is a motorsport race track located in Shimotsuma, a neighboring city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, about north of central Tokyo. It is long, with 32 pit garages and a long back straight. There is a small chicane used only for motorcycle racing that increases the track's total length to .
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. At the present time, an event is held every week. The track has a large variety of corners, ranging from wide sweepers to hairpins. The circuit accommodates 8500 spectators on the track, 3000 in the stands, 5000 on lawn seats, and 500 standing over the pits.
The illustration of the course guide shows that there are various courses other than the main course.
Course 1000
In 2001, the minibike course that had been called the "East Course" was completely renovated and opened as Course 1000 (TC1000), which is almost 1,000 meters in circumference. The TC1000 is a safe course that is open to cars and motorcycles, and features excellent visibility, making it ideal for beginners.
Gymkhana track
The trapezoid-shaped area just outside the last corner of the main course is the Gymkhana track. Gymkhana is a popular motor sport in Japan, and the All Japan Gymkhana Championships are held by JAF. Practice sessions and Gymkhana competitions are held at the Gymkhana track.
Oval Course
The Oval Course, located between the first corner and the second hairpin of the main course, is a course for training Auto Race drivers. Auto Race is a unique form of public gambling motor sport in Japan.
Admission is free on weekdays and ¥500 on weekends, but only when there are no scheduled events. The gas station in the paddock sells original Tsukuba Circuit souvenirs and other items. Across from the No.1 pit in the paddock, there is a small restaurant. The most popular menu item is the set meal of stewed motsu(Motsu-Teishoku). Visitors are allowed to drive on the track with a license. Tsukuba Circuit is not convenient to public transportation, so it is best accessed by a private car. The nearest station can only provide access via lengthy taxi ride.
Time Attack Tsukuba's "Time Attack" event (alternatively known as Super Lap or Tuner Battles) originated in Japan when the tuning media organized the event on race circuits such as Tsukuba, 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 specialized cars to beat the competition,Time Attack FAQ's including the purpose-built HKS CT230R Lancer Evolution with a body made entirely out of carbon fibre.
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. Commonly, as competing cars consist of modified road-going models, that are required to wear tires authorized for road use. Although as time attack cars have gotten fast, due to safety concerns with aerodynamic loads, slicks in faster classes are now common place.
On 27 January 2023 Yoshiki 'Fire' Ando with the Escort Drag Racing Service Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX became the first driver to break through the 50-second barrier at Tsukuba. This was the first time that a tuner car with a production chassis had gone sub-50 seconds on street semi-slick tires. HKS and Nobuteru Taniguchi had gone sub-50 seconds before Ando, with a time of 49.445 seconds and a top speed of 238.253 km/h in the HKS Toyota 86 TRB-03 on slick tires. However, this was largely disputed as a traditional tuner car record since it was set on slick tires. HKS maintains a time of 50.259 seconds in the TRB-03 on traditional semi-slick street tires.
Time Attack top 50 rankings The following is the top 50 ranking for tuning cars on street tires, as of 17 February 2024: PosTeamDriverCarTime (s)Top speed (km/h)Drivetrain1HKSNobuoteru 'NOB' TaniguchiToyota 86 (HKS TRB-03)49.445238.253FR2 Escort Drag Racing Service Yoshiki 'Fire' Ando Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 49.897 253.938Tsukuba Circuit TC2000 Top Time Ranking4WD3 Scorch Racing / ADVANTomohiko 'Under' Suzuki Nissan Silvia (S15) 50.366 243.847FR4 Qartoumy RacingFeras Qartoumy Chevrolet Corvette (C6) 51.231 242.642 FR5 Top Fuel Drag & Street Shop Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Honda S2000 (AP1) 51.762 233.060FR6 Garage G-Force Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 52.391 223.9274WD7 AutoBahn / Joyo Kunihiko Bando Toyota Soarer (JZZ30) 52.454 248.447FR8 PZ Tuning / Vibrant Performance Will Au-Yeung Honda Civic (FG4) 53.071 237.781FF9 