Nakayama Circuit is a 1.247mile (2.007km) circuit in 751 Ohnakayama, Wake-cho, Wake District

Wake District, Okayama

Wake is a district located in Okayama, Japan.As of 2003, the district has an estimated population of 30,110 and a density of 112.02 persons per km². The total area is 268.79 km².-History:...

, Okayama Prefecture

Okayama Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Okayama.- History :During the Meiji Restoration, the area of Okayama Prefecture was known as Bitchū Province, Bizen Province and Mimasaka Province.- Geography :...

 709-0432, West 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...

, 150km west of Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

. Nakayama literally means “inside the mountain” in Japanese stated it is located in the mountains just like other Japanese motor racing tracks. The circuit is part of the quite compactly designed Sanyo Sports Land. The circuit was opened in 1970 and it is the forth permanent motor sport facility in Japan to get full Japan Automobile Federation apprival, after 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:...

, 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...

 and Tsukuba Circuit

Tsukuba Circuit

The Tsukuba Circuit is a motorsport race track located in Shimotsuma, a neighboring city of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is long, has 32 pits and the longest straight is long. There is a small chicane corner that is used for motorcycle racing only and increases the total length to...

. The kart track are within few steps away from the circuit. The back of the circuit grandstand is up against the first hairpin of the kart track.

The circuit

The circuit extended from 1.550km to 2.007km in 1998. It host very ‘grassroots’ level of Japanese race events. It might only appeal the most hardcore of Japanese car enthusiasts. The circuit also isn’t as spectator friendly as some of the newer and larger Japanese circuits. Since the circuit is wedged between the mountains, the pit area and the grandstand area are the two vantage points for spectators. 50% of the track can be seen from both of the vantage points with the opening radius right hander in front of the grandstand and an ideal spot for overtaking at the final hairpin before the main straight.

There is no impact absorbing material or tires added to the edge of the Armco barriers and the state of the barriers all bent and out of shape. At the main straight, there is a 20-foot gap in the barrier halfway down with no impact absorbing material.

Even on a quiet day, the pit area is quite packed by kids running around and between cars. When cars are parked on the both sides of the narrow pit area, it barely allows one car to pass. The access tunnel to the pit area is extremely narrow and low which barely wide enough for trucks to enter.