Facts and History of Fuji Speedway:
Location: Situated at the foothills of Mount Fuji in Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan it opened in 1965, originally planned as a NASCAR-style oval before being converted into a road course.
Circuit Layout: The track features a mix of high-speed straights and challenging technical corners, with 16 turns in total. The circuit measures 4.563 kilometres (2.835 miles) in length. Fuji Speedway has one of the longest straights in motorsport, measuring 1.475 kilometres (0.916 miles), and providing high-speed action.
Renovation: Underwent significant renovations in 2003, with the track being redesigned by Hermann Tilke to meet modern safety standards.
Racing: Formula 1 hosted the Japanese Grand Prix in 1976 and 1977, and again in 2007 and 2008 after renovations. Fuji is also Known for hosting the annual 6 Hours of Fuji, a key event in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Fuji is a regular venue for the Super GT series, one of Japan’s premier touring car championships. Whilst MotoGP hosted events here between 1966 and 1968.
Mount Fuji Backdrop: The track is famous for its picturesque backdrop of Mount Fuji, making it one of the most visually stunning circuits in the world.
Significance: Fuji Speedway is considered a historic and iconic venue in Japanese motorsport, with a rich legacy in both two and four-wheeled racing.
Turn 1
Turn 1 is a tight right-hand hairpin. It’s reached at very high speeds due to the long straight leading up to it. It’s important to have good reference points and to make sure you keep your focus far enough ahead.
Heading into the braking zone, spot the 150m board. This is your reference that you are approaching your braking zone. In a GTE car, you’ll be braking about a car length before the board or the start of the kerbing on the outside. Use the downshifts and engine braking to help stop the car more efficiently in a straight line.
Delay your turn-in point to make sure you reach the back of the apex kerb to straighten out your exit. To help with rotation going in, trail brake into the apex. Just as you reach the dip and your inside wheels are rolling over the apex kerb, start to get back on the power. Be progressive on the throttle input to avoid any push exit understeer.
Let the momentum carry you out to the exit kerb. You can let the car run wide as long as you keep at least 2 wheels on the red and white painted kerbing.
A short shift to 2nd gear can also be used to help with traction.
Turn 2
A quick right-hand kink which isn’t much of a corner. It’s easily taken flat out, so keep your steering smooth and apex it while aiming to keep the car over to the right for the entry of Turn 3.
Turn 3 (Coca-Cola)
Turn 3 is an off-cambered left-hand turn. Using the full track and carrying good momentum are key here.
On the approach stay right and even use the kerbing on the right to open up the entry. Look for the 50m board and brake a car length before it.
It’s not a hard braking zone, but rather about slowing the car down just enough while balancing the weight transfer for a quick direction change. Turn in just as you get to the 50m board. Get your downshift done as soon as possible to help with rotation. 3rd or 4th gear can be used here depending on the car. When turning, aim to get your inside wheels to the green astroturf on the inside of the kerb. Just avoid cutting the grass as well.
Quickly get back on the power at the apex and use the momentum to carry you out to the exit kerb. Use as much as you can get away with on the exit. So take your inside wheels right to the edge of the solid white line without crossing it. Any more than that risks an invalidation and also the kerb becomes unstable with the step up it has.
Turn 4 (100R) and Turn 5
From the exit of T3, keep the car tight to the inside of the track for Turn 4 and Turn 5 which is a long double apex right-hand turn that never seems to end.
Stay tight at full throttle and look ahead. When you see the road start to tighten, this is the point where you’ll need to do a lift off the throttle. You’ll see the rubber line on the track also start to move away from the inside of the track so at this point let your momentum take you slightly wider. Wait for the car to grip up as the corner starts going uphill. Use maintenance throttle to keep your momentum up which allows you to balance the car without inducing understeer.
Approaching the 2nd apex, there’s an orange block on the inside Armco barrier. The idea is to get the car rotated before this so when you reach it you can get back to full throttle without worrying about under steering and running wide for the entry of the following hairpin.
Turn 6 (Hairpin) and Turn 7
Almost immediately from the exit of T5, you need to position the car correctly for the entry of Turn 6 which is a left-hand hairpin.
Coming over the crest, initially, your apex point is blind. Try to bring the car back over to the right-hand side to open up the entry as much as possible without compromising your exit from the last corner.
Your braking reference is the 50m board on the fence on the right. Brake just before the board, to get your braking done in a straight line initially but remember that because you’re climbing over a crest, you don’t need to brake as hard as you think. Use the downshifts as you go down to 2nd gear. Start to trail brake just before the turn-in point which is a car length before you cross under the Michelin sponsor banner overhead.
When turning in you want to aim for a slightly later apex and to get your inside wheels up onto the red and white kerbing. Avoid using the red astroturf on the inside as it can cause understeer. Your trail braking technique is important here as you want to get the weight on the front tyres to avoid understeer. The tighter you can get to the apex the better your exit will be down the following straight. Get on the power as soon as you get to the apex, allowing the car to run wide and carry the momentum out. Maximise the track usage. You can use the green astro as well but get back onto the normal kerb before it ends.
