Suzuka Circuit, located in Suzuka, Japan, was built by Honda and opened in 1962. It was Japan’s first real race track and is a regular stop on the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. It’s one of the best race tracks in the world, but this video isn’t from Suzuka. It’s from somewhere even cooler.
This is the Kaohsiung-Suzuka Circuit Park, about 2,100 kilometers southwest on the southern side of Taiwan. It’s billed as the only authorized Suzuka Park outside Japan, and its centerpiece is a go-kart track that faithfully recreates the legendary 5.8-mile track. This one is only a tenth the size, which translates to about a quarter mile of twists, switchbacks and yes, an overpass.
The video starts just before the start-finish line, where the flying lap begins. The track is wide enough to negate most of the essentials, allowing for a relaxed line from apex to apex. Approaching the viaduct, things tighten up and the hairpin is pretty tight. We get a nice long right-hand side leading into Spoon Curve, or rather, this version of the infamous left-hand side. And then comes the back straight, full-on into a shortened version of the 130R. The final chicane isn’t really a chicane, and so we’re back to the line with a lap time of 40.97 seconds.
According to the video description, the go-kart was a bit ratty and the track was not in the best condition. But we don’t care. Pushing Suzuka to the limit would be a challenge for the best of us. But pushing hard on mini-Suzuka… that could make the worst among us feel like superheroes. And when the race is over, there’s even a mini version of Suzuka’s amusement park to enjoy.
Should our journey lead to Taiwan, you know where to find us.