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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Tsukuba Circuit
Tsukuba Circuit (Japanese: 筑波サーキット, [Tsukuba Sа̄kitto] Error: {{nihongo}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 10) (help)) is a motorsport race track located in Shimotsuma, a neighboring city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, about 60 km (37 mi) north of central Tokyo. It is 2.045 km (1.271 mi) long, with 32 pit garages and a 437 m (0.272 mi) long back straight. There is a small chicane used only for motorcycle racing that increases the track's total length to 2.070 km (1.286 mi).

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. 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.

A satellite image of Tsukuba Circuit in 1990

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, 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 27th 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 17th of February 2024:

Pos Team Driver Car Time (s) Top speed (km/h) Drivetrain
1 HKS Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Toyota 86 (HKS TRB-03) 49.445 238.253 FR
2 Escort Drag Racing Service Yoshiki 'Fire' Ando Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 49.897 253.938 4WD
3 Scorch Racing / ADVAN Tomohiko 'Under' Suzuki Nissan Silvia (S15) 50.366 243.847 FR
4 Qartoumy Racing Feras Qartoumy Chevrolet Corvette (C6) 51.231 242.642 FR
5 Top Fuel Drag & Street Shop Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Honda S2000 (AP1) 51.762 233.060 FR
6 Garage G-Force Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 52.391 223.927 4WD
7 AutoBahn / Joyo Kunihiko Bando Toyota Soarer (JZZ30) 52.454 248.447 FR
8 PZ Tuning / Vibrant Performance Will Au-Yeung Honda Civic (FG4) 53.071 237.781 FF
9 Esprit Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Honda NSX (NA1) 53.474 239.734 MR
10 Car Shop Dream / KJM / Vortex Testuhiro Kurokawa Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 53.489 225.894 FR
11 Arvou Yusaku Shibata Honda S2000 (AP1) 53.571 210.608 FR
12 HKS Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX (HKS CT230R) 53.589 228.xxx 4WD
13 Revolution Yasushi Kikuchi Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 53.673 225.894 FR
14 Friends Racing Toru Inose Nissan Silvia (S15) 53.821 223.602 FR
15 Seyamax Admix Kyushu Danji Honda NSX (NA1) 53.915 219.601 MR
16 Autobahn / Joyo Kunihiko Bando Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR33) 54.010 246.070 4WD
17 RGN CTA Daisuke Aoki Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 54.035 205.950 FR
18 Kyushu Danji / Tomiyoshi Racing Tsutomu Hanita Honda NSX (NA2) 54.101 222.635 MR
19 Garage S Complete Mitsuyoshi Nishio Nissan Onevia 54.124 234.324 FR
20 DLanguage Yasushi Kikuchi Subaru Impreza R205 (GR) 54.115 225.282 4WD
21 ATTKD Super Mitsuhiro Kinoshita Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32) 54.145 232.909 4WD
