The is an auto race held in Japan by the Japan Automobile Federation.
History The original JAF Grand Prix was set up in year 1969 as to promoting Formula Car events in Japan, which was the highest ranked race other than the Japanese Grand Prix. The first race in 1969 was a Formula Libre event and was won by Australian driver Leo Geoghegan driving an ex-Jim Clark Lotus 39-Repco V8. The 1970 race was won by reigning Formula One World Champion Jackie Stewart driving a Brabham-Ford.
Then, after a brief suspension from 1971 to 1973 due to a scandal, it was held as a points-scoring round in Formula 2000, Formula Two, and Formula Pacific series until 1986. From 1988 to 1990, the JAF Grand Prix was a round of the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The JAF Grand Prix then went on hiatus for two decades.
In 2010, the JAF Grand Prix was revived by the JAF and named after its venue, Fuji Speedway, as the JAF Grand Prix and Fuji Sprint Cup. It served as a non-title season-ending race for the Formula Nippon and Super GT series. Teams which participated in five rounds in either series were eligible for their respective JAF Grand Prix events. The ruleset used in the Grand Prix differed from those used in regular-season Formula Nippon and Super GT events.
The JAF GP consisted of six separate races in 2010 and five races from 2011 to 2013; two each for Super GT's GT500 and GT300 classes, and one (two in 2010) for Formula Nippon. The race distance was about 100 km, less than half of the typical regular-season race distance. There were no mandated pit stops. In 2010, qualifying results for the second Formula Nippon race were decided by top speed (measured at the end of the straight) rather than lap time. In 2011, grid positions were determined by a score based on top speed and lap time. Qualifying results for the 2012 and 2013 races were decided by lap times, as in the regular season. In the Super GT races, the two drivers in every team drove in two separate races, instead of sharing a car in a single race as in the regular season. As in the final round in the regular Super GT season, success ballast was not applied to Super GT participants. However, a standing start, instead of a rolling start, was used in JAF GP races. Titles were awarded separately to Formula Nippon, GT500, and GT300 participants, depending on their overall results in their respective races.
In 2014, the non-championship Fuji Sprint Cup was discontinued. The JAF Grand Prix title now applies to the season-ending round of the Super Formula Championship held at Suzuka.
Winners of the JAF Grand Prix
Fuji Sprint Cup (2010–2013) Year Category Driver Vehicle 2013 Super Formula Yuji Kunimoto SF13-Toyota RV8K GT500 Toshihiro Kaneishi Koudai Tsukakoshi Honda HSV-010 GT GT300 Katsuyuki Hiranaka Björn Wirdheim Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 2012 Formula Nippon Takuya Izawa FN09-Honda HR12E GT500 Yuji Tachikawa Kohei Hirate Lexus SC430 GT300 Masami Kageyama Tomonobu Fujii Porsche 911 GT3-R 2011 Formula Nippon João Paulo de Oliveira FN09-Toyota RV8K GT500 Masataka Yanagida Ronnie Quintarelli Nissan GT-R GT300 Nobuteru Taniguchi Taku Bamba BMW Z4 GT3 2010 Formula Nippon André Lotterer FN09-Toyota RV8K GT500 Daisuke Ito Björn Wirdheim Lexus SC430 GT300 Katsuyuki Hiranaka Tetsuya Tanaka Ferrari F430 GT2
Group C events (1988–1990) Year Driver Constructor Class Location 1990 Masanori Sekiya Hitoshi Ogawa Toyota Group C Fuji 1989 Vern Schuppan Eje Elgh Keiji Matsumoto Porsche Group C Fuji 1988 Hideki Okada Stanley Dickens Porsche Group C Fuji
Formula events (1969–1990, 2014–2016) Year Driver Constructor Class Location 2016 Yuji Kunimoto Dallara-Toyota Super Formula Suzuka 2015 Naoki Yamamoto Dallara-Honda Super Formula Suzuka 2014 Kazuki Nakajima Dallara-Toyota Super Formula Suzuka 1986 Kazuyoshi Hoshino March-Honda Formula Two Suzuka 1985 Satoru Nakajima March-Honda Formula Two Suzuka 1984 Satoru Nakajima March-Honda Formula Two Suzuka 1983 Geoff Lees March-Honda Formula Two Suzuka 1982 Satoru Nakajima March-Honda Formula Two Suzuka Kazuyoshi Hoshino Ralt-Nissan Formula Pacific 1981 Satoru Nakajima March-Honda Formula Two Suzuka Masahiro Hasemi March-Nissan Formula Pacific 1980 Kazuyoshi Hoshino March-BMW Formula Two Suzuka Masahiro Hasemi March-Nissan Formula Pacific 1979 Kazuyoshi Hoshino March-BMW Formula Two Suzuka Kenji Takahashi Nova-Nissan Formula Pacific Keiji Matsumoto March-BMW Formula Two Fuji Takao Wada March-Nissan Formula Pacific 1978 Kunimitsu Takahashi Kojima-BMW Formula Two Suzuka Kenji Takahashi Nova-BMW Formula Two Fuji 1977 Riccardo Patrese Chevron-BMW Formula 2000 Suzuka Kazuyoshi Hoshino Nova-BMW Formula 2000 Fuji 1976 Noritake Takahara Nova-BMW Formula 2000 Fuji 1975 Kazuyoshi Hoshino March-BMW Formula 2000 Suzuka 1974 Noritake Takahara March-BMW Formula 2000 Suzuka1973–1971 Not held 1970 Jackie Stewart Brabham-Ford Formula Libre Fuji 1969 Leo Geoghegan Lotus-Repco Formula Libre Fuji
Notes: 1. – The Grand Prix had been awarded for winners of two classes (Formula Two and Formula Pacific) per event from 1979 to 1982. 2. – Two events each were held in years 1978 and 1979.
External links
JAF Grand Prix Fuji Sprint Cup official website Japan Automobile Federation official website former winners