1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Oyama, Shizuoka
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Oyama is a town located in Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 2014, the town had an population of 19,184. The total area is 135.74 square kilometres, Oyama is located in the far northeastern corner of Shizuoka Prefecture, bordering on Yamanashi and Kanagawa Prefectures. Located in between the Tanzawa Mountains and the foothills of Mount Fuji, the town has an altitude of 800 meters. Some 65% of the town is covered in forest, the area was mostly tenryō territory under direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period. The villages of Rokugo and Suganuma merged to form Oyama on August 1,1912, Oyama annexed neighboring Ashigara on April 1,1955, Kitago Village on August 1,1956 and Subashiri on September 30,1956. The Furusawa District of former Kitago transferred from Oyama to Gotemba on September 1,1957, due to its proximity to the Tokyo metropolitan area, Oyama has a mixed economy of agriculture and light industry. Rice is the agricultural crop. Oyama has five schools, three middle schools and one high school
3.
GMT
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Greenwich Mean Time is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. GMT was formerly used as the civil time standard, now superseded in that function by Coordinated Universal Time. Today GMT is considered equivalent to UTC for UK civil purposes and for navigation is considered equivalent to UT1, consequently, the term GMT should not be used for precise purposes. Due to Earths uneven speed in its orbit and its axial tilt, noon GMT is rarely the exact moment the sun crosses the Greenwich meridian. This event may occur up to 16 minutes before or after noon GMT, noon GMT is the annual average moment of this event, which accounts for the word mean in Greenwich Mean Time. Originally, astronomers considered a GMT day to start at noon while for almost everyone else it started at midnight, to avoid confusion, the name Universal Time was introduced to denote GMT as counted from midnight. Astronomers preferred the old convention to simplify their observational data, so each night was logged under a single calendar date. Today Universal Time usually refers to UTC or UT1, in some countries Greenwich Mean Time is the legal time in the winter and the population uses the term. For an explanation of why this is, see GMT in legislation below, synchronisation of the chronometer on GMT did not affect shipboard time, which was still solar time. Most time zones were based upon GMT, as an offset of a number of hours ahead of GMT or behind GMT and it was gradually adopted for other purposes, but a legal case in 1858 held local mean time to be the official time. On 14 May 1880, a signed by Clerk to Justices appeared in The Times, stating that Greenwich time is now kept almost throughout England. For example, our polling booths were opened, say, at 813 and closed at 413 PM. This was changed later in 1880, GMT was adopted on the Isle of Man in 1883, Jersey in 1898 and Guernsey in 1913. Ireland adopted GMT in 1916, supplanting Dublin Mean Time, hourly time signals from Greenwich Observatory were first broadcast on 5 February 1924, rendering the time ball at the observatory redundant in the process. The daily rotation of the Earth is irregular and constantly slows, on 1 January 1972, GMT was superseded as the international civil time standard by Coordinated Universal Time, maintained by an ensemble of atomic clocks around the world. Indeed, even the Greenwich meridian itself is not quite what it used to be—defined by the centre of the instrument at the Observatory at Greenwich. Nevertheless, the line in the old observatorys courtyard today differs no more than a few metres from that line which is now the prime meridian of the world. Historically GMT has been used two different conventions for numbering hours. The long-standing astronomical convention dating from the work of Ptolemy, was to refer to noon as zero hours and this contrasted with the civil convention of referring to midnight as zero hours dating from the Romans
4.
FIA World Endurance Championship
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For the FIA World Endurance Championship contested from 1981 to 1985, see World Sportscar Championship. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing championship organized by the Automobile Club de lOuest. The World Endurance Championship name was used by the FIA from 1981 to 1985. World champion titles are awarded to the top scoring manufacturers and drivers over the season, while other cups and trophies will be awarded for drivers and private teams. The calendar includes four races in Europe, two in the Americas, two in Asia and one in the Middle East, with a future expansion. Six titles are awarded each season based on total point tally, the GTE Pro class champion are awarded a World Cup, while the leaders in LMP2 and GTE Am are awarded a Trophy. The final Trophy is awarded to the best privateer team amongst all four classes, the points system is similar to that used in the FIAs other world championships, awarding points to the top ten finishers on a sliding point margin scale from first to tenth. Cars finishing the race but classified eleventh or further are awarded a half point, double points are awarded for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. WeatherTech SportsCar Championship European Le Mans Series FIA GT1 World Championship FIA World Endurance Championship Automobile Club de lOuest Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile
5.
