With the unsurprising announcement of the withdrawal of Toyota from Formula 1 effective immediately, along with the confirmation of Bridgestone of their withdrawal from 2010 onwards, it seems the bleak picture I painted towards the end 2008 of a mass withdrawal of Japanese interest in worldwide top flight motor sports has been finally realized.
Japanese motor racing fans currently have very little to cheer about on an international scale. Toyota has now followed Honda’s lead in withdrawing from Formula 1, Subaru and Suzuki no longer grace the World Rally Championship, and Kawasaki took its own hibernation from Moto GP also, save for providing a bike for Marco Melandri. Kazuki Nakajima and Kamui Kobayashi have now joined the jobless Japanese Formula 1 driver’s queue, which already has claimed the popular Sakon Yamamoto and Japan’s most successful F1 driver Takuma Sato.
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Despite setting the fastest time in the qualifying, the Honda NSX driven by Yuji Ide won't be on pole for round six of the 2008 Autobacs SUPER GT, the 37th International Pokka 1000Km at Suzuka. Pole position for the race has instead been awarded to the second fastest qualifier, the Nissan GT-R of Krumm/Yanagidaand D.Schwager.
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Thursday, November 5, 2009
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