22 Sakamoto Engineering Hiroki Sakamoto Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 54.252 225.282 FR
23 Garage HRS / Sun Automobile Tarzan Yamada Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII (CyberEVO) 54.392 4WD
24 ARIOS Okuyama Yoshiaki Itagaki Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 54.476 206.936 FR
25 M Speed Tetsuya Tanaka Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34) 54.481 4WD
26 Endless / ADVAN Atsushi Shimaya Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 54.483 212.014 FR
27 Wacky Mate Masayoshi Kato Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32) 54.571 239.150 4WD
28 TFR Mukaishima Kiyotaka Ejima Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 54.585 224.439 FR
29 ADMIX / SHORIN / CHEMITEC Shoichiro Masumoto Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32) 54.828 233.817 4WD
30 Exceed Moat Tsumotu Hirokoshi Nissan 240SX S14 54.882 230.868 FR
31 JDMYard / Hardrace Adam Casmiri Honda Civic (EG6) 54.901 241.827 FF
32 DKOS GG-R Aso Daimajin Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34) 54.917 224.859 4WD
33 RACK / INTEC Takataka Subaru Impreza (GF8) 55.071 210.158 4WD
34 Auto Rescue Izu / Scoot Sports Yasuhiro 'Yabatan' Ando Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 55.109 213.65 FR
35 Moty's t-one Kazuyuki '01.t' Takahashi Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 55.237 214.328 FR
36 Panspeed Kota Sasaki Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 55.320 212.976 FR
37 Ti Racing Tomohiro Ido Lotus Exige S2 55.402 217.962 MR
38 Phoenix Power Yui Tsutsumi Nissan GTR (R35) 55.455 237.885 4WD
39 Nobuemon / Joyo Nobuemon Toyota Supra (JZA80) 55.458 233.615 FR
40 HKS Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Suzuki Swift (HKS TRB-04) 55.498 227.225 FF
41 M's Machine Works Yuta Uemura Porsche Cayman (987) 55.509 205.089 MR
42 Wacky Mate Kengo 'Lock' Suzuki Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 55.510 221.538 FR
43 Full Stage / ENDLESS Hiroyuki 'Shark' Iiri Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 55.595 200.632 FR
44 Anshin / Lucas Oil Anshin Manabe Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32) 55.811 239.521 4WD
45 Ti Racing Tomohiro Ido Lotus Exige S2 55.824 MR
46 Racing Project Bandoh Manabu "Max" Orido Toyota GT86 (ZN6) 55.927 212.797 FR
47 R-Magic Pink Mitsuhiro Kinoshita Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 55.947 217.742 FR
48 GNR Racing / Garage Rise-Up Koji Asai Honda Civic (EK9) 55.964 201.831 FF
49 JUN Mitsuhiro Kinoshita Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V 55.976 4WD
50 BT Racing Ootori Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV 55.979 197.08 4WD
51 Yellow Factory / RF KEW Ryo Kaneko Honda Civic (EG6) 55.984 187.826 FF
52 New Type Racing Nyan Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 56.015 237.102 FR

