- Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka signs extension for 2012
ESPNF1 Staff
March 10, 2011
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Another year at Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix © Sutton Images
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Suzuka will continue to host the Japanese Grand Prix beyond this October's race.
Last October, the boss of the Honda-owned Mobilityland company admitted that its formula one race at Suzuka is "only marginally profitable". Honda pulled its team out of F1 at the end of 2008, while Toyota and Bridgestone have also left the sport, as has the other Japanese venue Fuji.
But the Japan Times reported on the grand prix will take place in 2012 after a new agreement was reached between Mobilityland and F1 authorities.
However, Kamui Kobayashi said Japan's love affair with Formula One was a thing of the past. ""Motor sport is still a European sport," he said. "In Japan, sumo and baseball are the most popular, even though when there was Senna and Prost, it was fashionable to go to the F1 races. But sadly those times are over."
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