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Coordinates: 35°22′18″N 138°55′36″E / 35.37167°N 138.92667°E / 35.37167; 138.92667
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35°22′18″N 138°55′36″E / 35.37167°N 138.92667°E / 35.37167; 138.92667

Yatabe Test Track
Location2530 Karima, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0822, Japan
Time zoneGMT +9
1st and only configuration (1964–present)
Length9.8 km (6 miles)
Turns2
Race lap record1:18.426 (Brazil Felipe Massa, Ferrari F2008, 2008)

https://goo.gl/maps/WDfygY2MU4ffYWPQ8 https://japanesenostalgiccar.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/yatabe2.jpg

Yatabe High Speed Test Track A.K.A the JARI Test Course (JARIテストコ-ス, JARI Tesutocoosu) was a high speed banked motorsport testing track located near center of the modern city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. As one of a small number of banked oval tracks in the world, it was well suited to testing the top speed limitations of cars. From the 1980s until its closure in the early 2000s, the track became famous for its association with the Japanese tuning scene, and it was used both by tuners and street racers to test their modified cars. It was built in the early 1964 for automotive testing as part of the Japan Automotive Research Institute's car testing facilities. At the time, the city around the track was known as Yatabe, and the track took it's name from that municipality. In 1987, the city of Yatabe merged with nearby cities to become the city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki. The track was often used by Japanese automakers to test new vehicle designs, and also used by researchers conducting automotive testing research. The track was replaced in 2005 by JARI's new Shirosato Proving Ground"Introduction of Jari" (PDF). Retrieved July 8,2020. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help), and the land on which the original track sat was redeveloped. The location of the old track is now covered by the Tsukuba City Hall and crossed longitudinally by the new [[Tsukuba Express] train line. Some JARI buildings remain from the proving grounds, including the old crash test center.

Since it's demolition, the Japanese tuning scene has shifted to comparing lap times at the nearby Tsukuba Circuit.

History

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1961: JARI Founded in Yatabe Japan

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Fuji Speedway Corporation was established in 1963, as Japan NASCAR Corporation. At first, the circuit was planned to hold NASCAR-style races in Japan. Therefore, the track was originally designed to be a 4 km (2.5 mi) high-banked superspeedway, but there was not enough money to complete the project and thus only one of the bankings was ever designed. Mitsubishi Estate Co. invested in the circuit and took over the reins of management in October 1965.

Track Design

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Top speed 250km/hr? 45 degreee bank. Number of lanes? Dimensions?

Records set on the Yatabe Test Track

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  • October 1966: the Toyota 2000GT Prototype ran an FIA sanctioned speed trial at the Yatabe test track, breaking sixteen international endurance and speed records by running the car for over two days without stopping. Toyota and the four test drivers (Shinonome Hosoya, Hiroshi Fushida, Mitsuo Tamura, and Sachio Fukuzawa) then held records with this car in the 6 hours, 12 hours, 24hours, 48hours, and 72 hours endurance classes.[1]
  • October 6th, 1967: the Prince R380 in it's modified Mk2 form driven by T. Yokoyama set 7 international speed records at the Yatabe test track, collecting FIA approved record speeds in the 50km, 50 miles, 100km, 100 miles, 200km, 200 miles, 1 hour categories of 250 to 256 km/h average.[2]

Association with Street Racing

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File:Https://66.media.tumblr.com/25ee10e7b5c345fe3764b9e335c5f555/tumblr oxjjy0Mf3t1w60h9jo1 500.jpg
Fuji Speedway former layouts: Red 1965–1974, Blue 1975–1985, Green 1986–2004
The abandoned "30° Bank" of the old track
File:Yoshida Specials 930 test run.jpg
The "Blackbird" Yoshida Specials 930 during a top speed test in 1995.

[3]

The track became popular with the Japanese tuning scene in the late 80s and was most famous for its use by the legendary Mid Night Club hashirya street racing team, who took regular track days at the proving grounds to test the top speeds and endurance of their cars. The most famous car at this time was the Yoshida Specials 930, a heavily modified Porsche 930 Turbo which held an unbeaten speed record within the team.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).</ref> This team would be the inspiration for the popular Wangan Midnight anime and Midnight Club driving game series.

At this time, many tuning groups commonly met at the track, including Top Secret,

2005 Demolition Commemoration and Replacement

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In 2007 the Yatabe course was demolished, and the land was redeveloped, with a replacement proving grounds built by JARI nearby, also in Ibaraki Prefecture.

A short section, about two car lengths, was preserved at the south extreme of the track where it traveled east-west at the bottom of the south corner. This section can be found labeled as "旧谷田部45度バンク" at 2 Chome-8-5 Gakuenminami, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0818, Japan. It is difficult to see from the road but can easily be seen from above, next to a pair of tennis courts.