6 Hours of Fuji
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The 6 Hours of Fuji is a sports car race held at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan. The race was held for the first time in 1967 and in 1977 became part of the new Fuji Long Distance Series, in 1982 a second 1000 km race known as WEC in Japan was run as a round of the World Sportscar Championship. The All Japan Sports Prototype Championship was formed in 1983, the World Championship left after 1988, but the JSPC carried on both races until 1992. The race was revived in 1999 as an attempt to gauge interest in an Asian Le Mans Series that never materialized, the race was revived again as a part of the short-lived Japan Le Mans Challenge in 2007. The race returned again as part of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship season, NOTE, The 2013 race did not start, all 17 laps were run under the Safety Car. A subsequent rule change was implemented to mandate two green flag laps before a race counted, ^A The 1985 race was stopped after 2 hours due to heavy rain. Most of the international entries withdrew before the race, or in the early laps
6.
Super GT
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Super GT is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Originally titled as the Zen Nihon GT Senshuken, generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship and it is the top level of sports car racing in Japan. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation and sponsored by the GT Association, autobacs has served as the title sponsor of the series since 1998. The prototypes and European GT cars would appear one race to be joined by the IMSA. For the following season, the series would undergo an overhaul, class 1 for cars similar to that of the FIAs GT1 category. The JSS series would altogether dissolve into the latter category, the Group C prototypes, whilst easily showing dominant form, were banished at the end of the 1994 season. This time was an adoption of the newly formed GT500 and GT300 regulation which capped cars depending on weight. After years of successive rules changes, at the same time, however, holding the series in more than three countries violates from the definition of the national championship of FIA. Races are held as part of a yearly series, races take place on well known Japanese race tracks like Twin Ring Motegi, Fuji Speedway, and Suzuka Circuit. The series was expanded to its first international venue in Malaysia, the Malaysian leg of the series, held at Sepang International Circuit was made an official race from 2002 and counted in the points. For the 2011 &2012 Malaysian leg, the organizer is JP Performance Motorsports Sdn. The baton was passed on to JPM to carry the Super GT tradition in Malaysia with hopes of producing an even more electrifying event, races were planned for both Zhuhai International Circuit in 2004 and Shanghai International Circuit in 2005, but both events failed to materialize. Races are held as a long endurance race of 300 km or greater such as 1000km Suzuka event. Through in season 2011, most of the changes into sprints of 250 km due to the aftermath of 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. On 15 December 2011, a deal has been agreed between GT-A and Woo Myung Holdings to host a Super GT race at the Korea International Circuit in Korea in 2013, although the race fell through. On 12 August 2013, GT-A signed a contract with Buriram United International Circuit to host a race at Buriram, the cars are divided into two groups, GT300 and GT500. However, the current generation of GT500 powerplants produce in excess of 600 horsepower, meanwhile, in present-day GT300, the horsepower range varies from around 400 to just over 500 horsepower, however, GT300 cars have far less downforce than their GT500 counterparts. The top class in Super GT, GT500, is dominated by the three largest automakers in Japan - Nissan, Honda, and Toyota
7.
