The Tokyo Grand Prix (officially known as the Inaugural running of the World Grand Prix) was the first race in the World Grand Prix, which took in 2011 at the Tokyo Street Circuit in Tokyo, Japan. The circuit is a spectacular street circuit located in Tokyo. The race is the only race in the World Grand Prix that takes place at night. The circuit goes through the main straight, passes in front of the Imperial Palace in the park (the rally dirt track), goes through the streets, then passes on a 360° loop and then on the Rainbow Bridge, so called because it emits colorful lights. After they head back to the main straights.
The race was won by Francesco Bernoulli ahead of Lightning McQueen and Carla Veloso.
Starting grid[]
The starting grid was reversed, the fastest racers started from the end of the grid.
| Position | Number | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 06 |  Raoul ÇaRoule
|
| 2nd | 5 |  Miguel Camino
|
| 3rd | 4 |  Max Schnell
|
| 4th | 24 |  Jeff Gorvette
|
| 5th | 9 |  Nigel Gearsley
|
| 6th | 2 |  Lewis Hamilton
|
| 7th | 10 |  Rip Clutchgoneski
|
| 8th | 7 |  Shu Todoroki
|
| 9th | 8 |  Carla Veloso
|
| 10th | 95 | Lightning McQueen
|
| 11th | 1 |  Francesco Bernoulli
|
| Position | Number | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 95 | Lightning McQueen
|
| 2nd | 06 | Raoul ÇaRoule
|
| 3rd | 4 | Max Schnell
|
| 4th | 2 | Lewis Hamilton
|
| 5th | 9 | Nigel Gearsley
|
| 6th | 24 | Jeff Gorvette
|
| 7th | 8 | Carla Veloso
|
| 8th | 7 | Shu Todoroki
|
| 9th | 10 | Rip Clutchgoneski
|
| 10th | 5 | Miguel Camino
|
| 11th | 1 | Francesco Bernoulli
|
Zigzag Positions[]
Here are the positions of the zigzag section of the Tokyo Race.
| Position | Number | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 95 | Lightning McQueen
|
| 2nd | 8 | Carla Veloso
|
| 3rd | 7 | Shu Todoroki
|
| 4th | 4 | Max Schnell
|
| 5th | 2 | Lewis Hamilton
|
| 6th | 1 | Francesco Bernoulli
|
| 7th | 10 | Rip Clutchgoneski
|
| 8th | 9 | Nigel Gearsley
|
| 9th | 06 | Raoul ÇaRoule
|
| 10th | 5 | Miguel Camino
|
| 11th | 24 | Jeff Gorvette
|
Race[]
Race report[]
Tokyo poster
The fastest racers quickly take the first places at the end of the first straight line. Francesco Bernoulli is in first position, but has some difficulties on the dirt section. At the end of lap 1, while he had just passed three cars in the straightway, Miguel Camino (5th) had his engine explode and goes back to the pits, immediately taken care of by his team. During the rest of the race, Lightning McQueen and Bernoulli swap places, McQueen catching up on the dirt and Bernoulli in the straightaways. At the end of lap 34, Rip Clutchgoneski's (3rd) engine blew up and spun out with Carla Veloso and Max Schnell barely dodging his crash. In turn 26 (360° loop), Mater gives him a bad indication, and McQueen moves to the outside. Bernoulli takes advantage of this and passes first in the last 8 laps. In turn (33) on the last lap (52),[N 1] Schnell (5th) blew his engine, causing him to spin out and crash into a tyre barrier. In the last straightaway, McQueen moves to the right and tries to overtake Bernoulli, to no avail. Bernoulli crosses the finish line 106 milliseconds before McQueen.[N 2] Behind, Veloso finishes just before Shu Todoroki. Lewis Hamilton arrives alone with a comfortable advantage on the last peloton composed of Nigel Gearsley, Jeff Gorvette, and Raoul ÇaRoule, who arrives a few seconds later.
Race classification[]
| Position | Number | Name | Laps | Time/Retired[N 2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1 | Francesco Bernoulli
|
52 | 48:26:870 |
| 2nd | 95 | Lightning McQueen
|
52 | 48:26:976 |
| 3rd | 8 | Carla Veloso
|
52 | 48:28:126 |
| 4th | 7 | Shu Todoroki
|
52 | 48:28:335 |
| 5th[N 3] | 2 | Lewis Hamilton
|
52 | ? |
| 6th | 9 | Nigel Gearsley
|
52 | ? |
| 7th | 24 | Jeff Gorvette
|
52 | ? |
| 8th | 06 | Raoul ÇaRoule
|
52 | ? |
| DNF | 4 | Max Schnell
|
52 | Engine Failure |
| DNF | 10 | Rip Clutchgoneski
|
34 | Engine Failure |
| DNF | 5 | Miguel Camino
|
2 | Engine Failure |
Max Schnell's engine overheated on the final lap of the race
Rip Clutchgoneski's engine overheated on the 34th lap of the race
Miguel Camino's engine overheated on the 2nd lap of the race
Post-race[]
On the podium, while Darrell Cartrip was interviewing the winner of the race, McQueen went back to his pit. After a discussion with Mater, he gave an interview later on to explain his mistake. Lewis Hamilton was apparently given a time penalty applied after the race. Although he crossed the finish line in fifth position, it is Nigel Gearsley who is ranked fifth in the World Grand Prix standings at the start of the Porto Corsa Grand Prix.
