The Indy Japan 300 presented by Bridgestone is an Indy Racing League IndyCar Series race held at Twin Ring Motegi

Twin Ring Motegi

is an automobile racing track located at Motegi, Japan. Its name comes from the facility having two race tracks: a oval and a road course. It was built in 1997 by Honda, as part of Honda's effort to bring the IndyCar Series to Japan, helping to increase their knowledge of American open-wheel...

 in Motegi, Japan. The 2008 race marked the historic first ever win for a woman driver in American open wheel racing when Danica Patrick

Danica Patrick

Danica Sue Patrick is an American auto racing driver, model and advertising spokeswoman. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing, being the only woman to win in the IndyCar Series as well as holding the highest finish by a woman at the Indianapolis 500 of 3rd...

 of Andretti-Green Racing took the checkered flag.

The first American open-wheel race in Japan was held in 1966 at Fuji Speedway

Fuji Speedway

is a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s and hosted the first Formula One race in Japan in 1976. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing...

. Jackie Stewart

Jackie Stewart

Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am...

 won the Fuji Japan 200, which was held as an exhibition race, and no championship points were awarded. USAC did not return.

For a short period in the late 1980s and early 1990s the CART

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

 series explored the prospects of holding a race in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Possible locations would be either Suzuka

Suzuka Circuit

, Suzuka Circuit for short, is a motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Mobilityland Corporation, the subsidiary of Honda Motor Co., Ltd..-Introduction:...

, Fuji, or a street course in another city. The FIA

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...

 objected, citing conflicts with Formula One and other interests. In addition, rules were put into place requiring that any CART race outside of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 be held on an oval. Despite the objections, in 1991 CART made their first trip across the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

, and held a street race at Surfer's Paradise, Australia. The plans for a race in Japan were scrapped.

In 1994, Honda joined the CART series, and by 1996, was widely successful. Interest in holding a race in Japan resurfaced, and upon the completion of the Twin Ring Motegi oval, a race was first held in 1998 without FIA objection. The race continued as a Champ Car

Champ Car

Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...

 event through 2002. In 2003, Honda switched alliances to the Indy Racing League, and the race became an Indycar Series event. On February 9, 2011, it was announced that the series would not return to Motegi for the 2012 season

2012 IndyCar Series season

The 2012 Izod IndyCar Series season will be the 101st season of American open wheel racing. Its premier event will be the 96th Indianapolis 500, scheduled for Sunday, May 27.-The ICONIC Project:...

.

Scheduling

From 2003-2006, the race marked the final IRL race before the Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis 500

The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...

. The extended travel time required typically found the race held the weekend before or after Easter

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

, leaving one or two weeks of travel and rest time until practice began at Indianapolis in early May. This situation was widely unpopular for fans, and for television, because it would leave a large gap in the schedule, and disrupt continuity leading to the series' premier event. In 2007, the race at Kansas Speedway was moved immediately after Motegi, and would serve as a more popular lead-in to the Indianapolis 500.

In 2008, following the open wheel unification, the race served as part of the unique "doubleheader" weekend with the Long Beach Grand Prix

Long Beach Grand Prix

The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is an open-wheel race held on a street circuit in Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder and promoter which began as a vision while working at a travel agency in downtown Long Beach. It was the premier circuit in the Champ Car from 1996, and...

. Existing IRL-regular teams raced at Motegi, and former Champ Car teams raced at Long Beach. For 2009, in an effort to reorganize the IndyCar schedule, the race was moved to September on the Respect-for-the-Aged Day and autumnal equinox public holidays, also kept for 2010.

Following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...

 in Japan, it was announced that the 2011 event will be moved to the 2.98 mile road course (used by MotoGP) due to damage to the oval. The 2011 event will be the final running, a decision made before, and unrelated to, the earthquake/tsunami.