Super Formula Championship
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Super Formula, formerly known as Formula Nippon, is a type of formula racing and the top level of single-seater racing in Japan. Formula Nippon evolved from the Japanese Formula 2000 series begun in 1973 by way of the Japanese Formula Two, for the most part, the Japanese racing series have closely followed their European counterparts in terms of technical regulations, but there have been some important exceptions. In Japan, though touring and sports car racing was popular through the 1960s. Even the Japanese Grand Prix lost its popularity after changing its format from touring/sports car racing to formula car racing in 1971, the series was created based on the European Formula Two Championship. But the JAF approved use of purpose built racing engines was different from the European F2 series which only allowed race engines based on production models. Due to this difference, the series did not fit in with the Formula Two regulations in those days, therefore, the series was renamed Formula 2000, not Formula Two. The revised Formula Two regulation in 1976 removed the restriction about engines which had limited the use of engines based on production models. With this change the reasoning behind the name Formula 2000 disappeared and it led to the series being renamed the All-Japan Formula Two Championship from 1978. When European Formula Two ended in 1984, its Japanese counterpart did not follow suit immediately, the JAF considered starting a new Formula Two series from 1988. However, all entrants ran Formula 3000 cars in 1987, so, the 1987 Formula Two Championship was cancelled due to no entry of any cars for that format. Switching to the open Formula 3000 standard in 1987, the All-Japan Formula 3000 Championship started in 1988, once again, Japanese and European regulations paralleled one another until 1996, when the International Formula 3000 series became a one-make format to lower costs. Thanks to the economy and Formula One-fad in Japan, the series had many entrants. It attracted many promising young drivers outside of Japan to compete in the series, inevitably, the end of such phenomena led to the decline of the series. In the mid-1990s, the Japanese Formula broke away, changing the form of the series to Formula Nippon, the new Japan Race Promotion, formed by Fuji Television, became the promoter with the recognition of the series by the JAF as the Authority Sport Nationale of Japan. In the 2000s, sports car racing became popular in Japan. The 2006 season got off to one of the strangest starts in motorsport history, because of heavy rain, the opener at Fuji was called off after two safety car laps, and Benoît Tréluyer was awarded the win with half points awarded. Until 2002, Formula Nippon was a formula, where a variety of chassis builders. Chassis were supplied by Lola, Reynard, and G-Force, while Mugen-Honda supplied the vast majority of the engines
8.
Japanese Grand Prix
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The Japanese Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The first two Japanese Grands Prix in 1976 and 1977 were held at the Fuji Speedway, before Japan was taken off the calendar. It returned in 1987 at Suzuka, which hosted the Grand Prix exclusively for 20 years and gained a reputation as one of the most challenging F1 circuits. In 1994 and 1995, Japan also hosted the Pacific Grand Prix at the TI Circuit, in 2007 the Grand Prix moved back to the newly redesigned Fuji Speedway. Suzuka has hosted the Japanese Grand Prix every year since 2009, the first Japanese Grand Prix was run as a non-championship Formula 1 race at the Suzuka Circuit 80 kilometres south west of Nagoya in May 1963. This marked the beginning of motor racing in earnest in Japan, for the next 11 years, however, the non-championship Grand Prix was run at the Fuji Speedway,40 miles west of Yokohama and 66 miles west of the Japanese capital of Tokyo. The circuit had a corner called Daiichi and was the scene of many fatal accidents. It was then run as a number of disciplines of motorsports, particularly Formula 2, sports cars, the first Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix, in 1976, was held at the very fast 2.7 mile Fuji Speedway, minus the banking. The race was to become famous for the decider between James Hunt and Niki Lauda as it was held during monsoon conditions. American Mario Andretti won the race in his 2nd career win, on Formula 1s return to Japan in 1987, the Grand Prix found a new venue at the redesigned and revamped Suzuka Circuit. The circuit, set inside a funfair, was designed by Dutchman John Hugenholtz and owned by Honda, most notable initially for its layout—Suzuka is the only figure-eight race track to appear on the F1 calendar. The demanding and fast Japanese circuit became popular among drivers and fans. The first event in 1987 was already a classic, austrian Gerhard Berger won the race for Ferrari, their first victory since 1985. Suzuka will always be remembered, however, for the legendary feud between Frenchman Alain Prost and Brazilian Ayrton Senna. The 1988 race was a decider between Senna and Prost- who were McLaren teammates that year. At the start, Senna made a bad start and dropped to 14th, while Prost took the lead. The Frenchmans gearbox was malfunctioning, and the Brazilian caught and passed Prost while the Frenchman was delayed by consistent backmarker Andrea De Cesaris, Senna won the race and his 1st drivers championship and Prost finished 2nd. Prost ended up scoring 105 points in total to Sennas 94- but only 87 of Prosts points counted and this race turned out to be one of the most memorable in the sports history
9.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
10.