After the retire of three cars, this has led some to suggest that Allinol, could be the cause of the accidents. Miles Axlerod gave an interview saying that Allinol did not caused these car to flame out. Two of the three accidents of the race happened on racers who had just overtaken other cars (Miguel Camino and Rip Clutchgoneski), and always at the beginning of the start-finish straightway. This will be explained later when it will be discovered that the World Grand Prix was the target of a plot to sabotage the race.
Overall rankings[]
World Grand Prix standings at the end of the Tokyo Grand Prix.
| Position | Number | Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1 | Francesco Bernoulli
|
10 |
| 2nd | 95 | Lightning McQueen
|
8 |
| 3rd | 8 | Carla Veloso
|
6 |
| 4th | 7 | Shu Todoroki
|
5 |
| 5th | 9 | Nigel Gearsley
|
4 |
| 6th | 24 | Jeff Gorvette
|
3 |
| 7th | 06 | Raoul ÇaRoule
|
2 |
| 8th[N 3] | 2 | Lewis Hamilton
|
1 |
| DNF | 4 | Max Schnell
|
0 |
| DNF | 10 | Rip Clutchgoneski
|
0 |
| DNF | 5 | Miguel Camino
|
0 |
Circuit[]
Layout[]
The start-finish straight is in the middle of the long straightway, measuring more than 4 km (2.5 mi) in real life. After 7 sharp turns going even at 90°, they arrive in the hairpin of the Imperial Palace, and pass on the Nijubashi Bridge, and then in the dirt section, which is in the Chiyoda district.[N 4] The exit from this section is on a long straightway in a tunnel. Then a new series of technical turns, sometimes very narrow, with the chicane and then the 360° loop which leads to the Rainbow Bridge. Then comes a series of short straights separated by 90° turns. After the 33rd turn, they arrive on the long straightway.
The circuit has 34 turns, of which 8 are on the dirt section and 17 considered as technical turns. The track is 33 % dirt and 67 % asphalt.
Pit lane[]
| Position | Number and Pit Logo | Racer | Crew Chief | Main Pitty | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | × | Unassigned | × | × | Allinol |
| 2nd |  2
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
Bruce Boxmann
|
Lewis Hamilton's Pitty
|
Allinol |
| 3rd |  4
|
Max Schnell
|
Otto Bonn
|
Max Schnell's Pitty
|
Allinol |
| 4th |  10
|
Rip Clutchgoneski
|
Brian Gearlooski
|
Terrell Geartry
|
Allinol |
| 5th |  8
|
Carla Veloso
|
Cruz Besouro
|
Adam Parke
|
Allinol |
| 6th |  24
|
Jeff Gorvette
|
John Lassetire
|
Turbo Bullock
|
Allinol |
| 7th |  06
|
Raoul ÇaRoule
|
Bruno Motoreau
|
E. Manual Maniez
|
Allinol |
| 8th |  7
|
Shu Todoroki[N 5]
|
Mach Matsuo
|
Kik
|
Allinol |
| 9th |  1
|
Francesco Bernoulli[N 6]
|
Giuseppe Motorosi
|
Alex Machino
|
Allinol |
| 10th |  95
|
Lightning McQueen
|
Mater
|
Guido
|
Allinol |
| 11th |  5
|
Miguel Camino
|
Petro Cartalina
|
Honk Cho
|
Allinol |
| 12th |  9
|
Nigel Gearsley
|
Austin Littleton
|
Nick Pit-Tire
|
Allinol |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
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The layout of the circuit on a real map, following the routes.
- The circuit is entirely based on real Tokyo roads, but they were never used for racing.
- All the shots of the race are inverted, which means that the circuit map has to be flipped in axial symmetry.
- The racers pass first through the Imperial Palace and then through the dirt section, which is not possible according to the race route.
- The Japanese names of the World Grand Prix (ワールドグランプリ) and Allinol (アリノール) can be seen on the edges of the circuit.
References[]
- ↑ Max Schnell was still in the race when Francesco managed to overtake Lightning McQueen in the last lap
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 From the time panel
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lewis Hamilton was apparently given a time penalty applied after the race. Although he crossed the finish line in fifth position, it is Nigel Gearsley who is ranked fifth in the World Grand Prix standings at the start of the Porto Corsa Grand Prix.
- ↑ In Japanese: 千代田区.
- ↑ In the international version of the movie, his pit box has the surname "Todokori" instead of "Todoroki".
- ↑ In the international version of the movie, his pit box has his first name "Francesco" instead of his surname like the rest of the racers.