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SPACING AND LENGTH
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INTRODUCTION
At racing venues outside the United States, most corners and
many straightaways are given names. Often, these are named
for famous racers, racing-related or race-sponsor companies,
and even other famous race circuits. For a sampling of such
courses with named corners and straightaways, please see my
guides for EA Sports' F1-based games (F1 2000, F1
Championship Season 2000, and F1 2001), my GT3: Cote d'Azur
and GT3: Laguna Seca Guides, and my three guides for Le Mans
24 Hours (the general guide, and the race-specific guides for
Le Mans 2000 and Petit Le Mans).
Tokyo R246 is a circuit based on actual roads in Tokyo,
Japan. As many know, one of Japan's greatest media exports
is anime (Japanese animation: Sailor Moon, Princess Mononoke,
Bubblegum Crisis, Vampire Princess Miyu OAV and TV Series,
Robotech/Macross, Akira, and many thousands more - see the
recent Anime Encyclopedia by Helen McCarthy and Jonathan
Clements for an excellent reference on anime dating back to
1917), so I thought it would be interesting to name sections
of the Tokyo R246 circuit after anime characters.
This is admittedly a highly-subjective effort. Certainly,
many (most???) diehard anime fans are likely to quibble with
what I have presented here and curse me profusely in a wide
variety of languages for having 'forgotten' a vast array of
anime characters, and that is perfectly fine (so long as it
is done politely!!!). While this guide can potentially help
players learn to better drive this circuit, my true focus
with this guide is simply to put forth one possible vision of
how the circuit's sections could be named.
====================================
CIRCUIT DETAILS
The fun Tokyo R246 circuit combines fast speeds (over
200MPH/320KPH on the Pit Straight) with tricky technical
corners; plus, the circuit features a four-lane Pit Straight
and a 1-1/2-lane narrow section. In a way, this circuit
recalls Ridge Racer V, especially on the Pit Straight
approaching the first turn... except that Ai Fukami is
obviously not featured in GT3 :-( Extreme care must be
taken when entering Pit Lane, which narrows significantly
upon entry. Plan on a little over two hours to complete the
Endurance Race at this venue.
Pit Straight (A-ko Straight): This is not a true
straightaway, as there are two gentle bends along A-ko
Straight which can be taken flat-out, although care must
still be taken to keep from bouncing off the barriers. High-
power cars tuned correctly can achieve speeds in excess of
200MPH/320KPH before reaching the nasty braking zone for the
even nastier first turn of the circuit. The Pit Straight is
given this name because of the high speeds which can be
gained here, similar to the title character and tomboyish
heroine of the Project A-ko series.
Turn 1 (B-ko): Every hero(ine) needs a nemesis, provided in
the Project A-ko series by B-ko. Similarly, the slow, right-
hand perpendicular Turn 1 is very much the nemesis of the
high-speed A-ko Straight. There is only about a meter of
swing-out room if you take B-ko too wide and too fast, and a
nasty barrier prevents shortcutting the corner. Perhaps the
only thing in the Project A-ko series which is nastier than
this perpendicular corner is B-ko's monokini-style battle
suit in the original (and definitely best) installment of the
series.
Straightaway (Seita Straight): Named for one of the main
characters of the excellent but sad Grave of the Fireflies,
this is a short straightaway, emblematic of the lives of the
main characters of this classic anime film.
Turn 2 (Lupin): Named for the title character of the Lupin
III series, this left-hand perpendicular corner can be taken
faster than B-ko if the approach is made from the extreme
right of Seita Straight.
Turn 3 (Thirds): Once Lupin has been cleared, Thirds can be
taken flat-out as it bends gently to the right toward the
stadium. Without giving away who or what they are, the Thirds
are from the OAV/film Armitage III.
Straightaway (Tatsuya): On the left side of this straightaway
(near the entry to the following corner) is a stadium. While
I have no idea which sports are played in this stadium, this
straightaway is named after the baseball-playing character of
Touch who is troubled by the death of his popular twin
baseball-star brother; after all, Tatsuya may play in this
stadium one day!!!
Turn 4 (Go Mifune Curve): This sweeping right-hand hairpin
will require light or moderate braking on entry and
throughout the corner, depending on the car's horsepower
output. Go Mifune is the Japanese name of the title
character of the series known in the States as Speed Racer.
While braking will be required by all but the lowest-powered
cars, this is still a rather Speed-y corner.
Turn 5 (Sawa Bend): At about 135 degrees, this left-hand
corner requires stronger braking than the Go Mifune Curve.
100MPH/160KPH is still possible here, but only with a
flawless racing line and appropriate braking on entry; using
an F1 car allows for faster cornering here, which would make
this an extremely useful place to pass. Sawa is the
schoolgirl assassin with exploding-bullet guns from the
gloriously-violent Kite OAV, but this corner unfortunately
does not include her famous panty shot from one of the
available Kite posters :-(
Straightaway (Totoro Straight - Part I): Totoro (from the
film My Neighbor Totoro) is very close to nature, as is this
tree-lined straightaway.
Turns 6-7 (Ranma Chicane): This tight right-left chicane can
be taken flat-out only with a highly agile car (such as an F1
vehicle) and a pristine racing line. Beware the barrier on
exit if you fail to hold a solid racing line. This is an
extremely fast chicane, much like the gender changes for the
title character of the Ranma 1/2 series and films.
Straightaway (Totoro Straight - Part II): The tree-lined
straightaway continues up to San. Note that Part II is NOT
parallel with Part I; exiting Ranma Chicane will cause racers
to drive a line angled slightly to the left of the original
plane of racing.
Mononoke Complex: This is NOT a long-lost psychological
condition discovered by Freud!!! This section is named for
three characters from Mononoke-Hime, released in the States
by Disney as Princess Mononoke.