Felipe Massa
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Felipe Massa is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver who currently drives for Williams. Massa started his career in go-karting from the age of eight continuing in national and regional championships for seven years and he moved into Formula Chevrolet and claimed the championship. He moved in Italian Formula Renault in 2000 and won the title along with the European championship, Massa went into Euro Formula 3000 taking the championship. Massa started his Formula One career with Sauber before joining Scuderia Ferrari as a test driver for 2003, Massa won three races in 2007, finishing 4th in the Drivers Championship. He finished second in the 2008 Drivers World Championship after a title battle with Lewis Hamilton. At the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, Massa was injured by a suspension spring off the Brawn GP car of Rubens Barrichello, Massa was forced to miss the rest of the season but returned in 2010. Massa suffered a dip in form in 2011 scoring no podiums, Massa contributed to Ferraris Constructors Championships in 2007 and 2008 and was under contract to race for the team until the end of the 2013 season. On 10 September 2013, he confirmed he would be leaving Ferrari at the end of the 2013 season, Massa replaced Pastor Maldonado alongside Valtteri Bottas at Williams from 2014. On 1 September 2016, Massa announced that he would retire from Formula One at the end of the season, however, he returned for the 2017 season when Valtteri Bottas joined Mercedes. Born in São Paulo, Massa is a Brazilian whose grandfather emigrated from Cerignola, Massa began karting when he was 8 years old, finishing fourth in his first season. He continued in national and international championships for 7 years, and in 1998 moved into Formula Chevrolet, during the following season, he won 3 of the 10 races and claimed the championship. In 2000, he moved to Europe to compete in the Italian Formula Renault series and he could have moved to Formula Three, but instead chose the Euro Formula 3000, where he won 6 of the 8 races and the championship. He was then offered a Formula 1 test with the Sauber team and he also drove for Alfa Romeo in the European Touring Car Championship as a guest driver. In his rookie year in Formula 1, Massa was paired with 1999 International Formula 3000 champion Nick Heidfeld and he proved he was a competitive driver, but made several mistakes, including spinning off the track several times. Nevertheless, Massa scored 4 championship points in his first season and he suffered a one race suspension late in the season, forcing him to miss the United States Grand Prix. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Saubers former driver, drove for Massa in his place, Massa returned to the drivers seat for the Japanese Grand Prix, but Sauber confirmed that Frentzen would partner Heidfeld in 2003, leaving Massa without a race seat. Instead, he spent a year with Saubers engine suppliers, Ferrari, Sauber then re-signed Massa for the 2004 season. In 2004, he scored 12 of Saubers 34 points, his best result being a place at the Belgian Grand Prix
11.
Ferrari F2008
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The Ferrari F2008 is a Formula One motor racing car, which Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro used to compete in the 2008 Formula One season. The car was unveiled to the public on January 6,2008 and it features a new standard Electronic Control Unit, which is the electronic system that controls all the cars, produced by McLaren Electronic Systems. This was included to comply with the new regulations, the ECU also removes most of the driver aids used in previous seasons, including traction control, engine braking and electronically assisted starting system. It also makes the management of the differential, engine and gearchanges easier, world champion Kimi Räikkönen gave the car its first shakedown at Ferraris Fiorano test track on January 7,2008. In the 2008 Australian Grand Prix, Felipe Massa suffered nose cone, in the 2008 Monaco Grand Prix, Kimi Räikkönen lost his front wing after sliding into the back of Adrian Sutil at the Nouvelle chicane. In the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, Räikkönen lost his wing in the pit lane. In the 2008 Belgian Grand Prix, Räikkönen suffered front wing damage after running wide then spinning before the chicane. In the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, Massa was unsafely released from his pit box with the hose still attached. In the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, Massas engine failed without warning, forcing him to retire from the lead three laps remaining. † Drivers did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance, räikkönens fastest lap at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is still the lap record as of 2016. Car Specs and photos Car Specs on F1Technical. net
12.
