Track Week: Tsukuba Circuit

It’s our first installment of “Track Week” here at mentalgarage.com.  If you couldn’t tell, as I type this I have a really itchy right foot.  For our first installment we cross the pacific to Tsukuba Circuit.

Tsukuba is probably best known to internet junkies as the home of the Best Motoring Lap Battles rampantly found on YouTube.  Aside from giving us state-siders some JDM carpr0n, it also hosts many local “tuner” events such as Time Attack and Drift.  In fact, Keiichi “Dorifto/Drift King” Tsuchiya holds the track record, but I have a feeling he was doing so with more “grip” than “slip”.

Tsukuba Circuit is part of the larger Japan Auto Sports Center (the Tsukuba web address is jasc.or.jp), in Shimotsuma, Japan, just outside of Tsukuba.  Time Attack and Drifting are a legacy of the original intention of the circuit, which was to attract a younger generation to motorsports.  Today, the circuit also hosts events for the Japanese superbike and touring car championships.

From the map you will notice a smaller 1km gymkhana track just to the east of the 2km main track. If only Infineon Raceway had one of those to host our local SCCA events. Aside from racing duties, Tsukuba also serves as a test track to Japanese OEMs. In fact, Honda seems to have built a Tsukuba replica in Ohio!

contact@eqwitty.com | published August 10, 2009 | filed in drives | no comments »