Turn 8
An easy right-hand bend which is taken at full throttle. Take a mid apex on the inside kerb and let the car run out to the middle of the track while keeping your steering smooth.
Turn 9 (300R)
Turn 9 is another easy flat-out right-hand turn. Again take a mid-corner apex and let the car follow its natural back to the outside of the circuit on the exit to set up the entry of the upcoming chicane sequence.
Turn 10 (Dunlop), 11 and 12
A tricky right into left into another right, chicane sequence that is all about getting the flow right and using the kerbs.
Heading into the slightly downhill braking zone, use the Goodyear overhead board as your marker. Brake just as you cross under it. Going downhill, you can get away with some really hard braking initially due to the compression. Shift down to 1st gear. Trail brake and turn in just after your last downshift.
Aim for a mid to late apex, with your inside wheels cutting the red Astro. So apex the kerbing with your outside wheels. Keep your outside wheels on the flat kerb and avoid using the elevated kerb. The car will hop over the kerb with the inside wheels so you want to maintain all the grip on the outside wheels to allow the car to be loaded on one side which will allow the car to turn still. Feed back onto the power and just as the car lands get back to full throttle.
Bring the car slightly back over to the right for the 2nd part of the chicane. Lift off the throttle to get the weight forward so you can turn. Use all of the inside kerbing once again but avoid the grass. You can short shift to 2nd gear to help with traction on the exit.
Power out and let the car run out to cut the entire kerb of the next right-hander. You can run your inside wheels over the green astro surface and apex the grass to give you the best traction out the corner by straightening the right-hander.
Turn 13 (13th)
Turn 13 is an off-cambered right-hander that starts a very technical sequence of corners.
On the approach came back over to the left after exiting the chicane. Stay parallel to the outside of the circuit and look ahead for your braking marker. As a reference use the faint solid white line that runs perpendicular to the outside of the circuit.
Brake just as the car passed this line, shifting down to 2nd gear and also beginning to turn in. The braking zone is not hard, rather get a good feel of the brakes so that you are just slowing down enough to avoid any understeer on entry.
When turning, aim to get to the inside kerb as the green Astro surface starts, at which point you can start to get progressively back on the power. Due to the camber of the corner, it is important to make sure you rotate the car and catch the late apex. You also have to be very gentle with the throttle as the car rises over the crest of the apex. Too much throttle will lead to oversteer and the car will drift out wide too soon which will hamper your entry line into Turn 14.
Turn 14 and 15 (Netz)
T14 is a long left-hander that feeds directly into a very tight off-cambered left-hander of Turn 15.
In T14 it is vital to use the tack available and to keep your steering and throttle inputs smooth. From your momentum following T13, the car will naturally want to drift over the inside kerb. You can run parallel with the kerb and have your inside wheels running slightly on the green astro surface on the inside.
Keep your throttle at 100% and shift up to 3rd as you progress along the kerb. Your exit point off the kerb is roughly a car length before the green Astro surface ends on the left.
After leaving the kerb you’ll be running next to it and you want to aim to brake for T15 just after where the red and white kerbing ends on the left.
Keep your steering angle similar to that of the curvature of the corner, allowing the car to run more out to the right-hand side to open up the entry for the tight left-hand turn coming up. Shift down to 2nd and balance the car with some light trail braking.
The apex point of T15 is usually blind and can be difficult to sense when to turn in. The only recommendation here is to do the laps to build a sense of when is the right time to start turning in for your apex. Once you’ve built muscle memory it will become a lot easier to judge.
Aim for a very late apex so that the angle of the car is straighter on the exit. You can cut the inside kerb and use the green astro surface. But be very cautious when getting back on the throttle. The combination of the bumps and the track dropping off slightly on the exit makes it very prone for the car to want to over-rotate and spin around.
Feed the power on gently and let the car run out to the exit kerb while catching the oversteer with your steering input. The flat part of the red and white kerb on the exit is safe to use. Any more than this will likely invalidate your lap.
Turn 16 (Panasonic)
The last corner is probably one of the toughest on the track. The entry phase is blind in terms of braking and trying to spot your turn-in point. The corner leads onto the very long start-finish straight so a bad exit will heavily compromise your lap times.
On the approach, follow the dark rubber line and track and let the car start to run out to the left. There is an access road that’s perpendicular to the circuit on the inside. You’ll want to aim to brake about 2 car lengths after you have passed this road. It’s not a hard braking zone, again it’s trail braking just enough to make sure the car is rotating and slowing down enough to make the apex.
Shift down to 2nd gear and be patient as you start to turn in for the apex. Start to get back onto the power before you get to the inside kerbing. You’ll want to be hitting the inside kerb where there is a big white block on the inside green astro surface. Don’t use too much of the kerb as it has a drop-off on the inside. Just past that apex with the white clock, you can start to get on the power. Let the car drift out and use all of the exit available. Keep your right-hand side wheels on the red and white kerbing to avoid invalidating the lap.
After this, it’s all about the drive down to the finish line to wrap up a lap at Fuji Speedway.
