There were different tracks throughout the Speed Racer series and Movie. This page will list all tracks ever featured in all of Speed Racer.
What are T-180 tracks…?
T-180 tracks are very long racing tracks built for the vehicles to race on and are unique in their own designs. The film producers hired video game designers to create the race tracks and for the looping background in some scenes. The tracks feature diverse sections such as jumps, corkscrews, loops, and banked turns for drifting. Some feature all at once, such as the Grand Prix in Cosmopolis.
The tracks are built with identical materials to keep the structure of the track intact. The roads are made with a special type of Tarmac while the Grand Prix is coated with advanced tarmac embedded with sticky rubber for the cars to keep a good grip. The WRL has built tracks in very exotic locations around the world and some have been built in very climate heavy areas such as snowy mountains along with extremely hot environments. There are currently three tracks in the film that were for T-180 vehicles: Thunderhead, Fuji Helixicon, and the Grand Prix. Then the Rally race known as “The Crucible”, AKA: the Casa Cristo 5000.
Thunderhead Raceway[]
Thunderhead was the first track featured in the Speed Racer film, and is located on the outskirts of Cosmopolis. Rex Racer holds the lap record before and after Speed Racer's race, with a time of 9:18.65. Before Rex Racer became Racer X, he took Speed Racer to Thunderhead to practice. The track features many stunt pieces such as the infamous Dreadnought Jump which is 30 meters in length, so prepare for a speed boost before the jump. The track surface is made of forged steel. Representing a very slippery situation while going through tight turns and it had spelled many DNFs for wannabe drivers. The track features 29-30 left and right turns which should be carefully navigated.
The race begins at the long one mile long straight before veering into a long right hand helix turn. Then they reach the tight left and right turns until they come through a tightly right hander before they head through the “esses”. Then two left hand turns will take them to the famous corkscrew. The corkscrew will veer them into a left hand before going to a right turn. Then they will make it to the Dreadnought Jump in which they have to use their thrusters to make it over. Then it veers to two tight right hand turns before going through two more left and right turns. Then the drivers will face the “Dog Bowls”, which is a half pipe style setting where drivers can show off their skills. The track ends at the unique helix turn that goes up and down steeply, finally veering to the main straight again and completing the lap.
The track was created as the first round for the WRL T-180 championship. It was created by Video Game designers to emulate the puppet work for a special set for Emile, Christina, and Matthew Fox. The creator will control the car in the game while the actor steered the wheel on the puppet car, simulating real T-180 racing on the track.
Thunderhead is one of the oldest T-180 tracks that exists within Cosmopolis.
Fuji Helexicon[]
Fuji Helexicon is a track built into an archipelago in the west seas with features as diverse as a volcano, a coral reef, and an overhanging granite cliff. The race departs from Fuji's capital Monocity rather leisurely, but if a driver doesn't get up enough speed, they might find themselves belly up in the first turn of the fearsome corkscrew pass. Japan created the track for the purpose of “Exotic Racing” at an exotic location. The pavement is a sticky tarmac that keeps the vehicles planted on the road as it goes through inversions. The track also has a jump inside the volcano for added excitement for the crowd.
The track has now come down in infamy due to its dangerous design, and how people would battle each other for first place. The Racer Family was sued in the film for allegedly having an illegal modification (which in reality, was the opposing driver of the pinkish red car who crashed into him and used spear hooks to destroy Speed’s chances of winning).
Grand Prix Colosseum[]
Grand Prix Raceway was the last track featured in the Speed Racer film. Jack "Cannonball" Taylor has won at this racetrack twice. The track is tweaked every year to keep ahead of automotive advances to ensure all WRL racers will be met with a challenge. The track is the final round of the WRL Championship and winning the race will make the driver a WRL Champion. The track boasts unique stunt pieces such as loops, near inverted turns, a “Helix Tree” that leads to the “Drop”, and narrow sections that the driver has to keep on. The track also features halfpipes that have sharp spines that stick out over eight feet in length. Making the drivers go side to side as they drive through, some drivers don’t make it and their car will usually crash into one of the spikes. The track takes about three and a half minutes to complete at full speed. The track is created using a hybrid between tarmac and sticky rubber so the vehicles can maintain a good grip on the road.
Casa Cristo 5000
The Casa Cristo 5000, otherwise known to many as “The Crucible”… is a two stage rally race that starts at the golden city of Casa Cristo in the early hours of morning. The race spans TWO continents and THREE climate zones in two whole days. The race begins with forty to fifty drivers competing, usually only one to three drivers are left after due to how extremely dangerous the race is. At 5000 Km of racing, The race is over eight thousand miles and the stages are unique.
Stage one starts off from the city and into the hot desert before ending at the first checkpoint, the drivers get some rest before heading out for the second stage. The second stage goes through the high mountains and eventually encounter the Maltese Ice Caves, which is where Rex Racer faked his death to become Racer X. The race is extremely dangerous at the second stage as one small slip can send the driver off the cliff and into the pits. The race ends within Europe and it ends at the arena. Speed, Taejo, Trixie, and Racer X were able to complete the race as a three car team while fighting off Snake Oiler and his Hydra Cell team.
Fun Facts:
• T-180 tracks are built with extreme racing in mind, due to the vehicles being capable of reaching over 750Kmph. The WRL took advantage of the jet thrusters and used the special wheelbase to create new efficient tracks for the use of the newly found thrusters. And adding unique inversions such as loops, corkscrews, and inverted turns.
• In the video game, the tracks look much different due to the game being set one year later.
• The video game features THREE new tracks (for the PS2 version). Onuris (which is set in Egypt), Aurora Cyrptocon (which is set in an icy landscape), and Skorost (which is inside a Russian rocket base).
• Thunderhead is the oldest track that’s still used by the WRL, originally designed by legendary race car driver Velocity Dewitt. It was to create new and exciting car racing and Rex Racer took advantage of the banked turns with the Mach 4, drifting the vehicle fast. And inventing “Jet Drifting”.