2008 Japanese Grand Prix
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The 2008 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 12 October 2008, at the Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Japan. It was the 16th race of the 2008 Formula One season, the 67-lap race was won by Fernando Alonso for the Renault team from fourth position on the starting grid. Robert Kubica finished second for BMW Sauber, and Kimi Räikkönen third for Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, the eventual Drivers Champion, led the Championship going into the race, and started from pole position alongside Räikkönen. Hamiltons McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen began from third, next to Alonso, at the first corner Hamilton braked late, forcing Räikkönen wide. Hamilton was later given a penalty, and was criticised by the British racing press for overaggressive driving, Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, Hamiltons principal Championship rival, was penalised after an incident on lap two in which he touched Hamiltons car, causing it to spin. The incident dropped Hamilton to the back of the field, from where he was unable to regain a points scoring position, Massa later collided with Sébastien Bourdais of Toro Rosso. Bourdais was penalised after the race, and demoted from sixth to tenth position, the penalty prompted widespread criticism from the racing media and ex-drivers. The victory was Alonsos second consecutive win, he started from 15th on the grid to win the Singapore Grand Prix two weeks prior, Kubica held off a determined attack from Räikkönen in the closing laps to take second place. Massas seventh place narrowed his gap to Hamilton in the Drivers Championship to five points, Ferrari established a seven-point lead over the McLaren team in the Constructors Championship, with two races of the season remaining. The Grand Prix was contested by 20 drivers, in ten teams of two, the teams, also known as constructors, were Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault, Honda, Force India, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Red Bull Racing, Williams and Toro Rosso. Prior to the race, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton led the Drivers Championship with 84 points, behind them in the Drivers Championship, Robert Kubica was third with 64 points in a BMW Sauber, and Massas Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen was fourth with 57 points. Kubicas teammate Nick Heidfeld was fifth with 56 points, in the Constructors Championship, McLaren–Mercedes were leading with 135 points, one point ahead of their rivals Ferrari, whom they had overtaken at the previous race. BMW Sauber were third with 120 points, in the battle for fourth place, Renault had 51 points, five points ahead of Toyota. A botched pit stop at the Singapore Grand Prix had demoted Massa from first position to the back of field, I hate driving for points, but I think we can all see the benefit of that approach at the moment. Fernando Alonsos victory at the Singapore Grand Prix was his first Formula One win since rejoining the Renault team, after qualifying in 15th and making an early pit stop, Alonso had managed to jump to the front of the race when his teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. crashed. Left with no opportunity to pit, the frontrunners had to delay their stops until the damage was cleared, allowing the heavily fuelled Alonso to move to the front once they did so. Renaults technical director Bob Bell said that the improvement from the start of the season was encouraging. Bell said that the objective for the last races was to win more Grands Prix and, importantly, the Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile, the sports governing body, launched the Formula One component of their Make Cars Green campaign at the Japanese Grand Prix
13.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
14.
Lola Cars
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Lola Cars International Ltd. was a racing car engineering company founded in 1958 by Eric Broadley and based in Huntingdon, England. Enduring more than fifty years, it was one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of racing cars in the world, Lola Cars started by building small front-engined sports cars, and branched out into Formula Junior cars before diversifying into a wider range of sporting vehicles. Lola was acquired by Martin Birrane in 1998 after the unsuccessful MasterCard Lola attempt at Formula One, Lola Cars was a brand of the Lola Group, which combined former rowing boat manufacturer Lola Aylings and Lola Composites, that specialized in carbon fibre production. After a period in administration, Lola Cars International ceased trading on 5 October 2012. Many of Lolas assets were purchased by a partnership composed of Multimatic Engineering. Lola was one of the top chassis suppliers in the 1960s, after its small front-engined sports cars came various single-seaters including Formula Junior, Formula 3, Formula 2 and Formula 1 cars. Broadley designed Lola Mk.6 coupe fitted with the Ford V8 engine, Ford took a keen interest in this and paid Broadley to put the company on hold for two years and merge his ideas with Roy Lunns work, giving rise to the Ford GT40. In 2005, Lola announced that a new batch of T70 coupés, to the original specifications and these will be homologated for historic racing and there is talk of a one-make series for the cars. Various Group 5 and Group 6 sports cars including the T212 and T28x/29x/38x/39x series were built, competing with Chevron, March. Alain de Cadenets Le Mans specials tended to be based on Lola technology, derivatives of this car were successful for some time in IMSA and Group C racing. Later Lola Group C and GTP cars tended to be specifically for manufacturer programmes, specifically the later Nissan Group C entries. Lola also built a car for the 3.5 L Group C formula, the T92/10, more recently, Lola has produced a range of sports cars for Le Mans-style racing starting with the B98/10, which was successful in the European market but less so in the USA. The B2K/10, with its additional central headlight reminiscent of a cyclops or a locomotive was more notable for its looks than its performance, a dedicated LMP675 car was built for MG in 2001, powered by a two-litre four-cylinder AER turbocharged engine. This was entered at Le Mans by the team as the MG-Lola EX257. Later developments of this car have been fitted with assorted small V8s, an updated version of the Lola LMP2 came in 2005 with the introduction of the Lola B05/40. It quickly became a contender in LMP2 by taking class honours in 2005 and 2006 at Le Mans with Ray Mallock Limited. It also earned several wins in the American Le Mans Series in 2005 and 2006 with Intersport Racing, including a second-place overall finish in the 200612 Hours of Sebring. In 2007, extensive updates were made to the chassis, to accommodate the all-new Acura powerplant run by Fernandez Racing, in addition, an essentially brand new LMP2 prototype, the B07/40, was built to house the new AER-based Mazda engine
15.
