Grand Prix of the Pacific

This article is about the Automotive Pacific Grand Prix ; For the Grand Prix races for the motorcycle world championship, see Grand Prix of the Pacific (motorcycle) .

Grand Prix of the Pacific

Tanaka International Circuit
Route data
Main sponsor:	Marlboro (1995)
in the racing calendar:	1994, 1995
Route length:	3.703 km
Race length:	307.349 km in 83 laps
Records
Lap record:	1: 14.023 (1994, Michael Schumacher , Benetton-Ford )
Lap record qualification:	1: 10,218 (1994, Ayrton Senna , Williams-Renault )
Most wins:	Michael Schumacher (2)
Most Poles:	David Coulthard , Ayrton Senna (1)

As a Pacific Grand Prix was in the seasons 1994 and 1995 , a Formula 1 race at Japan on the Tanaka International Circuit in Aida near Kobe in Okayama Prefecture held.

The main initiator of this event was Hajime Tanaka , who had the track built in 1990 and whose greatest wish was to have Formula 1 as a guest. Tanaka received support from Okayama Prefecture, which saw the race as an opportunity to promote the region.

The second race in 1995 had to be postponed from the original date in April to October at short notice, as the Great Hanshin earthquake made the route, which was already difficult to access, inaccessible for the expected crowd.

The Grand Prix was rather unpopular with the drivers , as the course was viewed as too slow and hostile to overtaking.

The name Pacific Grand Prix was chosen because another race on the Formula 1 calendar was held as the Japanese Grand Prix in both 1994 and 1995 .

The Pacific Grand Prix was held in Laguna Seca, California, from 1960 to 1963 . However, the races did not count towards the automobile / Formula 1 world championship.

Results

Edition	year	route	winner	Second	Third	Pole position	Fastest lap
1	1960	Monterey	Stirling Moss ( Lotus - Climax )	unknown	unknown	unknown	unknown
2	1961	Monterey	Stirling Moss ( Lotus - Climax )	Dan Gurney ( Lotus - Climax )	Jack Brabham ( Cooper - Climax )	unknown	Dan Gurney ( Lotus - Climax )
3	1962	Monterey	Roger Penske ( Zerex Special - Climax )	Lloyd Ruby ( Lotus - Climax )	Bruce McLaren ( Cooper - Climax )	unknown	unknown
4th	1963	Monterey	Dave MacDonald ( Cooper - Ford )	AJ Foyt ( Scarab - Oldsmobile )	Jim Hall ( Chaparral - Chevrolet )	unknown	Dave MacDonald ( Cooper - Ford )
	1964 to 1993	not a Grand Prix of the Pacific
11 1	1994	Mimasaka	Michael Schumacher ( Benetton - Ford )	Gerhard Berger ( Ferrari )	Rubens Barrichello ( Jordan - Hart )	Ayrton Senna ( Williams - Renault )	Michael Schumacher ( Benetton - Ford )
2	1995	Mimasaka	Michael Schumacher ( Benetton - Renault )	David Coulthard ( Williams - Renault )	Damon Hill ( Williams - Renault )	David Coulthard ( Williams - Renault )	Michael Schumacher ( Benetton - Renault )
	since 1996	not a Grand Prix of the Pacific

Legend
abbreviation	class	comment
F1	formula 1	Formula 1 World Championship from 1950
F2	Formula 2
FL	Formula libre	Vehicle class usually advertised by the organizer
SW	Sports car
TW	Touring car
GP	Grand Prix vehicles
	↓ Solid gray lines indicate when a new course was used in history. ↓
	Entries with a light red background were not runs for the automobile or Formula 1 world championship.
	Entries with a yellow background were runs for the European Championship .

¹ The numbering was restarted in 1994.

Web links

Commons : Pacific Grand Prix  - collection of images, videos, and audio files