NISMO Festival Proves Its Appeal as 32,000 Fans Celebrate at Fuji Speedway
Fuji Speedway, December 1: Perfect weather, racing heroes everywhere you look (both machine- and human-based); history, success, titles, wins, thrills and spills - all this and so much more was in clear evidence at this year's NISMO Festival, where, after a one-year hiatus (while NISMO relocated to a brand new HQ in Yokohama), the granddaddy of the post-season manufacturer-based motorsports festivals was back. And how!
Broadening international exposure of all the top motorsport events in Japan

Fuji Speedway, November 24: The fourth running of the post-season FUJI SPRINT CUP (official name: JAF Grand Prix SUPER GT & SUPER FORMULA “FUJI SPRINT CUP 2013") saw a bumper crowd of over 70,100 fans descend on Fuji Speedway over the November 22-24 weekend.
Twin Ring Motegi, November 3: The season-ending round of SUPER GT, in the final year of the current-spec cars, was every bit as exciting as one could possibly expect. In qualifying, the resurgent Honda teams made their mark at home among the dominant SC430 entries, and in the race, it became a Lexus fest as no fewer than five SC430s finished among the top six.
Twin Ring Motegi, November 3: Milestones were plenty at Motegi as the GT300 class saw the #61 SUBARU BRZ R&D SPORT take a record fifth pole position of the season on Saturday, while the title-winning #16 Honda CR-Z GT also created a precedent; earning the first-ever title for a hybrid machine in the series with its second-place result in the race.
Kanto Plain, October 21: Japan's premiere historic rally, La Festa Mille Miglia has a more familiar ring to it in this, its seventeenth year, as the original event moniker is once again adopted after two years under the La Festa Autunno banner.
Fuji Speedway, September 8: After setting the pace in the early stages of the FUJI GT 300km RACE, the #38 ZENT Cerumo SC430 fought back to take a commanding victory after 66 laps around the track situated at the base of Japan's most enduring symbol.
Fuji Speedway, September 7: At their home circuit, the Lexus teams were always expected to perform well (not least because the marque locked out the top four positions in the 500km race here in May), and for their fans, they didn't disappoint. Leading the charge, the ZENT CERUMO SC430 beat the identical KeePer TOM'S machine by nearly three tenths, with the winners of the last round, the Weider Modulo HSV, taking third.
SUBARU BRZ Takes First Win in GT300
Suzuka Circuit, August 17: Qualifying for the longest race of the SUPER GT season, the "42nd International Pokka Sapporo 1000km" was held in typically scorching August conditions as a field of 38 cars jockeyed for grid positions. Topping the timesheets, the #23 MOTUL AUTECH GT-R took its second pole of the season, with the #18 Weider Modulo HSV-010 GT just two tenths behind, and the #36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430 in third.
Suzuka Circuit, August 16: A milestone was reached today at Suzuka Circuit when all three manufacturers' new-for-2014 challengers were unveiled to the media and the public, ahead of demonstration runs of the cars on track. Apart from engines, the new cars share the same Technical Regulations as the DTM (Deutsche Tourwagen Masters) and are a marked departure from the current machines competing in SUPER GT.
Fuji Speedway, August 6: Members of the Nissan Global Driver Exchange programme, British drivers Alex Buncombe and Jann Mardenborough both had their Fuji Speedway christenings on August 6th when they got behind the wheel of the S Road NDDP (Nissan Driver Development Program) Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3.
Inje Circuit, Korea, August 4: Asian motorsport history was made on August 4th as the inaugural Asian Le Mans Series event kicked off with the 3 Hours of Inje in Korea. The new series is open to cars contesting the LM P2, LM PC, GTE, GTC and GTC Am classes, with entrants taking to the brand new 4.2-kilometre track north of Seoul for the first time on Friday.
Sportsland SUGO, July 28: Known for always producing an exciting race, this year's SUPER GT event in Japan's northeast lived up to its reputaton - and then some. With just 10 laps remaining in the 81-lap race, the top four cars all went out, mostly due to some very aggressive driving, plus one or two miscalculations.
Sportsland SUGO, July 27: Qualifying for Round 4 of SUPER GT, the 300-km event at Sportsland SUGO, was shrouded in thick fog as unseasonally cool weather kept temperatures down and visibility near nil at the track located on the outskirts of Sendai. With the morning's free practice session stopped no fewer than three times due to the inclement conditions, qualifying was never going to be easy for the competitors as they battled for grid positions.
Suzuka Circuit, July 19-20: Spanish sensation and original GT Academy winner Lucas Ordonez visited the holy grail of circuits for Gran Turismo users, Suzuka Circuit on July 19-20. Having practised the track's lines for years in the virtual world, the young gun got his first taste of the challenging circuit in the real world in the joint SUPER GT test held over two days in mid-July in preparation for the 1,000km event at the track in August where Ordonez will share the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 with regular drivers Kazuki Hoshino and Daiki Sasaki.
Fuji Speedway, July 15: The GT Asia series made its second stop of the season in Japan at Fuji Speedway on July 13-14, and featured a couple of eye-catching McLaren MP4-12Cs at the front of the field for the pair of 50-minute contests, sat alongside an exotic mix of GT3 machinery from Aston Martin (Vantage), Ford (GT), Lamborghini (Gallardo LP560), Porsche (GT3 R), Ferrari (F458) and BMW (Z4 GT3), among others.