Pacific Grand Prix

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For the Formula One team, see Pacific Racing.

The Pacific Grand Prix was a round of the Formula One World Championship twice in the mid-1990s. Both races were held at the Tanaka International Aida circuit, a slow, twisty 2.3-mile track deep in the countryside in Aida (near Kobe), Japan. Following the 1995 Kobe earthquake, the Pacific Grand Prix was moved from early in the calendar to the end.

The inaugural race in 1994 saw Michael Schumacher take an easy victory after Ayrton Senna was involved in a first corner accident with Mika Häkkinen and Nicola Larini. The more recent Pacific Grand Prix in 1995 was a more eventful affair, with some close racing throughout the field. The race culminated in a fine tactical victory for Michael Schumacher, securing his second World Championship, and making him the youngest double World Champion at the time. Fernando Alonso surpassed Schumacher's record by winning his second World Championship in 2006.

With the announcement that the Japanese Grand Prix will switch from the Suzuka Circuit to the Fuji Speedway from 2007, there has been media speculation that Suzuka may retain a race under a resurrection of the Pacific Grand Prix title.[1]