Okayama International Circuit

History

The course was opened in 1990 as a private motor racing track for the wealthy. Soon, it hosted its first race, staged by veteran British drivers.

In and , the TI Circuit hosted the Formula One Pacific Grand Prix; both events were won by Michael Schumacher in his early title-winning years. This race made Japan one of only nine countries to ever host more than one Formula One event in the same year (Autopolis was planned to host a second Japanese race in , but it never came to fruition). It was discontinued primarily due to its location in a remote area of the country. The event was also planned to host a race of the 1996 International Touring Car Championship season in August to replace the F1 race, but the race was instead moved to Suzuka Circuit, held in November.

In 1999, defending JGTC GT300 champion Shingo Tachi was killed when he tested a GT500 Toyota Supra after he suffered from a technical failure that prevented him from slowing down for the first turn. Although there was no driver fatality in the JGTC or Super GT race events beforehand, the incident occurred almost a year after Tetsuya Ota's near-fatal, fiery accident at Fuji Speedway.

In March 2003, the Tanaka International Company, parent company of the official circuit owner TI Circuit Company, applied for civil rehabilitation. After the application, Unimat Holding Co., Ltd. announced that it would financially support the TI Circuit Company in keeping the facility open. The company was renamed Okayama International Circuit Co., Ltd. on 1 May 2004, and the circuit was renamed Okayama International Circuit on 1 January 2005.

On 26 October 2008, the circuit hosted a round of the Formula V6 Asia and FIA World Touring Car Championship. The WTCC race was the first FIA world championship race since 1995. However, it was announced on 21 June 2010 that Suzuka Circuit would host the Japan round of the 2011 WTCC season instead of the Okayama International Circuit.

On 3 March 2012, Unimat sold the circuit to Aska Corporation, an auto parts manufacturing company.

Events

; Current

• April: Super GT, Ferrari Challenge Japan
• May: Porsche Carrera Cup Japan
• June: Super Formula Lights, F4 Japanese Championship
• August: GT World Challenge Asia, Japan Cup Series
• September: MFJ Superbikes
• October: Super Taikyu

; Former

• Asian Le Mans Series
  • 1000 km of Okayama (2009)
• Formula BMW Pacific (2009–2010)
• Formula One
  • Pacific Grand Prix (1994–1995)
• Formula Regional Japanese Championship (2020–2025)
• Formula Toyota (2005–2006)
• Formula V6 Asia (2008)
• Japan Le Mans Challenge (2006–2007)
• Japanese Touring Car Championship (1992–1995, 1997–1998)
• Super Formula Championship (2007–2008, 2015–2020)
• TCR Japan Touring Car Series (2019–2020, 2022–2023)
• World Touring Car Championship
  • FIA WTCC Race of Japan (2008–2010)

Lap records

The outright unofficial all-time track record is 1:10.218, set by triple-world champion Ayrton Senna in a Williams FW16, during qualifying for the 1994 Pacific Grand Prix. As of August 2025, the fastest official race lap records at the Okayama International Circuit are listed as:

Notes

References

References

1. {{cite press release. Aska Corporation. (12 March 2012). link
2. "Course guide". Okayama International Circuit website.
3. (17 April 2020). "Why Japan's second F1 race didn't take off".
4. "Remembering Shingo Tachi, 20 Years Later".
5. (21 June 2010). "FIA WTCC TO RACE AT SUZUKA IN 2011". fiawtcc.com.
6. "Okayama International Circuit - Racing Circuits".
7. (27 September 2020). "2020 Super Formula Okayama Race Statistics".
8. (8 June 2008). "2008 TI-Aida Formula Nippon".
9. (8 April 2018). "2018 Super GT Round 1 Okayama GT500 Results".
10. (1 November 2009). "Asian Le Mans Series Okayama, Japan 30 October–1 November 2009". [[Asian Le Mans Series]].
11. (22 October 2006). "Okayama 1000 Kilometres 2006".
12. (2 April 2017). "2017 Okayama Japanese F3 - Round 2".
13. (25 September 2022). "2022 Okayama Super Formula Lights Race 2 Statistics".
14. (9 April 2017). "2018 Super GT Round 3 Suzuka GT300 Results".
15. (25 May 2025). "2025 Formula Regional Japanese Championship Round 1 - Race 3 - Results".
16. (1 October 2017). "2017 MFJ All Japan Road Race Championship - Superbike Race in Okayama - JSB1000 - Race Final Result".
17. (30 August 2025). "2025 GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS - Race 1 - Round 9 - Classification - Final".
18. (17 April 2022). "2022 Okayama GT 300 km Race - Porsche Carrera Cup Japan 2022 - Final Result Round 2".
19. (25 October 2008). "2008 Okayama Formula V6 Asia - Race 1 - Official Classification".
20. (9 August 2025). "2025 Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Japan - Okayama - Round 5 - Race 1 Group A - Official Classification".
21. (8 April 2017). "2017 Okayama GT300 Race - FIA F4 - Race 1".
22. (1 October 2017). "2017 MFJ All Japan Road Race Championship - Superbike Race in Okayama - ST600 - Race Final Result".
23. (18 June 2005). "Super F3 Race in Okayama 2005 - ESSO Formula Toyota Series Round 4".
24. (30 March 2003). "GT Aida 2003".
25. (31 October 2009). "2009 Okayama - Formula BMW Pacific - Race 1 Result".
26. (8 August 1993). "1993 TI Circuit Aida Group A 300 Km Race".
27. (10 June 2023). "2023 Okayama TCR Japan Race 1 Results".
28. (24 August 2024). "2024 Japan Cup - Race 1 - Round 7 - Classification - Final".
29. (11 May 1997). "1997 TI Super Touring Car Race JTCC Round 4 Results".
30. (26 October 2008). "WTCC 2008 » Okayama Round 22 Results".
31. (29 September 2024). "2024 All Japan Road Race Championship - Superbike Race in Okayama - JSB1000 Supported by ETS Racing Fuels - Race 2 Result".
32. (24 September 2023). "2023 All Japan Road Race Championship - Superbike Race in Okayama - ST600 Supported by Bridgestone - Race Result".
33. (29 September 2024). "2023 All Japan Road Race Championship - Superbike Race in Okayama - J-GP3 - Race Result".