Pacific Grand Prix
Encyclopedia
The Pacific Grand Prix was a round of the Formula One
World Championship twice in the mid-1990s. Both races were held at the Tanaka International Aida circuit (now Okayama International Circuit), a slow, twisty 2.3-mile track deep in the countryside in Aida
(near Kobe), Japan
. Following the 1995 Kobe earthquake
, the Pacific Grand Prix was moved from early in the calendar to the end.
The Pacific Grand Prix has also been held at Laguna Seca
from 1960 through 1963, but these events were non-Championship.
The inaugural Championship race in 1994
saw Michael Schumacher
take an easy victory after Ayrton Senna
was involved in a first corner accident with Mika Häkkinen
and Nicola Larini
. Schumacher overtook Senna into the first corner and was never threatened for the lead from that point onward. Schumacher could have lapped second placed Gerhard Berger in the last third of the race, but chose not to. The fastest lap was set on lap 3. The race was notable for the Jordan team and Rubens Barrichello's first podium finishes in F1 with third place. The more recent Pacific Grand Prix in 1995
was a more eventful affair, with some close racing throughout the field. The race culminated in a tactical victory for Michael Schumacher
, securing his second World Championship, and making him the youngest double World Champion at the time. Fernando Alonso
surpassed Schumacher's record by winning his second World Championship in 2006.
This race made Japan one of only six countries (the others being Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy and the USA) to ever host more than one Formula One
event in the same year. It was discontinued primarily due to the TI Circuit's location in a remote area of Japan
.
With the announcement that the Japanese Grand Prix
would switch from the Suzuka Circuit
to the Fuji Speedway
from 2007, there had been media speculation that Suzuka may retain a race under a resurrection of the Pacific Grand Prix title. However, it was later announced that the Japanese Grand Prix would alternate between Fuji and Suzuka from 2009 onward although the alternation was cancelled as Toyota, the current Fuji Speedway owner discontinued further F1 races at Fuji.
Pacific Grand Prix 1994
Marlboro Pacific Grand Prix 1995
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
World Championship twice in the mid-1990s. Both races were held at the Tanaka International Aida circuit (now Okayama International Circuit), a slow, twisty 2.3-mile track deep in the countryside in Aida
Aida, Okayama
was a town located in Aida District, Okayama, Japan.On March 31, 2005 Aida was merged with the towns of Mimasaka, Ōhara and Sakutō, the village of Higashiawakura, all from Aida District, and the town of Katsuta, from Katsuta District, to form the new city of Mimasaka.As of 2003, the town had an...
(near Kobe), 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...
. Following the 1995 Kobe earthquake
Great Hanshin earthquake
The Great Hanshin earthquake, or Kobe earthquake, was an earthquake that occurred on Tuesday, January 17, 1995, at 05:46 JST in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It measured 6.8 on the moment magnitude scale , and Mj7.3 on JMA magnitude scale. The tremors lasted for approximately 20...
, the Pacific Grand Prix was moved from early in the calendar to the end.
The Pacific Grand Prix has also been held at Laguna Seca
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a paved road racing track used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, originally constructed in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, USA....
from 1960 through 1963, but these events were non-Championship.
The inaugural Championship race in 1994
1994 Pacific Grand Prix
The 1994 Pacific Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on April 17, 1994 at the TI Circuit, Aida. It was the second race of the 1994 Formula One season. Ayrton Senna started the race from his 64th pole position, but was overtaken by Schumacher before the first corner and was hit by Mika...
saw Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
take an easy victory after Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
was involved in a first corner accident with Mika Häkkinen
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion...
and Nicola Larini
Nicola Larini
Nicola Larini is a racing driver from Italy. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on September 6, 1987. He finished second in the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix on a substitute outing for Ferrari, but only scored points once more in his career...
. Schumacher overtook Senna into the first corner and was never threatened for the lead from that point onward. Schumacher could have lapped second placed Gerhard Berger in the last third of the race, but chose not to. The fastest lap was set on lap 3. The race was notable for the Jordan team and Rubens Barrichello's first podium finishes in F1 with third place. The more recent Pacific Grand Prix in 1995
1995 Pacific Grand Prix
The 1995 Pacific Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 22, 1995 at the TI Circuit, Aida, Japan. It was the fifteenth round of the 1995 Formula One season. The race, contested over 83 laps, was won by Michael Schumacher for the Benetton team after starting from third...
was a more eventful affair, with some close racing throughout the field. The race culminated in a tactical victory for Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
, securing his second World Championship, and making him the youngest double World Champion at the time. Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
surpassed Schumacher's record by winning his second World Championship in 2006.