Time Attack top 50 rankings

The following is the top 50 ranking for tuning cars on street tires, as of 12th of February 2023:

Pos Team Driver Car Time (s) Top speed (km/h) Drivetrain
1 HKS Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Toyota 86 (HKS TRB-03) 49.445 238.253 FR
2 Escort Drag Racing Service Yoshiki 'Fire' Ando Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 49.897 253.938 4WD
3 Scorch Racing / ADVAN Tomohiko 'Under' Suzuki Nissan Silvia (S15) 50.366 243.847 FR
4 Qartoumy Racing Feras Qartoumy Chevrolet Corvette (C6) 51.231 242.642 FR
5 Top Fuel Drag & Street Shop Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Honda S2000 (AP1) 51.762 233.060 FR
6 Garage G-Force Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 52.391 223.927 4WD
7 AutoBahn / Joyo Kunihiko Bando Toyota Soarer (JZZ30) 52.454 248.447 FR
8 PZ Tuning / Vibrant Performance Will Au-Yeung Honda Civic (FG4) 53.071 237.781 FF
9 Esprit Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Honda NSX (NA1) 53.474 239.734 MR
10 Car Shop Dream / KJM / Vortex Testuhiro Kurokawa Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 53.489 225.894 FR
11 Arvou Yusaku Shibata Honda S2000 (AP1) 53.571 210.608 FR
12 HKS Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX (HKS CT230R) 53.589 228.xxx 4WD
13 Revolution Yasushi Kikuchi Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 53.673 225.894 FR
14 Friends Racing Toru Inose Nissan Silvia (S15) 53.821 223.602 FR
15 Seyamax Admix Kyushu Danji Honda NSX (NA1) 53.915 219.601 MR
16 Autobahn / Joyo Kunihiko Bando Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR33) 54.010 246.070 4WD
17 RGN CTA Daisuke Aoki Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 54.035 205.950 FR
18 Kyushu Danji / Tomiyoshi Racing Tsutomu Hanita Honda NSX (NA2) 54.101 222.635 MR
19 Garage S Complete Mitsuyoshi Nishio Nissan Onevia 54.124 234.324 FR
20 DLanguage Yasushi Kikuchi Subaru Impreza R205 (GR) 54.115 225.282 4WD
21 ATTKD Super Mitsuhiro Kinoshita Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32) 54.145 232.909 4WD
22 Sakamoto Engineering Hiroki Sakamoto Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 54.252 225.282 FR
23 Garage HRS / Sun Automobile Tarzan Yamada Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII (CyberEVO) 54.392 4WD
24 ARIOS Okuyama Yoshiaki Itagaki Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 54.476 206.936 FR
25 M Speed Tetsuya Tanaka Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34) 54.481 4WD
26 Endless / ADVAN Atsushi Shimaya Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 54.483 212.014 FR
27 Wacky Mate Masayoshi Kato Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32) 54.571 239.150 4WD
28 TFR Mukaishima Kiyotaka Ejima Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 54.585 224.439 FR
29 ADMIX / SHORIN / CHEMITEC Shoichiro Masumoto Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32) 54.828 233.817 4WD
230 Exceed Moat Tsumotu Hirokoshi Nissan 240SX S14 54.882 230.868 FR
31 JDMYard / Hardrace Adam Casmiri Honda Civic (EG6) 54.901 241.827 FF
32 DKOS GG-R Aso Daimajin Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR34) 54.917 224.859 4WD
33 RACK / INTEC Takataka Subaru Impreza (GF8) 55.071 210.158 4WD
34 Auto Rescue Izu / Scoot Sports Yasuhiro 'Yabatan' Ando Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 55.109 213.65 FR
35 Moty's t-one Kazuyuki '01.t' Takahashi Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 55.237 214.328 FR
36 Panspeed Kota Sasaki Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 55.320 212.976 FR
37 Ti Racing Tomohiro Ido Lotus Exige S2 55.402 217.962 MR
38 Phoenix Power Yui Tsutsumi Nissan GTR (R35) 55.455 237.885 4WD
39 Nobuemon / Joyo Nobuemon Toyota Supra (JZA80) 55.458 233.615 FR
40 HKS Nobuoteru 'NOB' Taniguchi Suzuki Swift (HKS TRB-04) 55.498 227.225 FF
41 M's Machine Works Yuta Uemura Porsche Cayman (987) 55.509 205.089 MR
42 Wacky Mate Kengo 'Lock' Suzuki Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 55.510 221.538 FR
43 Full Stage / ENDLESS Hiroyuki 'Shark' Iiri Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 55.595 200.632 FR
44 Anshin / Lucas Oil Anshin Manabe Nissan Skyline GT-R (BNR32) 55.811 239.521 4WD
45 Ti Racing Tomohiro Ido Lotus Exige S2 55.824 MR
46 Racing Project Bandoh Manabu "Max" Orido Toyota GT86 (ZN6) 55.927 212.797 FR
47 R-Magic Pink Mitsuhiro Kinoshita Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 55.947 217.742 FR
48 GNR Racing / Garage Rise-Up Koji Asai Honda Civic (EK9) 55.964 201.831 FF
49 JUN Mitsuhiro Kinoshita Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V 55.976 4WD
50 BT Racing Ootori Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV 55.979 197.08 4WD
51 Yellow Factory / RF KEW Ryo Kaneko Honda Civic (EG6) 55.984 187.826 FF
52 New Type Racing Nyan Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) 56.015 237.102 FR

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. The fastest official race lap records at the Tsukuba Circuit are listed as:

Category Time Driver Vehicle Event
Car Circuit: 2.045 km (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