Rebuilt grandstand in the 2000s

Use in Research

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Records

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Main gate of the circuit
Mount Fuji
Category Record Driver Car Date
1975–1985[4]
WSC 1:10.02 Germany Stefan Bellof Porsche 956 October 1, 1983
Formula One 1:12.23 United States Mario Andretti Lotus 78-Ford October 22, 1977
Formula Two 1:12.62 United Kingdom Geoff Lees March 832-Honda/Mugen August 14, 1983
1986–1992[5]
JSPC 1:14.088 Japan Kazuyoshi Hoshino Nissan R92CP May 2, 1992
Formula Two 1:18.31 Japan Satoru Nakajima March 842-Honda/Mugen April 15, 1984
Fuji Grand Champion Series 1:21.800 Japan Masanori Sekiya March 89GC Mugen October 29, 1989
AJTCC 1:32.867 Sweden Anders Olofsson Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R November 8, 1992[6]
WTCC 1:39.249 West Germany Klaus Ludwig Ford Sierra RS500 November 15, 1987
1993–2004[5]
Formula 3000 1:14.854 Japan Takuya Kurosawa Lola T92/50 April 10, 1993
Formula Nippon 1:15.304 Japan Kazuyoshi Hoshino Lola T96/52 October 19, 1996
Le Mans Prototype 1:16.349 Japan Ukyo Katayama Toyota GT-One TS020 November 6, 1999
JGTC (GT500) 1:23.886 Japan Yuji Tachikawa Toyota Supra May 3, 2003
Formula Three 1:26.344 Japan Tatsuya Kataoka Dallara F302 Toyota April 6, 2003
JTCC (Group A) 1:31.131 Japan Kazuyoshi Hoshino Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 October 31, 1993
JGTC (GT300) 1:31.356 Japan Ichijo Suga Mosler MT900R May 3, 2003
JTCC (Super Touring) 1:33.035 Japan Naoki Hattori Honda Accord November 1, 1997
Super Taikyu 1:35.173 Japan Shunji Kasuya Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 November 7, 1998
2005–present[7]
Formula One 1:18.426 Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari F2008 October 12, 2008
Super Formula 1:21.554 Germany André Lotterer Dallara SF14 Toyota March 19, 2014
Le Mans Prototype 1 1:22.763 Australia Mark Webber Porsche 919 Hybrid October 10, 2015
Super GT (GT500) 1:26.871 Italy Ronnie Quintarelli Nissan GT-R May 3, 2019[8]
Le Mans Prototype 2 1:28.906 United Kingdom Anthony Davidson Oreca 07 October 13, 2018
JLMC (LMP1) 1:33.117 Japan Shinsuke Yamazaki June 2, 2007
Formula Three 1:33.451 Japan Takuto Iguchi Dallara F308-TOM'S F308 April 4, 2009
Super GT (GT300) 1'35.707 Japan Takashi Kobayashi BMW M6 GT3 May 3, 2016[9]
LM GTE 1:37.681 France Olivier Pla Ford GT October 15, 2016
Super Taikyu (ST-X) 1:40.354 Japan Kazuki Hoshino Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 July 26, 2014

Other Oval High Speed Test Tracks

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  • Nardo Ring, Nardo Italy
  • Autodromo de Sitges-Terramar, Spain
  • Idiada proving ground, Spain
  • Brooklands Race Track, United Kingdom
  • Contidrom proving grounds, Hanover Germany

Notes

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  1. ^ {cite web |last1=Alvendia |first1=Antonio |title=Car Feature>> Yatabe Toyota 2000gt |url=http://www.speedhunters.com/2009/02/feature_car_gt_gt_toyota_2000gt/ |website=Speedhunters |accessdate=8 July 2020}}
  2. ^ "Short Story: The R380's international speed records". Nissan Global. Nissan Motor Corp. Retrieved July 8, 2020. {{cite web}}: horizontal tab character in |title= at position 15 (help)
  3. ^ https://thefiscoproject.tumblr.com/post/166207714911. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ After abolishing the high-banking in 1974
  5. ^ a b The chicanes were added in 1984 and 1987.
  6. ^ "1992 AJTCC – round 8". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
  7. ^ Reprofiled by Hermann Tilke in 2003
  8. ^ https://supergt.net/results/index/2019/Round2/3/gt500
  9. ^ https://supergt.net/results/index/2016/Round2/3/gt300
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Category:Motorsport venues in Shizuoka Prefecture Category:Formula One circuits Category:Grand Prix motorcycle circuits Category:Japanese Grand Prix Category:Tourist attractions in Shizuoka Prefecture Category:Mount Fuji Category:Sports venues in Shizuoka Prefecture Category:World Touring Car Championship circuits Category:Venues of the 2020 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic cycling venues Category:Oyama, Shizuoka