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Yatabe Test Track
Location	2530 Karima, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0822, Japan
Time zone	GMT +9
1st and only configuration (1964–present)
Length	9.8 km (6 miles)
Turns	2
Race lap record	1:18.426 ( Felipe Massa, Ferrari F2008, 2008)

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

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

1961: JARI Founded in Yatabe Japan

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

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

Records set on the Yatabe Test Track

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

File:Https://66.media.tumblr.com/25ee10e7b5c345fe3764b9e335c5f555/tumblr oxjjy0Mf3t1w60h9jo1 500.jpg

Fuji Speedway former layouts: Red 1965–1974, Blue 1975–1985, Green 1986–2004

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

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.

Use in Research

Records

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