World’s Best City for Motorsports

Do not ask me why, but I love motorsports. I am passionate and will take an hour break from that paper that is due in three hours to watch a Formula1 race. It could be because I love the sound of a modified engine as it races up through the RPM range to reach its peak; or it could be because I love the whistling a spooling turbo makes; or maybe it is the admiration of the honed techniques and skills each of driver employ to push the vehicle to its limits as they tear through corners at breakneck speeds.

I do not know why it is I love motorsports so much but I do. Sadly, living in Jamaica I do not have much of a choice in terms of motorsports.

So, I asked myself the question, where would one live, ideally and solely to fulfill all my Gearhead fantasies?

This is a challenging question to ask a Gearhead as there are so many factors which influence the decision. The U.S. certainly deserves a nomination; while I do not disagree, I simply dislike NASCAR and Indy racing (driving in circles… not that exciting for me) and so choosing America is already losing its lustre.

One, though, cannot forget the American Le Mans Series, or the monster-truck series or the D1GP series (among others) all of which have numerous rounds or are solely done in the U.S. But, where the U.S. loses is in its international events. There are very few top level international events which have a round in the U.S. and most Gearheads would be still left wanting.

Countries like England are host to a number of motorsports events including the British Touring Car Championship, a round of the World Rally championship, a round of the formula one championship, a round of the Moto GP, World and British superbike championships…etc.

If all the racing series above wasn’t enough to persuade you to move, England is close to mainland Europe, which puts other races such as the Dutch Touring Masters (in Germany) and other rounds of other major worldwide motorsports events really close by.

Undoubtedly London, England would win as “Best Motorsport City” …if Japan didn’t exist.

While England is certainly noteworthy, it lacks the “car culture” which dominates Japan. Japan is home to so many of the world’s major motor vehicle brands such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi.

Additionally, the country also boasts a heavy tuner culture, where people modify their cars and race them over the many race tracks. Tracks such as the Fuji speedway, Tsukuba circuit, Suzuka circuit, and Motegi speedway are internationally known and hosts races almost weekly.

Japan is also home to the drifting culture that has been taking the world by storm. In addition to all of this, Japan hosts an F1 race, a GP2 race, a WRC race, the JGTC and the JTCC, D1 Grand Prix, Super GT, Drag Races, Local Rallies among many many other races.

Certainly this is a country which is worthy of the title. As far as cities are concerned, Tokyo wins out as it is a train ride away from all the major raceways in Japan.

I fail to see a city or country which would have motorsport written all over it bigger than Tokyo, Japan. If you cannot get your fix here, I wouldn’t know where to send you.

Honourable mention goes to Melbourne, Australia where you may see many international races and is home to the Australian V8 supercars series.