With the almost painfully long five-week gap between the Luxembourg and Japanese Grands Prix counting down to the final few days, Bridgestone is putting all its available resources into giving title contenders Mika Hakkinen and West-McLaren-Mercedes the best possible chances in the deciding race of the F1 season at Suzuka on November 1.

In the drivers' world championship, Hakkinen's 90 points put him only four points ahead of season-long challenger Michael Schumacher. The constructors' series is not so close: McLaren needs only one point to take the crown, regardless of Ferrari's result in Japan. And by wiping out the two points that separate it from Williams, Benetton still has a sporting chance of taking 3rd place.

"With so much at stake on home soil, this is a nerve-tingling race for us," says Mr Hirohide Hamashima, Technical Director of Bridgestone Motorsport. "We are determined to give Mika every chance of repeating his memorable win at the Nurburgring in the Luxembourg GP, of course. But we are also very much aware of the significance of the constructors' title. Who would ever have thought a world championship would be within our reach in only our second season of F1 competition?"

The past month has seen extensive tyre testing in Europe with the leading Bridgestone teams. "We have conducted promising tests both at Barcelona and Magny-Cours," Mr Hamashima reports, "as a result of which we will have five completely new types of tyre at Suzuka; two dry-weather designs and three for wet conditions. The Barcelona test was particularly useful because the surface there, and the ambient temperatures, are close to what we are expecting for Suzuka."

But our test programme is never complete, Hamashima added. Two days after the Grand Prix we will be back to Suzuka in order to offer all the teams a chance to evaluate Bridgestone products conforming with the new regulation and to start development on the 1999 tyres."

The Japanese circuit, in use for the Japanese GP since 1987, is regarded with Spa Francorchamps as one of the two most rewarding in the world for drivers. "Suzuka has every type of corner, from a slow chicane to the daunting 130-R, which only the best drivers and cars were taking flat out last year," says Hamashima. "From our perspective, though, the most challenging corner is the 180-degree Spoon Curve, where the exit speed has a critical effect on speed down the long following straight. Good stability and reliability of the rear tyres are the main conditions required to achieve a good performance on this track.

"In general, Suzuka needs a good car setup and the right choice of tyre in order to avoid excessive understeer. Because overtaking is unusually difficult, qualifying takes on added importance in order to achieve the best possible grid position. We have reinforced our team with extra engineers for this race and I can safely say that every one of us can hardly wait for the big day."