Grand Prix 4 Formula 1 Championship
Grand Prix 4 Championship Time's History
2006 FORMULA 1 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix
The Japanese Grand Prix is truly a unique race and a real experience for the teams. Japan can be very complicated for a European and most team members will admit to giving up on local restaurants as the menus are impossible to understand. One way around this problem is to find an English-speaking local who will translate the menu for you - a trick we try every time which has a 100% success rate!
At all the other races, the teams pick up hire cars at the airport and make their way to the circuit. In Japan this becomes more difficult as the roads are very busy and the signs are in Japanese! The best way to get around is on Japan's fantastically-efficient trains. To make life easy for the F1 drivers they all stay just across the road from the circuit at the aptly-named Suzuka Circuit Hotel. They then use scooters to get to and from the track which can be slightly nerve-wracking for them as they negotiate the mass crowd of Japanese fans who line the entrance to the circuit.
Once inside they are at the circuit they all love. A lot of today's drivers raced in Japan during their early careers so they know Suzuka well. They know all about the track that is fast and technical and only for the totally committed. Suzuka, as well as having a unique figure-of-eight configuration, has every type of corner and the famous '130R', a very fast left hander which is taken almost flat in sixth gear!