MAY 2, 2005

Mount Fuji open for action

The Toyota-owned Fuji Speedway will this week host the second round of Japan's Super GT series, the first event at the track after 18 months of refurbishment which is aimed at bringing the Japanese Grand Prix back to the track for the first time since the 1970s.

The track hosted the first ever Formula 1 races in Japan and played an important role in Japanese racing throughout the 1980s and 1990s but was closed in September 2003 to be rebuilt. The work was done for Toyota by F1 track designer Hermann Tilke and the work was completed earlier this year. The track looks very similar to the old layout except for a new complex of corners just before the main straight. What used to be a sweeping uphill right-hander after the old Dunlop chicane is now a completely new three-corner section which slows the approach to the main straigh and at the same time provides some new viewing opportunities for fans.

The GT race takes place on Wednesday, May 4 as this is Japan's annual Golden Week, when the are four national holidays within seven days, one of the country's biggest holiday seasons.