Esprit Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Honda NSX (NA1) 53.474 239.734MR10 Car Shop Dream / KJM / Vortex Testuhiro Kurokawa Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 53.489 225.894FR11ArvouYusaku ShibataHonda S2000 (AP1)53.571210.608FR12 HKS Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX (HKS CT230R) 53.589 228.xxx4WD13 Revolution Yasushi Kikuchi Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 53.673 225.894FR14 Friends Racing Toru Inose Nissan Silvia (S15) 53.821 223.602FR15 Seyamax Admix Kyushu Danji Honda NSX (NA1) 53.915 219.601MR16Autobahn / JoyoKunihiko BandoNissan Skyline GT-R (BCNR33)54.010246.0704WD17RGN CTADaisuke AokiMazda RX-7 (FD3S)54.035205.950FR18Kyushu Danji / Tomiyoshi RacingTsutomu HanitaHonda NSX (NA2)54.101222.635MR19Garage S Complete Mitsuyoshi NishioNissan Onevia54.124234.324FR20 DLanguage Yasushi Kikuchi Subaru Impreza R205 (GR) 54.115 225.2824WD21 ATTKD Super Mitsuhiro Kinoshita Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32) 54.145 232.9094WD22 Sakamoto Engineering Hiroki Sakamoto Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 54.252 225.282FR23 Garage HRS / Sun AutomobileTarzan Yamada Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII (CyberEVO) 54.392 4WD24ARIOS Okuyama Yoshiaki ItagakiMazda RX-7 (FD3S)54.476206.936FR25 M Speed Tetsuya Tanaka Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34) 54.481 4WD26 Endless / ADVAN Atsushi Shimaya Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 54.483 212.014FR27Wacky MateMasayoshi KatoNissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32)54.571239.1504WD28TFR MukaishimaKiyotaka EjimaMazda RX-7 (FD3S)54.585224.439FR29ADMIX / SHORIN / CHEMITEC Shoichiro MasumotoNissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32)54.828233.8174WD30Exceed MoatTsumotu HirokoshiNissan 240SX S1454.882230.868FR31JDMYard / HardraceAdam CasmiriHonda Civic (EG6)54.901241.827FF32DKOS GG-RAso DaimajinNissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34)54.917224.8594WD33RACK / INTECTakatakaSubaru Impreza (GF8)55.071210.1584WD34Auto Rescue Izu / Scoot Sports Yasuhiro 'Yabatan' AndoMazda RX-7 (FD3S)55.109213.65FR35Moty's t-oneKazuyuki '01.t' TakahashiMazda RX-7 (FD3S)55.237214.328FR36PanspeedKota SasakiMazda RX-7 (FD3S)55.320212.976FR37Ti Racing Tomohiro IdoLotus Exige S255.402217.962MR38Phoenix PowerYui TsutsumiNissan GTR (R35)55.455237.8854WD39Nobuemon / Joyo Nobuemon Toyota Supra (JZA80)55.458233.615FR40HKSNobuoteru 'NOB' TaniguchiSuzuki Swift (HKS TRB-04)55.498227.225FF41M's Machine WorksYuta UemuraPorsche Cayman (987)55.509205.089MR42Wacky MateKengo 'Lock' SuzukiMazda RX-7 (FD3S)55.510221.538FR43Full Stage / ENDLESS Hiroyuki 'Shark' IiriMazda RX-7 (FD3S)55.595200.632FR44Anshin / Lucas Oil Anshin ManabeNissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32)55.811239.5214WD45Ti Racing Tomohiro IdoLotus Exige S255.824MR46Racing Project BandohManabu "Max" Orido Toyota GT86 (ZN6)55.927212.797FR47R-Magic PinkMitsuhiro KinoshitaMazda RX-7 (FD3S)55.947217.742FR48GNR Racing / Garage Rise-UpKoji AsaiHonda Civic (EK9)55.964201.831FF49JUN Mitsuhiro KinoshitaMitsubishi Lancer Evolution V55.9764WD50BT RacingOotoriMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV55.979197.084WD51Yellow Factory / RF KEWRyo KanekoHonda Civic (EG6)55.984187.826FF52New Type RacingNyanMazda RX-7 (FD3S)56.015237.102FR
Lap records
The outright all-time unofficial track record is 0:50.230 seconds, set by Kazuyoshi Hoshino in a March 792 Formula Two car, during qualifying for the 1979 Tsukuba Champions race. As of April 2004, the fastest official race lap records at the Tsukuba Circuit are listed as:
CategoryTimeDriverVehicleEvent Car Circuit (1970–present): Formula Three 0:52.149 Fábio Carbone Dallara F304 2004 Tsukuba Japanese F3 round Formula Toyota 0:54.942 Mitsuharu Kawazu Tom's FT20 2001 Tsukuba Formula Toyota round Group A 0:58.726 Kazuyoshi Hoshino Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR32 1992 Tsukuba JTCC round Super Touring 1:06.357 Tetsuya Tanaka Honda Civic Ferio 1994 Tsukuba JTCC round
In popular culture Tsukuba Circuit has appeared in numerous video games, including iRacing, Forza Motorsport, 2, 3, and 4, Gran Turismo 4, PSP, 5, 6, 7 and Sport, 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 use by Best Motoring to test and race a variety of vehicles.
References
External links
Official Webpage (Japanese) Tsukuba Circuit on Google Maps