Turn 8 (San): Breaking out of the tree-lined Totoro
Straight - Part II, this is a sunny, blind, right-hand
corner on approach; if taken too tightly, you will
definitely bang the car at the apex. Moderate or severe
braking will be required on entry. You should definitely
edge to the left on exit to adequately set up the approach
for Ashitaka, forming a double-apex U-shape formation.
San is the quasi-heroine of Mononoke-Hime, the highest
grossing Japanese film ever in Japan, and second among all
films only to Titanic.
Straightaway (Moro Straight): Named after the towering
Wolf 'parent' of San, this short straightaway is a
challenging bridge between San and Ashitaka, both on the
circuit and in the film.
Turn 9 (Ashitaka): This right-hand corner is semi-blind,
the initial barrier hiding the fact that the course
narrows by half on exit; veer hard to the left to avoid
the second barrier, but keep off the left-side barrier.
Ashitaka is the expelled, skilled warrior who falls in
love with San in Mononoke-Hime.
Senshi Complex: Turns 10 and 11 are named for two Senshi from
the Sailor Moon series. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Neptune
both use water as their Element of Influence, so they are
chosen here due to the river just to the left of this portion
of the circuit; the river can best be seen from Tita Chute
and Ryo-Oh-Ki. The circuit narrows greatly here, widening at
Vision.
Turn 10 (Mercury): Very quickly after clearing Ashitaka,
Mercury is a gentle left-hand bend which may require
slight braking for high-powered cars to keep off the
barriers in this extremely narrow section of the circuit.
Straightaway (Bubbles): This super-short straightaway
between Mercury and Neptune is NOT named after one of the
Powerpuff Girls, but after Mercury Bubbles, the first
Senshi Attack used by Sailor Mercury in the Sailor Moon
series.
Turn 11 (Neptune): This gentle right-hand bend will also
likely require slight braking to keep from bouncing off
the barriers in this extremely narrow section of the
circuit.
Straightaway (Tita Chute): This is an extremely brief
straightaway, almost too short to really be considered a
straightaway. Young Captain Tita is the main character of
the anime OAV Plastic Little, known affectionately for its
tasteful attention to female anatomy (bath scene: boingy-
boingy) and its rather intriguing world.
Turn 12 (Ryo-Oh-Ki): This left-hand corner, also within the
very narrow section of the circuit, will definitely require
moderate braking by all but the lowest-powered cars to keep
from bouncing off the barriers. On approach, this corner
does not seem at all unusual, much like the loveable Ryo-Oh-
Ki from the Tenchi Muyo! series and films. Fortunately, this
corner will not grow up into a spacecraft!!!!!
Straightaway (Knight Sabers Shoot): This short straightaway
is named after the famous four hardsuited heroines of the
Bubblegum Crisis universe (which comprises the original
Bubblegum Crisis from the 1980s, the following series
Bubblegum Crash, and the 1990s updated rehash Bubblegum
Crisis: Tokyo 2040).
Turn 13 (Vision): At last, the circuit widens greatly here
for this corner, providing fast cars a chance to safely pass
slower vehicles. Vision is a long, tight, right-hand, acute-
angle, semi-blind corner. Extreme care must be taken not to
bang the left-side barrier on exit as the circuit narrows
again (but not to the extreme of the section from the exit of
Ashitaka to the entry of Vision). Strong power is required
on exit to gain maximum speed along A-ko Straight and pass
several slower cars. Just like Ryo-Oh-Ki, Vision does not
seem difficult at all on approach, but its appearance quickly
changes once you are actually cornering; this is just like
the lead secondary character of Bubblegum Crisis Episode 7,
'Double Vision' (from the original Bubblegum Crisis series).
Double vision truly IS needed here in a race, both to keep an
eye on any car(s) immediately in front of you, as well as to
keep in mind which car(s) might be just around the edge of
the inner (right-side) barrier.
====================================
SAMPLE LAP TIMES
These are a few lap times for Tokyo R246. These times are
based upon one or two hot laps during Qualifying at this
venue, and thus do NOT reflect actual race lap times, which
will likely be 1-3 seconds faster per lap.
Acura RSX Type-S 200 HP 2:12.685
Alto Works Suzuki Sports Limited 220 HP 2:00.090
Aston Martin V8 Vantage 542 HP 1:58.122
Audi TT 1.8T Quattro 221 HP 2:14.789
Chevrolet Corvette C5R 592 HP 1:39.684
F090/S 711 HP 1:22.965
F687/S 927 HP 1:22.849
Gillet Vertigo Race Car 419 HP 1:42.265
Lister Storm V12 Race Car 593 HP 1:42.561
Lotus Esprit Ross 30 349 HP 2:00.497
Mazda 787B 964 HP 1:27.435
Mine's GT-R-N1 V-spec 591 HP 1:48.841
Mini Cooper 1.3i 61 HP 2:35.248
Mitsubishi FTO LM Race Car 567 HP 1:40.285
Pagani Zonda C12 376 HP 1:51.758
Pagani Zonda C12S 527 HP 1:50.572
Pagani Zonda Race Car 1199 HP 1:29.207
Panoz Esperante GTR-1 986 HP 1:37.543
Renault Clio Sport Race Car 285 HP 1:55.472
Tickford Falcon XR8 Race Car 599 HP 1:43.999
Toyota Celica TRO Sports M 405 HP 1:56.470
Toyota Vitz RS 1.5(J) 230 HP 2:03.911
THANKS
A big arigatou to DaZee (from the GameFAQs message board for
Gran Turismo 3) for correcting my statement on the reality
status of the Tokyo R246 circuit. Domo arigatou gozaimasu!!!
CONTACT INFORMATION
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please contact me at: FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM; also, if you
have enjoyed this guide and feel that it has been helpful to
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