page_title: Suzuka International Racing Course
section_title: Motorsport events
hierarchical_section_title: Suzuka International Racing Course / Motorsport events
caption_attribution_description: English: The qualifying session of the Suzuka 300km endurance race, 2010 (Yamaha YZF-R1, Team Etching Factory). Français&#160;: Moto de course Yamaha YZF-R1 de l'équipe Etching Factory. Photo prise lors d'une session d'essais qualifiants de la course d'endurance des 300 km de Suzuka . 日本語: 鈴鹿300km耐久ロードレース、公式予選 2010年6月12日、（チーム・エッチングファクトリー） Türkçe: Suzuka Pisti'nde yapılan 300 km Dayanıklılık Yarışı 2010 resmî elemelerindeki "Team Etching Factory" 'e bağlı bir Yamaha YZF R1. Camera Details:Camera: PENTAX K10DLens: smc Pentax-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8ED
context_page_description: The Suzuka International Racing Course, more famously known as the Suzuka Circuit, is a motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Mobilityland Corporation, a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000.
context_section_description: Suzuka, openly touted by F1 drivers and fans as one of the most enjoyed, is also one of the oldest remaining tracks of the Formula One World Championship, and has a long history of races as venue of the Japanese Grand Prix since 1987. Its traditional role as one of the last Grands Prix of the season means numerous world championships have been decided at the track.  Four years consecutively in its early history the circuit saw the world championship decided.  These include the 1988 championship, which went to Ayrton Senna, the controversial 1989 championship, which went to Alain Prost, and the 1990 and 1991 world championships, which both went to Senna.
  Suzuka was dropped from the Formula One calendar for the 2007 and 2008 seasons in favour of the Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway, after the latter underwent a transformation and redesign by circuit designer Hermann Tilke. Suzuka and Fuji were to alternate hosting the Japanese Grand Prix from 2009. However, after Fuji announced in July 2009 that it would no longer be part of the F1 calendar, Suzuka signed a deal to host the Japanese Grand Prix in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
  
  The circuit closed for a year for renovations to make it F1-compliant for 2009, with the last major event held on November 18, 2007, although some annual events (for instance, the Suzuka 8 Hours and Suzuka 1000km) were still held. The track held a re-opening day on April 12, 2009.
  Suzuka also hosts other motorsport events including the Suzuka 1000 km endurance race. Previously a part of multiple GT racing series including the now defunct group C class of the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, the Suzuka 1000 km as of 2006 is now a points round of the Super GT Series, and is the only race of such length in that series. In 2010, the GT500 pole position time was 1:55.237. In 2007, the GT300 pole position time was 2:06.838.
  Another major motorsport event is the Suzuka 8 Hours for motorcycles, which has been run since 1978. This event usually attracts big name riders and with the exception of 2005, due to the importance of the major manufacturers' involvement, the FIM ensures that no motorcycle races clash on the date.
  NASCAR organized the NASCAR Thunder 100, a pair of exhibition 100-lap races on the east circuit, a 1.4 miles (2.3 km) layout which utilizes the pit straight and esses, before rejoining the main circuit near the Casio triangle.  The cars were Sprint Cup Series and Camping World West Series cars and the field was by invitation for the two races, run after the 1996 and 1997 seasons.  The 1996 event was marred by tragedy when during practice, pace car driver Elmo Langley died of a heart attack in the Chevrolet Corvette pace car at the esses during an evaluation run. The pole position speed was 83.079 miles per hour (133.703 km/h). During qualifying for the 1997 race, rain caused Goodyear to use rain tires on Winston Cup cars for the first time in the modern era.
  It was announced on June 21, 2010 that the east section of the Suzuka Circuit would host the Japan round of the 2011 WTCC season instead of the Okayama International Circuit. At the 2012 event, the pole position time was 52.885 seconds, for an average speed of 94.875 miles per hour (152.687 km/h).
caption: Yamaha YZF-R1 of Team Etching Factory at the qualifying session of the Suzuka 300 km endurance race (2010).
exif: {"Image Make": "PENTAX Corporation", "Image Model": "PENTAX K10D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "DXO Optics Pro v6", "Image DateTime": "2010:06:13 01:49:51", "Image Artist": "Laitche", "Image Copyright": "Laitche", "Image IPTC/NAA": "[540, 483366402, 117460994, 1953063244, 476407907, 117469954, 1953063244, 476407907, 134247426, 1953063244, 224749667]", "Image ExifOffset": "312", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "784", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11746", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "19/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:06:12 15:38:50", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:06:12 15:38:50", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "300", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2200", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1460", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "450", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Soft", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3"}