes, Alonso was able to overtake Ralf, but that was about it. If the same track was within Europe and in the middle of the season, I doubt many would think it's anything special.
Fuji on the other hand...very long straight, starting with a very slow corner, where one can probably follow the other very close and ending with another slow corner. If you can't overtake there, you just have a slower car and you shouldn't get past anyway. And like someone already said, they probably have to run with quite a little downforce because of the straight, which should make things even more interesting.
Give Fuji a chance.
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pRo wrote:Why do some many like a track where overtaking is very hard?
Yes, Alonso was able to overtake Ralf, but that was about it. If the same track was within Europe and in the middle of the season, I doubt many would think it's anything special.
Fuji on the other hand...very long straight, starting with a very slow corner, where one can probably follow the other very close and ending with another slow corner. If you can't overtake there, you just have a slower car and you shouldn't get past anyway. And like someone already said, they probably have to run with quite a little downforce because of the straight, which should make things even more interesting.
Give Fuji a chance.
Didnt BE say 'we'll see' about Suzuka when Brundle got him on the grid? if they can pack in 160,000 then I can definately see Suzuka spending some cash to get the Pacific GP back for 07, 08 at the latest.
, you can find the layouts of all F1 circuits ever at my (unashamed self promotion!) page on tracks, under the link "Racetracks on Google Earth".
