Autopolis, Kawasaki's New Test Track
We were given the opportunity to experience the shinkansen firsthand when we rode the high-speed train from Kobe down to Hakata in the southern area of Japan. If there's one word we could use to describe the bullet train, it would have to be smooth. Smooth as in aerodynamic; if you stand on the boarding platform when a shinkansen is passing through on the way to another station, you'll notice that even though the train passes by 20 feet away at more than 80 mph, there is literally no windblast. But it's also smooth as in overall ride; while riding along at the train's normal cruise speed, we looked out the window and figured that we were traveling at maybe 100 mph (and, truthfully, the train felt as if it were putting along at 40 mph, it was so quiet and smooth). A Kawasaki rep pulled out his GPS receiver, which showed that we were traveling at 176 mph!
Our trip south was to spend a couple of days at the Autopolis Circuit, a somewhat unknown racetrack built in the moun-tains north of Kumamoto in Kyushu, the southernmost island of Japan. Originally constructed in 1990 as the brainchild of a wealthy Japanese businessman, the Autopolis Circuit was meant as his vision of a motor-racing retreat for Japan.
The Weird Story Behind Kawasaki's Autopolis Test Track
During Japan's "bubble" economic heyday of the late '80s, a Japanese businessman by the name of Tomonori Tsurumaki amassed a huge amount of wealth through real estate speculation. Like many wealthy Japanese at the time, Tsurumaki tried to drive up the historic artwork market by purchasing numerous works by van Gogh, Monet and Renoir, and he set a record by paying $51 million for a famous Picasso painting. However, Tsurumaki was also an auto-racing fanatic, and he decided to build a vast motorsports complex-including a Grand Prix-standard racing circuit-up in the mountains in a remote part of Japan. Named "Autopolis," Tsurumaki's somewhat warped vision was that the facility would be an escape from the burdened city life, and people would flock to sit in a hilltop retreat surrounded by forests and look at glorious works of art-while also watching motor races.
Built at the astronomical cost of $400 million, the facility is nestled in the mountains of the Aso Kujiyu National Park in the center of Kyushu, Japan's most southerly major island. The 2.94-mile main circuit was designed by former Honda F1 project leader Yoshitoshi Sakurai and includes a 1.0-mile kart track inside the main circuit, as well as state-of-the-art paddock and hospitality facilities-and even had a large, five-star hotel atop one of the hills overlooking the circuit; the facility was officially launched in '90, accompanied by much fanfare. The following year, Tsurumaki turned up at the Monaco Grand Prix in an attempt to convince F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to allow Autopolis to host an F1 race. However, the plan suffered a setback when the Autopolis circuit hosted a round of the World Sportscar Championship and visitors reported that the track location was so remote that hotels were hours away and there was no way it could host an F1 event.
Then the Japanese economy tanked, and Tsurumaki was ignominiously forced into bankruptcy in '91 (and eventually trouble with the Japanese authorities). The circuit was handed over to Hazama, the construction company that built the facility, but its efforts to sell the property in a faltering economy were futile. Soon Hazama fell into financial straights, and the racetrack sat unused for almost 15 years.
Finally in '05, the banks that held the facility were eager to get a non-performing asset off their hands and sent out feelers to see if anyone would be interested. Kawasaki saw a nice opportunity to have an excellent test track with superb support facilities, so it ended up buying Autopolis...for the fire-sale price of $8.5 million. After some renovation (the hotel had sat unused for so many years that weeds were growing inside the rooms, so Kawasaki razed it), the Kawasaki-owned circuit now hosts a round of the All-Japan Superbike Championship, as well as numerous national auto races, and automaker Toyota rents the racetrack for test use as well. The circuit is easily one of the best in the world, but unfortunately its remote mountain location will probably prevent it from hosting world championship events.
Our first day was spent spectating at a round of the Japanese National Superbike championship, known as the All-Japan Championship Series. It was very entertaining and interesting to note the contrast with the AMA Superbike series here at home. For instance, the only real "factory" team is the Kawasaki Team Green squad; all other manufacturers are represented by basically privateer teams with factory equipment support. There isn't any confusion with racing categories; there is the "JSB1000" (Superbike) and "600 ST" (Supersport) classes, plus the GP 250 and 125 classes for the two-strokes and an exhibition "GP Mono" class using a 250cc four-stroke motocross engine in a 125 GP chassis. There is also a "pitlane walk" for spectators before the main Superbike and Supersport events, where the riders are required to sign autographs and interact with the crowd in front of their respective team's pit garage. And the race announcers do their best to make the races an event; each rider on the grid is introduced to the fans, with sound effects to add excitement for the crowd. Kawasaki even reserved a section of grandstands just for Kawasaki dealers and friends, giving everyone green racing team shirts and flags.
The Superbike main event was a nail-biter, with former WSB rider Akira Yanagawa leading much of the race on his Kawasaki, and the lead pack of six or seven riders never separated by more than a couple of seconds. Unfortunately for the home crowd, Yanagawa ended up a very close second at the finish.
The last day was spent riding various Kawasaki sportbikes around the incredibly beautiful and challenging racetrack. No need to expound on how fun that was.
So What Does This All Mean For You?
The overriding message that could be culled from this trip was that not only is Kawasaki capable of doing virtually anything it puts its mind to, but the company has the immense resources to do it. But for Kawasaki sportbike fans, there is one major plus: The acquisition of the Autopolis racing circuit as the company's own test track now gives the R&D testing teams much more available real-world research time on the pavement (one senior Kawasaki rep alluded to the ZX-RR MotoGP bike's impressive performance strides in the past year as surely no accident). And Kawasaki's motorcycle division generated the largest profit percentage in the company last year, with actual revenue second only to the shipbuilding division; company reps were intimating that KHI sees the potential and will be devoting more resources to that part of the company in the future.
That future may be looking greener than ever.