* The circuit sits right in the middle of Suzuka Land – a theme park built to entertain the families and workers from the nearby Honda factory.
Contained within its figure-of-eight layout -  which is unique in Formula One - is every conceivable type of corner – from the super tight Spoon Curve to the high speed 130R.

* Suzuka has been the home of the Japanese Grand Prix since 1987, but prior to this two races were held at the Mount Fuji track in ’76 and ’77. The only other Japanese circuit to hold a Formula One race was the TI Circuit Aida where the Pacific Grand Prix was held in ’94 and ’95. The 2002 event will be the 18th Grand Prix in Suzuka and the 22nd GP in Japan.

* The circuit has been the venue of some epic battles for not only the race but also the Championship. At the inaugural race at the circuit in 1987, it played host to WilliamsF1’s Nelson Piquet claiming his third Drivers’ Championship while the race was won by Gerhard Berger in his Ferrari. For Frank Williams, the race in 1994 was the most memorable. Damon Hill beat Michael Schumacher in a two-part race, which was interrupted by torrential rain, and took the Championship down to the wire in Adelaide with the drivers on equal points. This was the second of three wins for WilliamsF1 in Japan and the first of two for Damon who earned his second Suzuka win in 1996.

* During practice for the 2000 Japanese Grand Prix the Formula One paddock experienced a weak earthquake.

* The Suzuka circuit has recently been shortened to 5.821 km (3.618 miles) long after a couple of changes in order to widen runoff areas. Already present for last year’s race, widened runoff areas were built with new pathways alongside for quicker access to and from the track added in case of an emergency, and also to support photographers’ access to the track.  2001 also saw paddock improvements to the hospitality area above the pits, the number of the pits and the media centre were enlarged.

* Ralf Schumacher holds the lap record of 1m36.944s (217.573 km/h) on last year’s track length of 5.859 km (3.641 miles). Race winner Michael Schumacher claimed pole position within 1m32.484s (228.065 km/h).

* 2001 Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher were second and third on the grid.

* Last year’s Japanese Grand Prix brought a superb ending to a strong season for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team with both drivers making it into the points. Montoya came second, claiming the Team’s ninth podium of the season. Ralf Schumacher finished sixth after having been penalized with a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for cutting the chicane.

* The 53 lap race will be 308.317 km (191.588 miles) long.

* Tyre degradation is expected to be high, and a two-stop strategy with pit stop windows between laps 17-24 and laps 35-40 seems to be likely.

* The race will start at 14.30 local time (05.30 GMT/07.30 CET) on Sunday, 13th October.