Comments on: Hamilton raves about Suzuka circuit

By: James Allen

James Allen — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 11:36:49 +0000

Not looking great, apparently

By: DAN

DAN — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:11:17 +0000

I meant to say: I saw him.

By: rpaco

rpaco — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 08:02:27 +0000

Baseball, is that the one that’s like rounders?
(only player by junior school children as a rule)

By: DAN

DAN — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 07:19:59 +0000

If my memory serves me well my favorite Japanese driver Takuma Sato is also quite knowledgeable about F1′s history.
I was him a few time at Goodwood’s FoS and you could see he enjoyed being there big time.

James I saw on the formula1.com photo gallery that Taku is in Suzuka, please if you have a chance ask him what his prospects are for next year, ta!

By: john g

john g — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:42:20 +0000

yeah they do make it known when they don’t enjoy a circuit. one that sticks out in my mind was webber again, saying the design of Fuji must have been on mushrooms!

By: john g

john g — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:38:00 +0000

the japanese fans are amongst the best i’ve ever seen. you don’t get many venues where they are still in the grandstands until 8 or 9 watching the teams work – on a thursday (so not even any action on track!!)

By: john g

john g — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:36:24 +0000

eh? who mentioned legard. i (and i reckon a lot of others) try not to think about him too much… spoils a nice day.

By: Peter G

Peter G — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:35:09 +0000

I was there shooting in 1994. Yes, I agree with you. Damon drove briliantly that day. Still have a nice 12″ x 15″ Ciba chrome of him in the wet. ( and its not for sale) Funny, 1993 was wet when Senna won, and 1994 as well. Both were interesting races, but, Suzuka in the wet is no fun for photography. Nice shots of course, but, dragging camera gear around there is hard work.

By: Peter G

Peter G — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:27:21 +0000

Asahi ” Super Dry ” Only beer worth drinking…ever. Then Kirin, then Sapporo.

I agree with Monktonnik. Can’t handle Japanese food, even after living there for 5 years..

By: Martin

Martin — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:12:59 +0000

The pole position wasn’t moved. Senna was annoyed at the failure to move it. Up to that point pole had the inside line to the corner at most tracks. There were a few races that year that had pole on the outside, but in all three prior years at Suzuka pole was on the inside.

89 was a case of Senna diving up the inside in a move that would have led to a slow exit from the chicane. Prost raced through the turbo era where passes could be made on the straight, so this probably led to his feeling that Senna’s driving (often necessary these days to pass) was a bit uncouth. Senna needed to pass to stay in the championship and the collision was more like Schumacher and Villeneuve in 97.

I’m not sure who fondly remembers a guy ramming into the back of an opponent to stop the other guy winning. The consensus at the time was that the Ferrari was a better race car at Suzuka after winning at Estoril and Jerez, with Honda power (and Senna) making the difference in qualifying. We might fondly remember Senna’s emotional commitment to racing, but I think we would have preferred to see a race to the end.

The reference to side-by-side is a bit marginal too. From the five photos in Autocourse Senna gets as far as having his front wing inline with Prost’s rear wheel. Senna’s left front tyre broke the rear wing off Prost’s car.

89 was a petulant reaction by Prost to a bold or desperate overtaking move. 89 was probably the only thing that saved Senna in 90 as in my opinion there zero chance to pass into a near non-existent braking zone. At the time there was outrage, but it is sport, not war, and people do relax. To whom does it really that Senna rather than Prost won in 1990 now? For some Senna would still be the best ever. Gilles Villeneuve gets a glowing reputation for winning six races and finishing second to Jody Scheckter in equal cars… (and being 11s a lap faster in a wet practice session that no-one else cared about at the time).

And then there’s fans and Lewis vs Fernando…