In 1971, following the F1 trend, Bridgestone develops Japan's first slick tyre.
In 1969, in addition to the Japanese Grand Prix for sports prototypes, Japan saw the start of the JAF Grand Prix for single-seater formula cars. Japan now had its own race for formula cars, the most popular category of racing, with machines designed purely for on track speed. At Bridgestone, however, we were still focusing our development efforts on touring car tyres based on road tyre designs. For the 1971 season, slick tyres were introduced for the first time in F1 racing. Used only in dry conditions, these tyres had no tread pattern in order to maximise contact with the track.
Always evolving its technology, Bridgestone welcomed this new concept and by October the same year we had developed Japan's first slick tyre, the RA-300. Sold commercially from 1972, this tyre - renowned for its speed - completely dominated Japanese touring car racing.
In the early 1970s, Bridgestone continued to improve its racing tyre technology for Japan's most popular race, the GC series. Top drivers included Noritake Takahara, Motoharu Kurosawa, Tadashi Sakai, Hiroshi Kazato, Harukuni Takahashi and Tetsu Ikuzawa.
1976 - Bridgestone Motorsport is established
Japan hosted its first F1 race in 1976 at the Fuji Speedway circuit.
Bringing the world's premier motor race to Japan was the natural culmination of a period that saw many world class events taking place in Japan, from the Tokyo Olympics of 1964 to the 1966 Beatles tour and the 1970 Japan EXPO.
At first, Bridgestone was simply going to be a race sponsor. However, all the F1 cars were equipped with Goodyear tyres, and it seemed wrong for us as a tyre maker to sponsor a race run on another brand of tyres.
In that period, F1 allowed manufacturers to participate in single races, so we decided to take part in the Japanese F1 Grand Prix. We still needed to make our own race tyre, of course.
When the motorsports tyre development staff were consulted, it was discovered that they had been independently working on their own prototype F1 tyre. However, Bridgestone was reluctant to officially back their design. Instead, the company moved swiftly to set up Bridgestone Motorsport in July 1976 as a dedicated group to implement all our motorsports activities.
Our F1 dream realized - on a Japanese circuit
The date was now set: Japan's first F1 race would be held on October 24th at the Fuji Speedway circuit. Bernie Ecclestone, head of Formula One Management, was attracted by the Japanese market and after holding trials with five machines at Fuji Speedway he had decided to bring the F1 world championship to Japan.
The freshly created Bridgestone Motorsport department saw the significant potential impact of having a Bridgestone-shod car in this F1 race and urgently set to work to realize their dream in the three months remaining before the race. Heros Racing, owned by Japan's top driver Kazuyoshi Hoshino, purchased a second-hand machine from Tyrrell Racing in order to take part.
Bridgestone Motorsport mounted a campaign to persuade the company's management that we must provide tyres for Hoshino's machine, and eventually, swayed by the group's evident passion for the project, they gave us the green light to go ahead.
Running third in our first F1 grand prix
In the rain, a legend is born
The first F1 race in Japan began in torrential rain, the first time F1 drivers had competed in such severe weather. Bridgestone had considerable experience in heavy rain and other adverse weather conditions through our participation in Japanese racing series, and the tyres we had developed based on that experience helped Hoshino to successfully battle through the downpour, at one point reaching third position. In that moment, a legend was born - Bridgestone's superiority in wet conditions.
Unfortunately, when the rain stopped and the track dried out, Hoshino's team ran into problems and had to retire. This was due to both inexperience and lack of preparation - the team didn't have enough wheels to replace the wet tyres with dry ones.
Although their team did not place, this experience was enough to firmly convince the Bridgestone engineers that they could be successful if they persevered. Hiroshi Yasukawa of Bridgestone Motorsport had already become acquainted with Bernie Ecclestone thanks to a friend's introduction.
In Japan's first F1 Grand Prix, Kazuyoshi Hoshino, on Bridgestone tyres, reaches 3rd position in heavy rain. (To distinguish it from the Japanese Grand Prix - the top race in Japan at the time - this race was known as the F1 World Championship in Japan)
Tyres made from F1 compound revolutionise the kart racing world
Bridgestone then used the compound developed for the F1 tyre to create a new kart racing tyre. This high-performance tyre caused a revolution in the world of kart racing, which until then had run on the same simple tyres as amusement park go-karts.
This racing kart tyre, with the same high grip compound and cross section as our formula car tyre, almost instantly became the world's top seller, creating a whole new business for Bridgestone.
Just as importantly, this tyre made an impression on many future F1 drivers, since young racers with F1 ambitions often started in kart racing. Both Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher rode on Bridgestone tyres in their kart racing days, and these drivers agreed with our approach to tyre design.
In fact, some years later, in our second year of F1, we supplied Bridgestone tyres to the McLaren team. Bridgestone Motorsport's Hiroshi Yasukawa recalls how Michael Schumacher called him beforehand, demanding to know why his Ferrari machine wasn't also fitted with our tyres. Even at this early period, Schumacher was aware of the superiority of Bridgestone tyres and keen to use them.
In 1977, Bridgestone realizes the importance of kart racing and begins making kart tyres. These quickly gain an outstanding reputation among kart racers worldwide. Photo shows Jarno Trulli in 1995, in his pre-F1 kart racing period.
1977 - developing racing tyres for Japanese-made F1 machines
In 1977, the F1 Grand Prix was held again in Japan, and this time there were Japanese manufactured machines competing, piloted by Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Noritake Takahara. Providing new tyres for these machines further fuelled our passion for F1 tyre development.
Bridgestone Motorsport's Hiroshi Yasukawa had been a huge fan of motor racing in his student days, and he now played a key role in inspiring the company to press on with its F1 efforts. As a tyre manufacturer, he believed Bridgestone should be committed to F1 racing.
Placing 11th in the qualifying round, Hoshino declared himself highly satisfied with his tyres' responsiveness. But then tragedy struck, with the race at Fuji circuit being marred by a horrific collision. At the time, Japanese society was suffering from car and motorbike gangs, and this incident brought public worries about speed to a head. The result was the cancellation of all future plans for F1 races in Japan.
In the 1977 F1 Grand Prix, Bridgestone provided tyres for Japanese drivers Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Noritake Takahara. Photo shows Takahara in his Kojima KE009.