Formula 3000
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Formula 3000 was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3000 cc engines, while the International series is usually synonymous with F3000, other series racing to F3000 specification have existed. A small British Formula 3000 series ran for years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Founded in 1989 as the British Formula 3000 Championship, the series was renamed the British Formula Two Championship in 1992 and it was restarted in 1996 and cancelled once more the following year, after one race had been held with only three cars. Two other attempts at restarting F3000 racing in the UK failed, an Italian series evolved into a second-level one, Euro Formula 3000, running the previous generation of spec Lolas. An Italian national series started in 2005 with the arrival of the GP2 Series, as of 2010, it is renamed Auto GP, using old A1 Grand Prix cars and engines in place of F3000 regulations. The American Racing Series, a predecessor of Indy Lights, ran with March F3000 chassis and Buick V6 engines, japan persisted with Formula Two rules for a couple of years after the demise of F2 in Europe, but then adopted basically F3000 rules in 1987. The Mugen engine dominated this series, and was competitive in European F3000. Japanese F3000 was renamed Formula Nippon in 1996, and completely split off from European racing in 2009 with the new Swift chassis, in Australia Formula 4000 continued to use old F3000 chassis until 2006, as had its predecessors Formula Brabham and Formula Holden
16.
Kazuyoshi Hoshino
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Kazuyoshi Hoshino is a Japanese former racing driver and businessman. Hoshinos nickname was the fastest man/guy in Japan and he won the Japanese motocross national championships in the 90cc and 125cc classes for Kawasaki in 1968 before switching to cars as a Nissan factory driver in 1969. Hoshino participated in two Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 24 October 1976 at the Japanese Grand Prix, driving a Tyrrell-Ford for Heros Racing, he retired having used up his tyre supply. He returned in 1977 and once entered the Japanese Grand Prix driving for Heros Racing. He finished in eleventh place driving a year-old Kojima-Ford and he scored no championship points in his Formula 1 career. His only major championship win was in the 1985 World Sportscar Championship round at the Fuji 1000 race. Hoshino won the Japanese Formula 2000 championship in 1975 and 1977 and he then competed in the Japanese Formula 3000 championship, winning that title in 1987,1990 and 1993. Hoshino also dominated the Fuji Grand Champion Series in the 1970s and 1980s and he won five titles in 1978,1982,1984,1985 and 1987, collecting 28 wins and 42 podiums. Like his compatriot, Masahiro Hasemi, he continued his racing for Nissan. Hoshino drove a Nissan R90C with Toshio Suzuki to win the 1990 Suzuka 1000 race, Hoshino and Suzuki also won the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship in 1991 and 1992. Along with Nissan Motorsports teammates Aguri Suzuki and Masahiko Kageyama, Hoshino drove a Nissan R390 GT1 to a finish at the 199824 Hours of Le Mans. Hoshino retired from racing in 2002 and now continues to run his own Super GT team and his own Nissan specialised aftermarket parts company, since 2003, his racing team has won the Formula Nippon championship seven times in eight years. His son, Kazuki Hoshino, competes in Super GT, driving for his fathers team and you can help by expanding it
17.
