Fuji: The venue that changed motorsport
For Gary Watkins, the WEC race at Fuji was a chance to finally visit a venue pivotal to motorsport's growth in popular appeal - and to check out the remnants of its astounding original layout
A lifetime's ambition was fulfilled last weekend. I finally made it to the Fuji Speedway, a place that holds a special place in my motorsport psyche. The Japanese venue, you see, is implicated in the first premeditated motor racing event of my life.
Back in 1976, I had an idea of what was going on in the world of Formula 1 during a season in which Britain's championship challenger was on the front as well as the back pages of the newspapers.
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Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.
Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.
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