Irvine right at home in Japan

K.P. Hong

Thursday, Oct. 28, 1999 | 4:29 a.m.

SUZUKA, Japan - Eddie Irvine feels right at home in Japan, and thinks it's an appropriate place for him to win his Formula One championship.

"If I were to win the championship and I could choose where to win it, this is the place I would want to do it," the Ferrari driver said Thursday as he began preparing for the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.

Irvine raced in Suzuka for three years beginning in 1990, and he took part in his first Grand Prix at the track in 1993.

"I came out of amateur racing in Europe into what was a very professional series at the time, here in Japan, and this is the country where I feel I became a proper racing driver," he said.

Ferrari hasn't won a Formula One constructor's title since 1983. It hasn't won a driver's title since 1979. Now, Irvine can give the famed Prancing Stallion both of them.

Irvine goes in with a four-point lead over defending series champion Mika Hakkinen of McLaren.

Two weeks ago ,in the Malaysian Grand Prix, Hakkinen finished third behind Irvine and his Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher, but was declared the winner because of Ferrari's alleged technical violations.

The FIA's International Court of Appeal last weekend reversed the decision made in Malaysia. Ferrari is now four points ahead of McLaren in the Constructors' stakes, with 118 points.

Hakkinen also likes the 3.6-mile layout.

"I have only good memories of this track," he said. "It is the circuit where I scored my first podium (in 1993), and then to have won my first championship over here last year was a fabulous experience."

If Hakkinen wins with Irvine second, they will finish the 16-race season tied at 76 points. The winner gets 10 points, and six are awarded to second place.

If they are tied after the race, Hakkinen retains the title on the strength of five victories to Irvine's four.