Nissan R90C
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The Nissan R90C was either of two Group C racing cars built in 1990 for Nissan Motors for competition in World Sportscar Championship based in Europe and the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The cars based on the basic R90C platform would compete until 1993 before Nissan chose to withdraw from sports car racing and it won three JSPC championships as well as several significant endurance races during its career. Mechanically, the R90Cs shared much with their predecessor, the R89C, most of the chassis construction was the same, as well as the mechanical layout. The Nissan VRH35Z3.5 litre twin-turbo V8 that had debuted in the R89C was proven successful, although mechanically similar, the cars were nearly all new constructions, leading to chassis builder Lola Cars International terming the cars T90/10, while the R89Cs had been T89/10. Unlike the R89C, Nissan felt that the car was a compromise, at the time, Nissan competed with the R89Cs in both the World Sportscar Championship and All Japan Sports Prototype Championships. This led Nissan to actually develop two different cars, although Lola built the basic chassis, Nissan Motorsports Europe would construct the rest of the R90CK in their shops evolving the R89C design. At the same time, R90CP would be built at Nismos headquarters in Japan in a lower downforce and this gave each of the two cars a unique design that is noticeably different. The R90CK would appear as an evolution of the R89Cs design, the front end of the car was low, with two deep channels on either side of a slanted nose leading to radiator inlets on the sides of the cockpit. Small slated inlets would also be placed on the edge of the car. The cockpit would feature a longer raked windshield then the R89C, yet the areas around the cockpit would remain nearly identical, at the rear, the rear wing would be mounted high on exposed struts for better downforce. The R90CP on the hand appeared to favor a low downforce design. The front of the car would feature a higher nose, with the narrow channels eliminated and replaced with large ducts on the inside of the fender, the fenders themselves were also redesigned, with headlights placed vertically instead of the horizontal design on the R89C and R90CK. The cockpit of the R90CK was identical to its R90CP sibling, most notably, the rear-view mirrors were integrated into the bodywork on the fender, instead of small exposed mirrors on the side of the windshield. The rear fender would also be different in that the inlet would be placed on the front edge of the fender. For 1991, Nissan officially withdrew from the World Sportscar Championship, however Nismo planned to continue competition in the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, and decided to upgrade the R90CPs to better compete with Toyota and Mazda. The new cars, known as R91CP and R91VP, would have slight modifications over the previous car, the cars would be further modified for 1992 with an upgraded VRH35Z twin-turbo V8, while the cars were renamed R92CP. For the R90CKs, Nissan ran them mostly at the 24 Hours of Daytona following their retirement from the World Sportscar Championship at the end of 1990. For the 1992 running of Daytona, the R90CKs would have their VRH35Z engines replaced with smaller 3. 0L twin-turbo V8s, three other unique R90Cs were cars that were based on existing cars but modified
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Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
19.
Stefan Bellof
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Stefan Bellof was a German racing driver, best known for setting the fastest lap ever on the Nordschleife configuration at the Nürburgring in 1983, driving a Porsche 956. He was the winner of the Drivers Championship in the 1984 World Sportscar Championship and he also competed with the Tyrrell Formula One team during 1984 and 1985. He was killed in an accident during the 19851000 km of Spa World Sportscar Championship race, several other top-five championship placings occurred during the next few years before Bellof claimed his first karting title, by winning the International Karting Championship of Luxembourg in 1976. In the same season, Bellof also finished thirteenth in the Karting World Championship in Hagen, a full season in the 1600cc class beckoned in 1980, and Bellof became champion taking eight victories and nine podium placings from twelve races. Bellof also contested three VW Castrol Europa Pokal races, of which he won one, as well as those outings, Bellof moved into the German Formula Three Championship, making his début for Bertram Schäfers team at Wunstorf. Luck eluded Bellof however, as he finished the race in thirteenth position, while title rivals Frank Jelinski and Franz Konrad finished in first, eleven points separated Bellof from Jelinski, who claimed his second successive German Formula Three championship. At the conclusion of the season, Bellof contested the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, but was excluded from the meeting after finishing sixth in his quarter-final heat, for excessive contact. Bellof made a promise to the clerk of the course, saying that the official had better watch my career, because Ill be back here next year. Bellof joined Mike Thackwell and Alain Ferté at a test session with Maurer Motorsport at Circuit Paul Ricard in France at the end of the 1981 season. After acquiring an amount of BMW backing, Bellof assumed a place in the team, with Maurer eventually becoming his manager. The first race of the season was the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone and he followed this win up with a second successive triumph at the Jim Clark Gedächtnisrennen at Hockenheim, having started from pole position and achieved the fastest lap during the race. Two points from the six races ruled him out of the championship hunt, as he fell to an eventual fourth place classification. By comparison to his 1982 season, Bellofs 1983 season was less successful. Bellofs only other points-scoring finish was fourth at Silverstone, as he finished the season in position on nine points. While competing in Formula Two in 1982, Bellof made a appearance in the World Endurance Championship at the 1000 km of Spa. The pairing retired from the race on lap 51, due to a problem with the starter motor, the previous weekend, Bellof had joined Kremer to compete in the Hessen Cup at Hockenheim as part of the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, but retired with transmission failure. In 1983 Bellof joined the Rothmans-backed Porsche factory team for the World Endurance Championship driving a Porsche 956 alongside Derek Bell.274 kilometres per hour. Bellofs pole time for the race –1 minute,13.15 seconds – would have put him twelfth on the grid for the British Grand Prix later in the year
20.