Past results

Season	Date	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine	Team	Report
USAC Championship Car history (Non-championship, Fuji Fuji Speedway is a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s and hosted the first Formula One race in Japan in 1976. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing... )
1966	October 9	Jackie Stewart Jackie Stewart Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am...	Lola	Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...	Mecom Racing Team Mecom Racing Team The Mecom Racing Team was led by John Mecom, Jr. and was active between 1960-1967 in the World Sportscar Championship racing, Formula One, and American Championship Car Racing scenes. The Mecom Racing Team and later the Mecom Group led by John Mecom, Jr., John Mecom III and Stephen Charsley worked...	report
CART Champ Car history
1998 1998 CART World Series Season The 1998 CART season, the twentieth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 19 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 15 and concluding in Fontana, California on November 1. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Alex Zanardi. Rookie of the Year was Tony...	March 28	Adrian Fernández Adrian Fernández José Adrián Fernández Mier is a Mexican racing driver and co-owner of the Fernandez Racing team.-Early career:...	Reynard Reynard Motorsport Reynard Motorsport was at one time the world's largest racing car manufacturer. Initially based at Bicester and latterly at Reynard Park, Brackley, England the company built successful cars in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Vauxhall Lotus, Formula Three, Formula 3000 and Indy...	Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... -Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	Patrick Racing Patrick Racing Patrick Racing was an auto racing team in both Champ Car and the Indy Racing League.Patrick Racing was started by Pat Patrick with the formation of CART in 1978. Patrick Racing would win three Indianapolis 500s and two CART championships, making it one of the most successful CART teams ever.In...	report
1999 1999 CART World Series Season The 1999 CART season, the twenty-first in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 20 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 21 and concluding in Fontana, California on October 31, in which it was marred by the deaths of Greg Moore and of Gonzalo Rodriguez...	April 10	Adrian Fernández Adrian Fernández José Adrián Fernández Mier is a Mexican racing driver and co-owner of the Fernandez Racing team.-Early career:...	Reynard Reynard Motorsport Reynard Motorsport was at one time the world's largest racing car manufacturer. Initially based at Bicester and latterly at Reynard Park, Brackley, England the company built successful cars in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Vauxhall Lotus, Formula Three, Formula 3000 and Indy...	Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... -Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	Patrick Racing Patrick Racing Patrick Racing was an auto racing team in both Champ Car and the Indy Racing League.Patrick Racing was started by Pat Patrick with the formation of CART in 1978. Patrick Racing would win three Indianapolis 500s and two CART championships, making it one of the most successful CART teams ever.In...	report
2000	May 13	Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Michael Mario Andretti is a retired American CART and Formula One driver and owner of the Andretti Autosport team in the IndyCar Series. Andretti is the son of Mario Andretti. His son is Marco Andretti.-Early career:...	Lola	Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... -Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	Newman/Haas Racing	report
2001	May 19	Kenny Bräck Kenny Bräck Kenny Bräck is a race car driver from Sweden. Until his retirement from racing, he competed in the CART, Indy Racing League and the IROC series. He is the winner of the 1999 Indianapolis 500 and the 1998 driving champion of the Indy Racing League. He survived one of the racing sport's biggest...	Lola	Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... -Cosworth Cosworth Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...	Team Rahal	report
2002	April 27	Bruno Junqueira Bruno Junqueira Bruno Junqueira is a Brazilian race car driver that most recently competed in the IRL IndyCar Series. He is a former Formula 3000 champion and three-time runner-up in the Champ Car World Series.-Early career:...	Lola	Toyota	Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series. It is owned by businessmen Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates. They have won 4 Champ Car, 3 Indy Racing League and 1 Grand-Am championships...	report 2002 Bridgestone Potenza 500 The 2002 Bridgestone Potenza 500 was the third round of the 2002 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on April 27, 2002 on the oval at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan.-Qualifying results:- Race :- Caution flags :- Notes :...
IRL IndyCar Series history
2003	April 13	Scott Sharp Scott Sharp Scott Sharp is an American race car driver in the American Le Mans Series. He is the son of six-time SCCA champion Bob Sharp. Scott Sharp is best known for his years as a competitor in the Indy Racing League....	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...	Toyota	Kelley Racing Kelley Racing Kelley Racing is a former Indy Racing League team founded by Fort Wayne, Indiana-based car dealer Tom Kelley that most notably fielded a Delphi sponsored car for Scott Sharp during its entire existence from 1998 to 2004...	report
2004	April 16	Dan Wheldon Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive "Dan" Wheldon was a British racing driver from England. He was the 2005 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series champion, and winner of the Indianapolis 500 in both 2005 and 2011...	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...	Honda Honda is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...	Andretti Green Racing Andretti Green Racing Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, Star Mazda Championship, and U.S. F2000 National Championship.-Current IndyCar Drivers and Cars:*7 Danica Patrick, GoDaddy.com*26 Marco Andretti...	report
2005	April 30	Dan Wheldon Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive "Dan" Wheldon was a British racing driver from England. He was the 2005 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series champion, and winner of the Indianapolis 500 in both 2005 and 2011...	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...	Honda Honda is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...	Andretti Green Racing Andretti Green Racing Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, Star Mazda Championship, and U.S. F2000 National Championship.-Current IndyCar Drivers and Cars:*7 Danica Patrick, GoDaddy.com*26 Marco Andretti...	report
