Ernest Hemingway it was who said that ‘There are three sports: Bullfighting, mountaineering and motor racing; all others are just pastimes.’ The American novelist could have added: “There are three motor racing circuits: Spa-Francorchamps, Monza and Suzuka; all others are just tracks.”

Not quite true, of course, for plenty of venues are worthy of recognition in their own way, but given that F1 has raced on the three within the past five – with Singapore’s streets last week adding deliciously to the mix – the sport has been well served of late. And, Interlagos, where the likes of Emerson Fittipaldi, Carlos Pace and Ayrton Senna cut their racing teeth, is next up, so this circuit feast continues for another fortnight.

There is something about visiting places which taxed even the legendary drivers, and Suzuka fits squarely into this category. For the past two years F1 visited Fuji, and while the backdrop was spectacular (when the sun shone, all two hours of it...) and its straight the longest in F1, somehow the place felt wanting.

Not so Suzuka, where every corner is a challenge, where every bend tells its own story, of how and when it spat off a luminary. Spoon, 130R, Degner, the Snake: all have deservedly passed into lore, and rank right up there with Monza’s pedal-to-metal Parabolic and that foot-flat, up-down-over, left-right-left Eau Rouge that gives Spa its special place in motor racing history.

Yet, Suzuka is a relatively recent addition to the calendar, having made its appearance in 1987, and then only because Honda desperately wished to win a world championship on home soil. Forget that the place is in the middle of nowhere and that folk can’t reach it from anywhere in under five hours; what Honda wanted, Honda got, including the world title via Nelson Piquet in an awesome 1000 bhp Williams-Honda.

Then came the Senna/Prost wars – initially both drivers drove McLaren-Hondas; later Alain switched to Ferrari – which saw three world title finales (1988 – 1990) played out on the only figure-of-eight F1 track on the calendar. Brutal every fight was, too, with the two tangling more often than not.

In those days demand for tickets to the season closer exceeded demand by a factor of over ten. Upwards of a million fans vied for just 150 000 seats, and allocation was by lottery, with winners being advised a month in advance while the losers had their money refunded. The circuit reportedly earned more through interest on deposits paid a year in advance by hopeful punters than from the race!

Those days are long gone, of course, for even in Japan very few fans can justify the upwards of R6000 each grandstand ticket costs, as proven by rows of empty seats visible on Sunday. Still, close on a quarter million folk passed through Suzuka’s gates in three days.

Their enthusiasm was, though, put to the test on the Friday: despite non-stop rain and limited laps by the few drivers who dared venture out in the atrocious conditions, the faithful queued up from 06 00 and stayed well beyond nightfall. Sunday provided further proof of their fever: at midnight the main stand was still inhabited – by fans scrutinising the teams as they packed their gear for the long hauls back to base. Only in Japan...

Contrast this with, for example, the massive, space-age autodromes built enormous cost to taxpayers in Turkey and China. This year’s race at the former venue attracted less than 20 000 spectators, while in Shanghai two grandstands were blocked off and deployed as massive advertising billboards for the upcoming 2010 EXPO. Others contained row upon row of identically-dressed schoolchildren who arrived in identically-coloured busses after instructions in when and how to cheer identically.

Suzuka may be six hours by train from Tokyo and then an hour (by taxi) from the closest station, but it is worth every minute of every journey simply to see such devotion. And, who enjoyed themselves the most?

Why, the wide-eyed drivers. All weekend their enthusiasm for Suzuka’s twists and turns bubbled to the fore, with reigning champion Lewis Hamilton, who had never driven the place before, calling it the ‘best circuit in the world’. Pole-to-flag winner Sebastian Vettel (22), who set the pace throughout to keep his championship hopes alive going into the last two rounds, could not stop enthusing bout Suzuka.

“This circuit is amazing,” he grinned after his victory. “When you get 53 laps in a row you appreciate it even more. It is made by God’s hands, I would say.”

That said, some drivers did not share Seb’s sentiments. Saturday’s white-knuckle hour claimed four rookies – Timo Glock, Jaime Alguersuari, Sebastien Buemi and Heikki Kovalainen – while veteran Mark Webber totalled his Red Bull in practice. 38-year-old Rubens Barrichello, who finished seventh, in the process  doing his title hopes little good, suggested Suzuka was too dangerous on account of its limited run-off areas and tricky layout.

Back, then, to Hemingway: “(Man’s) fear of death increases in direct proportion to (his) increase in wealth”...