Porsche 956
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The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was later upgraded to the 956B in 1984, the project began in June 1981, and the first prototype chassis was completed on March 27,1982, in time for the beginning of the World Championship season. Jürgen Barth tested the first chassis at Porsches private test track, the 956 features a chassis made of an aluminium monocoque, a first for the company, helping to allow the car to meet the 800 kg weight minimum in Group C. The engine is the same as the one used in the Porsche 936/81, the very first dual clutch gearbox was also designed for the 956, mated to a traditional 5-speed manual. An improved chassis with better fuel efficiency from a Bosch Motronic electric system was developed for 1984, in total, twenty-eight 956s would be built by Porsche from 1982 to 1984, with an unofficial 29th chassis built from spare parts by Richard Lloyd Racing. The 956 was also the first Porsche to have ground effect aerodynamics, as a comparison, the ground effects Porsche 956 produced over three times as much downforce as the older model Porsche 917 that raced over a decade earlier. In 1983,956 chassis #107 was used by Porsche as a testbed for their P01 Formula One engine, later badged as TAG, the car was able to test some of the characteristics of a Formula One car in order to develop the engine. As of the 2012 German Grand Prix, the TAG-Porsche engine sits in 7th place on the list of F1 race winning engines, Porsche tested its Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe dual-clutch transmission in the 956 in the early 1980s. PDK would be used in the Porsche 962, and would make its way into production Porsches with the 2009997 Carrera and Carrera S. The Porsche 956 also appeared with two different rear wing designs, the cars were fitted with a larger, high downforce rear wing for most events. Notably, the factory backed Rothmans Porsche team did not make use of the front wings. The 956 would be replaced by the Porsche 962 in 1985. The 956 made its debut at the Silverstone 6 Hour race, after missing the following round at the 1000 km Nürburgring for developmental reasons, the Ickx/Bell unit reappeared at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. They led the race for the entire 24 hours, eventually taking the overall win - their third win together, as they had already won in 1981 with a Porsche 936 that had used an early version of the 956 engine, their car had started number 1. The two other factory 956 followed them, so the three factory Porsches finished 1-2-3 in the order of their starting numbers.13 seconds, at an speed of 202 km/h. The race lap record is held by the same Bellof, during the 19831000 km Nürburgring, at the 19851000 km of Spa, Bellof died after colliding with Jacky Ickxs newer 962. Safety concerns over the 956 led to its end as teams upgraded to the safer 962. The 956s last win would come courtesy of Joest Racing in the last race of the 1986 WEC season, Porsche USA -1982 Porsche 956 C Coupé Porsche USA -1983 Porsche 956 C Coupé
21.
1983 World Sportscar Championship
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The 1983 World Sports Championship season was the 31st season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. The Drivers Championship was won by Jacky Ickx, the Manufacturers Championship by Porsche, the Group C Junior Cup by Alba Giannini, the European Endurance Championship of Drivers was awarded to Bob Wollek. The following races counted towards the World Endurance Championship or the European Endurance Championship or both, as indicated, Manufacturers did not score points if the car did not complete 90% of the winners distance. Only the best 5 points finishes counted towards the championship, with any points earned not included in the total. Discarded points are shown within parenthesis, for the purposes of championship classification, the FIA recognized a Manufacturer as the engine make and chassis make combination, with the former preceding the latter in the Manufacturer name
Felipe Massa, Ferrari F2008, 2008)
Takuya Kurosawa, Lola, Formula 3000, 2000)
Stefan Bellof, Porsche 956, 1983 Mount Fuji 1000 km, 1983)
Vern Schuppan, March-Ford F2, 1973 Japanese Grand Prix)
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