Tsukuba Circuit

Tsukuba Circuit

Location	Shimotsuma, Ibaraki, Japan
Time zone	JST, UTC, GMT +9
Major events	MFJ Superbike Tsukuba 1000 Tsukuba Super Lap
Length	2.045 (without chicane) 2.070 (with chicane)[1] km (1.287 mi)
Turns	14[2]
Lap record	44.008 seconds (Kamui Kobayashi, Dallara SF14, 2015)

The Tsukuba Circuit is a motorsport race track located in Shimotsuma, a neighboring city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is 2.045 kilometres (1.271 mi) long, has 32 pits and the longest straight is 437 metres (0.272 mi) long.^[1] There is a small chicane corner that is used for motorcycle racing only and increases the total length to 2.070 kilometres (1.286 mi). 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 track has appeared in numerous video games, including Forza Motorsport, 2, 3, and 4, Gran Turismo 4, Gran Turismo PSP, Gran Turismo 5, and 6, 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 heavy use by Best Motoring to test and race a variety of vehicles.

A satellite image of Tsukba Circuit in 1990

Time Attack

Time Attack (alternatively known as Super Lap or Tuner Battles) originated in Japan when the tuning media organized the event on race circuits such as Tsukuba Circuit, where it commonly occurs, 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 cars especially to use to beat the competition,^[4] including the purpose built HKS CT230R Lancer Evolution, with its body made entirely out of carbon fibre. The official lap record is held by the Autobacs ARTA NSX, which ran a 51.8 second lap. This lap was beaten on Boxing Day 2015 by Tomohiko "Under" Suzuki and the Scorch Racing Team S15 with a time of 51.127 seconds on Yokohama Advan A050 Semi-Slick Tires.

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 cars consist of modified roadgoing cars, cars are required to wear tires authorized for road use and in all, drivers are allocated to three laps in a final event run; warm-up, timed and cool-down.^[4]

Time Attack Results

2007 17th Annual Revspeed Super Battle at Tsukuba Circuit

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tsukuba Circuit.

• Official Webpage (Japanese)
• Tsukuba Circuit on Google Maps

Coordinates: 36°09′6″N 139°55′17″E / 36.15167°N 139.92139°E / 36.15167; 139.92139