@Ramtamtama

Suzuka is one of the handful of circuits that is almost unanimously agreed should remain on the F1 calendar in perpetuity

@namenamename390

Shoutout to SouthPawRacer, who, a while ago, did a video about Suzuka's proposed layouts, which were absolutely ridiculous.

@chicobicalho5621

The history of Interlagos is also very interesting; created in the late 1930s in its original 8 km long layout with a fascinating "oval" on its outer perimeter, it was the favourite track of no-one less than Ronnie Peterson and Gilles Villeneuve. The original circuit had two straights, of which the current one was the short one, every kind of turn possible (but no "esses" it must be admitted) including a really cool hairpin (Sargento Curve) with 14⁰ banking, where the audience on a molehill inside the pin saw the cars almost as if from above, it also had interesting elevation changes. Destroying that track was like destroying the original Penn Sation in NY, and its substitute was similarly mediocre.

@jacekatalakis8316

It's  known for more than just F1 though, it hosts the Suzuka 8 Hours and was host to a pair of NASCAR exhibition races in 96-7, and the 500cc (now MotoGP) round until the death of Daijiro Kato in 2003, when the race was moved to Motegi's infield road course

@NukeshotMedia

Some of the different layouts of Suzuka were covered by SouthPawRacer, including the 3 crossover one, for those interested

@jacekatalakis8316

Not sure if it's the greatest circuit ever, but, it's up there. I can lap Suzuka for hours in any racing game or sim for literally hours

@DidierPeroni

Aidan, you really need to bring back all the back catalog of your older videos.

They were absolute gold

@RACECAR

Cool to hear the greater context behind the construction of Suzuka.

I also agree that "Groups Of Thunderous Riders" is a cool name. Its got "Bad ass Rock band" energy to it (Leather chaps and chains optional)

@Pewnhound112

I have always said it was like Suzuka was created in a lab by racing drivers because it is as close to the perfect track as you can possibly get.

@VonBlade

Degna 2 is one of my favourite corners. It's so satisfying when you get it right, and can give you a Dan Dare into the hairpin. What a glorious track.

@mrterp04

Reminds me a little of the story of Daytona—going from a “natural” course to a purpose built one

@clintonmorris8222

That wrap up at the end of the video was a genuine Clarkson bombshell...

@AntoniusTyas

Me and my friends held a racing league in our discord server using RSS SuperFormula cars. We did our practice at Suzuka. Easy to see why. It is stunning. Be it in SuperFormula cars or F1 2022 cars, it is a huge fun to drive around.

My favourite part is the exit from parabolic and into two Degner Curves. That feeling when you nailed an almost flat-out entry into Degner 1 and hard braking into Degner 2 before going all-out under the bridge... it's something else. Other parts that I love include throwing the car almost flat-out into turn 1 before nailing that precision job around the Esses complex. In a downforce-dependent cars it is a huge fun, and I love every single second of my lap. Definitely my favourite Japanese track along with Sugo.

@Jon.S

My favourite circuit, it just flows so nicely, is difficult to get right, and it must feel so amazing to get a great lap done in an F1 car around there.

@johnpatricklim4509

a bucket list to visit and see the japanese gp in suzuka....

@davie2675

There's only two F1 races I've went out of my way to watch in years Spa and Suzuka. Both great tracks

@hoedenbesteller

Built by the visionary that Soichiro Honda was... Damn I long for those days... nothing left of it

@roberteddington746

There is a great documentary sky did a couple of years ago on Ernest degner. Even if your not a bike fan it's a really interesting cold War docufilm. Plus the suzuka 8hr bike race is a amazing event especially when the fans light up the main grandstand with glow torches

@AxeGaijin

My favourite circuit to race on in racing games hands down. This and Laguna Seca are my go to tracks to find a good general set-up for my cars.

@y_fam_goeglyd

Thank you! I knew the "great escape" story from Julian Ryder (perfect name for a bike commentator lol), years ago when watching Moto GP (IIRC at the Saxonring). He didn't go into quite as many details, but it was a great story even so. You just added the icing on the cake! I never put him and the corner(s) together, though. I just assumed it was a Japanese word (I've never seen it written down, I know next to no Japanese, so...🤷🏻‍♀️)

I love Suzuka. Even the 8 hour bike race has me hooked. It's got everything a race needs and I don't need the drivers to tell me that the crowd is awesome, it's obvious over the TV. Much respect to the organisers and the crowds, who manage to do so much all over the site, with so little interference (if any) with the timetable. 

IMHO it's one of a handful of races that should never be off the calendar, along with Melbourne (or any of the best tracks in Oz. The country has got to be there, I am not wedded to the track, though it's definitely a good one), Silverstone (let's be honest, the crowds there are pretty awesome too), Spa, Interlagos & Montreal. I'm not completely sold on Monza, but I understand why it's so important to the drivers. History is very important. So that's on my "B list" (the should be on the calendar), alongside Austria, Hungary (the racing is usually better there than predicted each time), and CotA (essentially a new favourite of mine as well as the drivers). The "C list" (okay, if you insist...) has Monaco & Bahrain (though I prefer the Sakhir circuit). My "wish list" has one of the German tracks coming back because racing is a major part of German road history, ditto with France, but they don't have a suitable track anymore, sadly. The rest..., I don't really care about them.

I dare say people will disagree with my "rankings", but as they say, opinions are like arseholes, everyone's got one!