Toyota eyes F1 race after buying Japanese circuit

Toyota eyes F1 race after buying Japanese circuit

TOKYO (AFP): Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it was buying
one of Japan's largest racing circuits in a bid to break rival
Honda Motor Co. Ltd.'s grip on Formula One in Japan.

Japan's largest automaker said it had agreed to purchase 49
percent of Fuji International Speedway Co. Ltd. for 2.5 billion
yen (US$23 million) from Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd.

Toyota said its stake would rise to 67 percent after a planned
share placement by Fuji International by the end of this year,
and would send Hisamitsu Shimada, 57, as the circuit's new
president.

Mitsubishi Estate currently holds 80 percent and general
contractor Taisei Corp. 20 percent of the race circuit, which
lies 120 kilometers southwest of Tokyo.

Toyota will spend 10 billion yen to renovate facilities at the
loss-making circuit by the end of 2004 to gear it up for Formula
One, Toyota president Fujio Cho told a news conference.

"Along with our young technicians, we have been thinking for a
long time that we want to take part in motor sports and captivate
young people's imaginations," he said.

The circuit, which stages the Formula Nippon championship, has
been losing money for six years because of a rapid fall in
visitor numbers, and expects to post a loss of 300 million yen
this fiscal year.

Seizing Formula One hosting rights from Honda would give the
circuit and Toyota a massive boost, said Toyota vice president
Shinichi Kato.

"The most amicable solution would be for two Grand Prix races
to be held in Japan, but that's up to the International
Automobile Federation (FIA)," he said. Japan used to host its own
and a Pacific Grand Prix.

"We cannot say when we'll be able to stage an F1 race at the
Fuji Speedway, but I hope we can stage one as soon as possible
after we make the circuit ready in 2004," Kato said.

Toyota will upgrade the track and enlarge the circuit's
paddock to F1 specifications in a bid to win FIA approval, he
said.

Honda and Toyota will intensify their motor sports rivalry in
2002 when Toyota makes its F1 debut as a full works team, with
Finland's Mika Salo as its lead driver.

Toyota's F1 entry was originally scheduled for 2001, but in
June it announced a 12-month delay and so forfeited a
1.3-billion-yen deposit.

Honda has its own circuits at Suzuka, 300 kilometers southwest
of Tokyo, which has the rights to stage the Japanese Grand Prix
until 2007, and at Twin Ring Motegi, 100 kilometers north of
Tokyo.

Honda, which quit F1 racing in 1992 after eight successful
years as an engine supplier, made a comeback this season with an
engine for former world champion Jacques Villeneuve's British
American Racing outfit.

The Fuji Speedway opened in 1965 and staged two F1 races in
1976 and 1977. The latter year saw a spectator and steward killed
when a Ferrari driven by Villeneuve's father, Gilles, ploughed
into the crowd following a shunt from Sweden's Ronnie Peterson in
a Tyrrel.