This race made Japan one of only six countries (the others being Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy and the USA) to ever host more than one Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
event in the same year. It was discontinued primarily due to the TI Circuit's location in a remote area of 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...
.
With the announcement that the Japanese Grand Prix
Japanese Grand Prix
The is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Traditionally one of the last, if not the last race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix has been the venue for many title-deciding races, with 13 World Champions being crowned over the 27 World Championship Japanese...
would switch from the Suzuka Circuit
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:...
to the 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...
from 2007, there had been media speculation that Suzuka may retain a race under a resurrection of the Pacific Grand Prix title. However, it was later announced that the Japanese Grand Prix would alternate between Fuji and Suzuka from 2009 onward although the alternation was cancelled as Toyota, the current Fuji Speedway owner discontinued further F1 races at Fuji.
Sponsors
Foster'sFoster's Lager
Foster's Lager is an internationally distributed Australian brand of 5.0% abv pale lager, It is a product of Foster's Group brewed under licence in several countries, including the U.S. and Russia...
Pacific Grand Prix 1994
Marlboro Pacific Grand Prix 1995
Winners of the Pacific Grand Prix
A pink background indicates an event which was not part of the Formula One World Championship.| Year | Driver | Constructor | Location | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 1995 Formula One season The 1995 Formula One season was the 46th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship, which was contested over 17 races from March 26 to November 12, 1995. For the second year in succession, the Drivers' Championship was won by Michael Schumacher,... |
 Michael SchumacherMichael Schumacher Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time... |
Benetton Benetton Formula Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for... -Renault Renault F1 Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking... |
TI Circuit TI Circuit The Okayama International Circuit is a private motorsport race track in Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. TI is abbreviation of "Tanaka International" after the name of the holding company, though the name of the circuit was officially "TI Circuit Aida".The course was built in 1992 as a... |
Report 1995 Pacific Grand Prix The 1995 Pacific Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 22, 1995 at the TI Circuit, Aida, Japan. It was the fifteenth round of the 1995 Formula One season. The race, contested over 83 laps, was won by Michael Schumacher for the Benetton team after starting from third... |
| 1994 1994 Formula One season The 1994 Formula One season was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 27, 1994, and ended on November 13 after sixteen races. The season is remembered as one of the most tragic and controversial seasons in... |
Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time... |
Benetton Benetton Formula Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for... -Ford 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... |
TI Circuit TI Circuit The Okayama International Circuit is a private motorsport race track in Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. TI is abbreviation of "Tanaka International" after the name of the holding company, though the name of the circuit was officially "TI Circuit Aida".The course was built in 1992 as a... |
Report 1994 Pacific Grand Prix The 1994 Pacific Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on April 17, 1994 at the TI Circuit, Aida. It was the second race of the 1994 Formula One season. Ayrton Senna started the race from his 64th pole position, but was overtaken by Schumacher before the first corner and was hit by Mika... |
| 1993 - 1964 |
Not held | |||
| 1963 |  Dave MacDonaldDave MacDonald David George MacDonald was an American road racing champion noted for his successes driving Corvettes and Shelby Cobras in the early 1960s. His promising career ended abruptly after a crash in the 1964 Indianapolis 500 in which he was one of two drivers killed in a fiery inferno that directly led... |
Cooper Cooper Car Company The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946... -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... |
Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a paved road racing track used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, originally constructed in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, USA.... |
Report |
| 1962 | Roger Penske Roger Penske Roger S. Penske is the owner of the automobile racing team Penske Racing, the Penske Corporation, and other automotive related businesses. A winning racer in the late 1950s, Penske was named 1961's Sports Car Club of America Driver of the Year by Sports Illustrated... |
Zerex Special–Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H... |
Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a paved road racing track used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, originally constructed in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, USA.... |
Report |
| 1961 | Stirling Moss Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England... |
Lotus Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing... -Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H... |
Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a paved road racing track used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, originally constructed in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, USA.... |
Report |
| 1960 | Stirling Moss Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England... |
Lotus Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing... -Climax Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H... |
Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a paved road racing track used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, originally constructed in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, USA.... |
Report |