Okayama International Circuit (岡山国際サーキット), formerly known as TI Circuit Aida (TIサーキット英田) before 2005, is a private motorsport race track in Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. TI was the abbreviation of "Tanaka International" after the name of the golf club owner, Hajime Tanaka, though the name of the circuit was officially "TI Circuit Aida".

As well as hosting racing events, the circuit has rental facilities including bikes and go karts available.

History The course was opened in 1990 as a private motor racing track for the wealthy. Soon, it hosted its first race, staged by veteran British drivers.

In and , the TI Circuit hosted the Formula One Pacific Grand Prix; both events were won by Michael Schumacher in his early title-winning years. This race made Japan one of only nine countries to ever host more than one Formula One event in the same year (Autopolis was planned to host a second Japanese race in , but it never came to fruition). It was discontinued primarily due to its location in a remote area of the country. The event was also planned to host a race of the 1996 International Touring Car Championship season in August to replace the F1 race, but the race was instead moved to Suzuka Circuit, held in November.

In 1999, defending JGTC GT300 champion Shingo Tachi was killed when he tested a GT500 Toyota Supra after he suffered from a technical failure that prevented him from slowing down for the first turn. Although there was no driver fatality in the JGTC or Super GT race events beforehand, the incident occurred almost a year after Tetsuya Ota's near-fatal, fiery accident at Fuji Speedway.

In March 2003, the Tanaka International Company, parent company of the official circuit owner TI Circuit Company, applied for civil rehabilitation. After the application, Unimat Holding Co., Ltd. announced that it would financially support the TI Circuit Company in keeping the facility open. The company was renamed Okayama International Circuit Co., Ltd. on 1 May 2004, and the circuit was renamed Okayama International Circuit on 1 January 2005.

On 26 October 2008, the circuit hosted a round of the Formula V6 Asia and FIA World Touring Car Championship. The WTCC race was the first FIA world championship race since 1995. However, it was announced on 21 June 2010 that Suzuka Circuit would host the Japan round of the 2011 WTCC season instead of the Okayama International Circuit.

On 3 March 2012, Unimat sold the circuit to Aska Corporation, an auto parts manufacturing company.

Events

Current

April: Super GT, Ferrari Challenge Japan May: Porsche Carrera Cup Japan June: Super Formula Lights, F4 Japanese Championship August: GT World Challenge Asia, SRO Japan Cup September: MFJ Superbikes October: Super Taikyu

Former

Asian Le Mans Series 1000 km of Okayama (2009) Formula BMW Pacific (2009–2010) Formula Dream (2002–2003, 2005) Formula One Pacific Grand Prix (1994–1995) Formula Regional Japanese Championship (2020–2025) Formula Toyota (2005–2006) Formula V6 Asia (2008) Japan Le Mans Challenge (2006–2007) Japanese Touring Car Championship (1992–1995, 1997–1998) Super Formula Championship (2007–2008, 2015–2020) TCR Japan Touring Car Series (2019–2020, 2022–2023) World Touring Car Championship FIA WTCC Race of Japan (2008–2010)

Lap records

The outright unofficial all-time track record is 1:10.218, set by triple-world champion Ayrton Senna in a Williams FW16, during qualifying for the 1994 Pacific Grand Prix. As of August 2026, the fastest official race lap records at the Okayama International Circuit are listed as:

CategoryTimeDriverVehicleEvent Grand Prix Circuit (1990–present): Formula One 1:14.023 Michael Schumacher Benetton B194 1994 Pacific Grand Prix Super Formula 1:15.237 Nick Cassidy Dallara SF19 2020 Okayama Super Formula round Formula Nippon 1:19.345 Satoshi Motoyama Lola FN06 2008 Okayama Formula Nippon round Super GT (GT500) 1:19.710 Takashi Kogure Honda NSX-GT 2018 Okayama GT 300 km Race LMP1 1:20.561 Jonny Cocker Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 2009 1000 km of Okayama LMP900 1:21.298 Hiroki Katoh Zytek 04S 2006 Okayama JLMC round Formula Three 1:21.380 Álex Palou Dallara F314 2017 1st Okayama Japanese F3 round Super Formula Lights 1:22.281 Iori Kimura Dallara 320 2022 Okayama Super Formula Lights round LMP2 1:24.948 Matthieu Lahaye Pescarolo 01 2009 1000 km of Okayama Super GT (GT300) 1:26.304 Naoya Gamou Mercedes-AMG GT3 2017 Okayama GT 300 km Race Formula Regional 1:26.315 Tokiya Suzuki Dome F111/3 2025 Okayama FRJC round Superbike 1:28.153 Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha YZF-R1 2017 Okayama All Japan Road Race Championship Superbike round GT3 1:28.513 Luo Kailuo Ferrari 296 GT3 2025 Okayama GT World Challenge Asia round Porsche Carrera Cup 1:29.161 Tsubasa Kondo Porsche 911 (992 I) GT3 Cup 2022 Okayama Porsche Carrera Cup Japan round Formula Renault 3.5 1:29.311 Earl Bamber Tatuus FRV6 2008 Okayama Formula V6 Asia round GT1 (GTS) 1:30.359 Carlo van Dam Saleen S7-R 2009 1000 km of Okayama Ferrari Challenge 1:30.438 Anna Inotsume Ferrari 296 Challenge 2025 Okayama Ferrari Challenge Japan round GT2 1:32.136 Dirk Müller BMW M3 GT2 2009 1000 km of Okayama Formula 4 1:32.202 Ritomo Miyata Dome F110 2017 Okayama Japanese F4 round Supersport 1:32.794 Keisuke Maeda Yamaha YZF-R6 2017 Okayama All Japan Road Race Championship Supersport round Formula Toyota 1:34.021 Tsubasa Abe Tom's FT30 2005 1st Okayama Formula Toyota round GT 1:34.335 Atsushi Yogou Porsche 911 (996) GT3-R 2003 Aida JGTC round Formula BMW 1:34.388 Facu Regalia Mygale FB02 2009 Okayama Formula BMW Pacific round Group A 1:36.281 Kazuyoshi Hoshino Nissan Skyline GT-R BNR32 1993 Okayama JTCC round GT4 1:36.582 Takeshi Suehiro Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport 2026 Okayama SRO Japan Cup round TCR Touring Car 1:36.706 Anna Inotsume Honda Civic Type R TCR 2023 Okayama TCR Japan round Super Touring 1:36.807 Osamu Nakako Honda Accord 1997 Okayama JTCC round Super 2000 1:48.767 James Thompson Honda Accord Euro R 2008 FIA WTCC Race of Japan Motorcycle Circuit (2020–present): Superbike 1:29.889 Yuki Okamoto Yamaha YZF-R1 2024 Okayama All Japan Road Race Championship Superbike round Supersport 1:35.235 Kengo Nagao Yamaha YZF-R6 2023 Okayama All Japan Road Race Championship Supersport round Moto3 1:39.740 Hiroki Ono Honda NSF250R 2024 Okayama All Japan Road Race Championship J-GP3 round

Notes

References

External links

Okayama International Circuit official website – Asian Festival of Speed results