The Japanese Formula 3 Championship reached that stage with its new title holder already defined: Dutch driver Tom Coronel, having completely dominated that year’s series with six wins in the previous eight races, could no longer be reached by any other competitor and had ensured that the coveted laurels were already yours. Despite that, Coronel had enough motivation to place his TOM’s Dallara F397 – Toyota on the front row for the race - only Daisuke Ito could be faster than him during the qualifying sessions. This scenario did not mean that Coronel would have an easy time at the foothills of Mount Fuji, since by that point of the season the Honda Mugen engines were getting closer and closer to the performance displayed by Toyota powerplants. Also, the long straight at Fuji favored the Honda cars, and Ito and Yuuji Tachikawa were estimated to be at least 6 km/h faster than Coronel in the main straight, and no set-up change in the TOM’s car seemed to be able to make up for that difference. Therefore Coronel asked his engineer to fit his car with a short first gear, aiming to grab the lead of the race at the start and to build as much possible through gear changes to reduce the speed difference at the end of the straight.

The strategy seemed to work out, as when the green light came out Coronel jumped into the lead and made the first corner ahead of the competition. However, the other drivers followed his Dallara closely and, when Wakisaka tried to close the gap under braking for the second corner, he hit one of the rear wheels of Coronel’s car and flew into the air. Wakisaka’s Dallara executed a double roll and landed partly on Coronel’s vehicle and partly on the Dutch’s helmet; both cars escaped to the run-off gravel area, with Coronel’s machine ended against the barriers. Despite the scary accident and a few bruises, the two drivers walked away unscratched.

The organizers immediately deployed a safety car to enable the marshals to clean the accident. Whilst most of the pack was cruising behind the safety car, Takashi Yokoyama, who had started the race back in seventeenth place, did not notice the field slowing down and, about to complete the first lap, came upon the other cars travelling at a speed of circa 160 mi/h (257 km/h). Takashi's Dallara hit another vehicle and was launched five meters into the air, crashing into the gantry carrying the signboard over the main straight. The car disintegrated upon impact, scattering debris over five hundred meters and killing Yokoyama instantly. The race was cancelled.

R.I.P