| Circuit Information |
Circuit: Japan - Fuji
Lap Length: 4.563 km
Race Laps: 67
Total Distance: 305.721 Km
Address: Oyama-cho Sunto-gun, 410-1308
Website: Website
Track Record: 1:14.300
Driver: Jody Scheckter
Team: Walter Wol
Year: 1977 |
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| General Information |
At 4.563km long, the revamped Fuji Speedway re-opened its doors in April 2005 and in 2007, takes over the hosting of the Japanese Grand Prix.
The circuit, owned by Toyota, sits in the shadow of Mount Fuji and at 4.359km in length hosted the season finale in 1976. The race has been well documented elsewhere but while Mario Andretti won the rain hit event in his Lotus Ford while James Hunt's third position in his McLaren Ford gave him the World Championship from Niki Lauda - who withdrew from the race due to the conditions - by a single championship point.
The race returned in 1977 with Hunt taking his final Formula One victory in his McLaren but an accident involving Gilles Villeneuve and Ronnie Peterson resulted in the death of two spectators and the race was dropped from the calendar. The Japanese Grand Prix resumed at the Honda-owned Suzuka circuit in 1987 and hosted the Japanese Grand Prix until 2006.
With Hermann Tilke involved in the new Fuji facility, the circuit closed to racing in 2003 before reopening two years later. In 2007, the race organisers are hoping to pull in a crowd of 280,000 over the three day Grand Prix weekend. On a side note, Fuji also made history in becoming the first circuit to be featured in a video game, Pole Position, the 1982 classic video game by Namco. |
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