2006	April 22	Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves is a Brazilian auto racing driver currently competing in the North American IndyCar Series. In IndyCar competition, Castroneves has 14 wins and 28 poles, and has never placed lower than sixth in the standings in a complete season of racing...	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...	Honda Honda is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...	Penske Racing Penske Racing Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, and Formula One. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske...	report
2007	April 21	Tony Kanaan Tony Kanaan Antoine Rizkallah Kanaan Filho, commonly known as Tony Kanaan is a Brazilian race car driver of Lebanese heritage. Kanaan won the 2004 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series championship driving Andretti Green Racing's 7-Eleven sponsored car, winning three times in his Honda-powered Dallara...	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...	Honda Honda is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...	Andretti Green Racing Andretti Green Racing Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, Star Mazda Championship, and U.S. F2000 National Championship.-Current IndyCar Drivers and Cars:*7 Danica Patrick, GoDaddy.com*26 Marco Andretti...	report 2007 Indy Japan 300 The 2007 Indy Japan 300 was an IndyCar Series motor race held on April 21, 2007, at the Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi, Japan. It was the third race of the 2007 IndyCar Series season, the fifth annual edition of the Indy Japan 300 in the IndyCar Series, and the tenth anniversary running of the...
2008 2008 IndyCar Series season The 2008 IndyCar Series season was the 13th season of the IndyCar Series. Its premier event was the 92nd Indianapolis 500 on May 25. The first race was held March 29 at Homestead. It was the 97th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing....	April 20	Danica Patrick Danica Patrick Danica Sue Patrick is an American auto racing driver, model and advertising spokeswoman. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel racing, being the only woman to win in the IndyCar Series as well as holding the highest finish by a woman at the Indianapolis 500 of 3rd...	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...	Honda Honda is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...	Andretti Green Racing Andretti Green Racing Andretti Autosport is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, Star Mazda Championship, and U.S. F2000 National Championship.-Current IndyCar Drivers and Cars:*7 Danica Patrick, GoDaddy.com*26 Marco Andretti...	report 2008 Indy Japan 300 The 2008 Indy Japan 300 was the third round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season, for drivers who competed in the series in 2007 and teams that had entered for 2008 who were not former Champ Car teams that were in transition...
2009 2009 IndyCar Series season The 2009 IndyCar Series season was the 14th season of the IndyCar Series. The 17-race season began on April 5, and its premier event, the 93rd Indianapolis 500 was held May 24. All races were broadcast on ABC or Versus in high-definition...	September 19	Scott Dixon Scott Dixon Scott Ronald Dixon, MNZM is a New Zealand motor racer who became the most successful all-time driver in the Indy Racing League championship in the United States when he won the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio in August 2009. This took his total to 21 wins...	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...	Honda Honda is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...	Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series. It is owned by businessmen Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates. They have won 4 Champ Car, 3 Indy Racing League and 1 Grand-Am championships...	report 2009 Indy Japan 300 The 2009 Indy Japan 300 was the sixteenth round of the 2009 IndyCar Series season, and was held on September 19, 2009 at the Twin Ring Motegi, in Motegi, Japan.- Grid :...
2010 2010 IndyCar Series season The 2010 Izod IndyCar Series season was the 15th season of the IndyCar Series, and the 99th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing. It was the series' first of six planned seasons under Izod title sponsorship, a multi-million dollar deal which was announced on November 5, 2009...	September 18	Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves is a Brazilian auto racing driver currently competing in the North American IndyCar Series. In IndyCar competition, Castroneves has 14 wins and 28 poles, and has never placed lower than sixth in the standings in a complete season of racing...	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...	Honda Honda is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...	Penske Racing Penske Racing Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, and Formula One. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske...	report 2010 Indy Japan 300 The 2010 Indy Japan 300 was the eighth running of the Indy Japan 300 and the 16th round of the 2010 IndyCar Series season. It took place on Sunday September 19, 2010. The race was contested over 200 laps at the Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi, Japan...
2011 2011 IndyCar Series season The 2011 Izod IndyCar Series season was the 100th season of American open wheel motor racing. The season consisted of seventeen events over the course of a seven–month season. Its premier event was the 95th Indianapolis 500, run on Sunday, May 29. It was the final season running the IR–05 Dallara...	September 17	Scott Dixon Scott Dixon Scott Ronald Dixon, MNZM is a New Zealand motor racer who became the most successful all-time driver in the Indy Racing League championship in the United States when he won the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio in August 2009. This took his total to 21 wins...	Dallara Dallara Dallara Automobili is an Italian chassis manufacturer for various motor racing series, being most notable for its near-monopoly in Formula 3 since 1993...	Honda Honda is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...	Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series. It is owned by businessmen Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates. They have won 4 Champ Car, 3 Indy Racing League and 1 Grand-Am championships...	report

• Qualifying record: Dan Wheldon
  Dan Wheldon
  Daniel Clive "Dan" Wheldon was a British racing driver from England. He was the 2005 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series champion, and winner of the Indianapolis 500 in both 2005 and 2011...
  
   201.165 mph (323.743 km/h), 2004
• Race record: Dan Wheldon
  Dan Wheldon
  Daniel Clive "Dan" Wheldon was a British racing driver from England. He was the 2005 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series champion, and winner of the Indianapolis 500 in both 2005 and 2011...
  
  166.114 mph (267.334 km/h), 2004
• Note: Because of Open-Wheel Reunification in 2008, the 2008 Indy Japan 300 race was a half-field race. "Transitioning" teams at Long Beach raced for full IRL points despite using the former Champ Car codes.