Bridgestone's start in racing - the 1963 Japanese Grand Prix

The first Japanese Grand Prix, held at the Suzuka Circuit in 1963, marked the dawn of motor sports in Japan.
Motor racing was still relatively unknown here, and although all the major domestic auto manufacturers entered this race, their inexperience was evident. The Japanese entries, basically road models, faced full race spec machines from overseas loaded with the most advanced technology. The gap between the two ways of thinking was extreme.
Bridgestone could not ignore a challenge like this, and we developed our very first racing tyre for Japan's first Grand Prix. In fact, that tyre wasn't much more sophisticated than our regular street tyres, but this first step in Japan's motor sports history was also the start of the road that would eventually carry Bridgestone to F1.

1967 - Our first Japanese Grand Prix victory

Aiming to make our mark on the international racing scene, we decided to develop racing tyres for the Porsche Carrera 6 sports prototype, at the time the world's leading race car.
Since the distance had been lengthened for the 4th Japanese Grand Prix of 1967, we designed the "RAH" tyre to have greater abrasion resistance, as well as improved grip and handling. Driving a Porsche Carrera 6 fitted with "RAH" tyres, Tetsu Ikuzawa dominated an eventful race to lead the pack over the finish line. In our fifth year of racing, we had demonstrated that Japanese-made race tyres were as good as any in the world. This was a huge landmark in the history of Bridgestone motorsports.