Japanese Grand Prix

Www. JAPANESE GRAND PRIX SUZUKA CIRCUIT, MIE PREFECTURE CIRCUIT DETAILS TYPE: DIRECTION: PERMANENT CLOCKWISE LENGTH: CAPACITY: 5.807KM 155,000 TURNS: 18 STATISTICS 1.31.540 FASTEST LAP KIMI RAIKKONEN, MCLAREN-MERCEDES MICHAEL SCHUMACHER THE BEST CONSTRUCTORS ARE Ferrari McLaren WITH SEVEN WINS EACH MOST SUCCESSFUL DRIVER WITH FIVE WINS CHALLENGES MEMORABLE MOMENTS SIEMENS imi 1989 1990 2005 2012 Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost's fierce rivalry reaches boiling point as they collide. Prost retires, Senna recovers to win and keep his title dreams alive. Only to be DQ'd on a technicality, handing Prost the title. Senna and Prost come together again as they trade blows into the first corner this time, the Brazilian having vowed to not give up the position under any circumstance. Both drivers are forced to retire. Driving for McLaren, Kimi Raikkonen produces possibly his best-ever drive to claw back from 17th on the grid, close a 5-secs gap in eight laps and pass leader Giancarlo Fisichella on the very final lap Devoted fans love their local heroes so few podiums in recent years have been as well- received as Kamui Kobayashi's inspired and mature drive to third place for Sauber, ahead of accomplished competition LOCATION Though perhaps not as picturesque - or as volatile weather-wise - as its Fuji counterpart, which set at the foot of the iconic Mt. Fuji volcano, Suzuka is located in Suzuka City of Japan's Mie Prefecture, around four hours by Shinkansen (Bullet Train) from the extraordinary capital city Tokyo. For those looking to experience the treasures Japan has to offer without travelling too far, the third largest city of Nagoya is just 50km away, Kyoto and Osaka is a reasonable distance by train. while HISTORY Making its debut on the F1 schedule in 1976 with the inaugural race being held at the Toyota-financed Fuji Speedway, Japan only held two F1 World Championship events before it went on hiatus for almost a decade. Returning again in 1987, with the round this time held at the Honda-owned Suzuka Circuit, the Japanese GP has since etched itself in F1 folklore, not just for its challenging and popular layout, but the passion of the local fans and the fact its traditional calendar date late in the year means it has played host to numerous title deciders. A brief return to the revamped Fuji in 2007 and 2008 punctured Suzuka's run of races, but with corners like the 'S Curves' and 130R often billed as some of the world's most exhilarating circuit challenges, few begrudged the return in 2009. For full coverage of Formula 1 including driver news, results, qualifying and fantastic images, Www. ORSH visit www.crash.net NST