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

  1. ^ "Tsukuba Circuit". Moto Racing Japan. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
  2. ^ "Go! Go! Speed Racer!". Ibaraki Prefecture. Retrieved 2006-11-06.
  3. ^ "What is the Tsukuba Circuit?". She Japan. Retrieved 2006-11-06.
  4. ^ Time Attack FAQ's Archived 2007-09-12 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Watch: Fire Ando's 49-Second Tsukuba Lap". Speedhunters. 2023-01-30. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  6. ^ Gilboy, James (2023-01-31). "Watch a Modified Mitsubishi Evo IX Smash Tsukuba's 50-Second Barrier on Street Tires". The Drive. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  7. ^ "New Record Set by HKS TRB-03 in Tsukuba Circuit Course 2000 | NEWS | HKS". www.hks-power.co.jp. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  8. ^ "Does HKS's New Tsukuba Record Count?". Speedhunters. 2018-02-16. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  9. ^ "HKS TRB-03 Sets New Tsukuba Record". 2018-03-05. Archived from the original on 2023-02-17. Retrieved 30 May 2023 – via PressReader.
  10. ^ Tsukuba Circuit TC2000 Top Time Ranking
  11. ^ {{Cite web |date=2024-02-17 [1][2]
  12. ^ "BT Racing on Twitter: "#ProT走 運営の方々お疲れ様でした！ BT1 は2秒7 BT2 は55秒9でした 2号はオプションランキングに掲載されました！ https://t.co/FiU6vXfNSs" / Twitter". 2023-02-15. Archived from the original on 2023-02-15. Retrieved 2023-02-15. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  13. ^ 52.454sec 2019/12/15 ZUMMY super lap. 坂東邦彦. 2019-12-15. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ Attack Tsukuba 2019-0223「William Au-Yeung//Vibrant Civic」FG4. Attack Official Movie Channel. 2019-03-07. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ エスプリ NSX 筑波 53秒474 2019/03/14. Sugimori Takuya. 2019-03-19. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  16. ^ HKS CT230R hypermax in Tsukuba ¨0.53.589¨. TheMarcelodmr. 2012-05-14. Archived from the original on 2020-12-27. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  17. ^ Revolution FD3S RX-7 laps Tsukuba in 53.6 (HD). Yokohama Australia. 2010-12-12. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ "BT Racing on Twitter: "#ProT走 運営の方々お疲れ様でした！ BT1 は2秒7 BT2 は55秒9でした 2号はオプションランキングに掲載されました！ https://t.co/FiU6vXfNSs" / Twitter". 2023-02-15. Archived from the original on 2023-02-15. Retrieved 2023-02-15. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  19. ^ 筑波スピードXサウンド・トロフィー２０１６　Sタイヤver. ATTKD Attackers. 2017-02-05. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  20. ^ 54秒252！サカモトエンジニアリング RX-7 FD3S 筑波サーキットコース2000. サカモトエンジニアリング. 2018-03-18. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  21. ^ 【Attack筑波】ENDLESS ADVAN RX-7 54秒483. Atsushi Shimaya. 2019-02-25. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  22. ^ Tsukuba Circuit TC2000 Top Time Ranking
  23. ^ {{Cite web |date=2024-02-17 [3][4]
  24. ^ "BT Racing on Twitter: "#ProT走 運営の方々お疲れ様でした！ BT1 は2秒7 BT2 は55秒9でした 2号はオプションランキングに掲載されました！ https://t.co/FiU6vXfNSs" / Twitter". 2023-02-15. Archived from the original on 2023-02-15. Retrieved 2023-02-15. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  25. ^ 52.454sec 2019/12/15 ZUMMY super lap. 坂東邦彦. 2019-12-15. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  26. ^ Attack Tsukuba 2019-0223「William Au-Yeung//Vibrant Civic」FG4. Attack Official Movie Channel. 2019-03-07. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  27. ^ エスプリ NSX 筑波 53秒474 2019/03/14. Sugimori Takuya. 2019-03-19. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  28. ^ HKS CT230R hypermax in Tsukuba ¨0.53.589¨. TheMarcelodmr. 2012-05-14. Archived from the original on 2020-12-27. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  29. ^ Revolution FD3S RX-7 laps Tsukuba in 53.6 (HD). Yokohama Australia. 2010-12-12. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  30. ^ "BT Racing on Twitter: "#ProT走 運営の方々お疲れ様でした！ BT1 は2秒7 BT2 は55秒9でした 2号はオプションランキングに掲載されました！ https://t.co/FiU6vXfNSs" / Twitter". 2023-02-15. Archived from the original on 2023-02-15. Retrieved 2023-02-15. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  31. ^ 筑波スピードXサウンド・トロフィー２０１６　Sタイヤver. ATTKD Attackers. 2017-02-05. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  32. ^ 54秒252！サカモトエンジニアリング RX-7 FD3S 筑波サーキットコース2000. サカモトエンジニアリング. 2018-03-18. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  33. ^ 【Attack筑波】ENDLESS ADVAN RX-7 54秒483. Atsushi Shimaya. 2019-02-25. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-04 – via YouTube.
  34. ^ "Formula 2 1979 - Tsukuba". Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  35. ^ "2004 Tsukuba Japanese F3". Motor Sport Magazine. 11 April 2004. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  36. ^ "2001 Tsukuba Charenji Cup Race Round 1". 8 April 2001. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  37. ^ "92 Race de Nippon". 23 August 1992. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
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