Kunimitsu Takahashi

Kunimitsu Takahashi
Takahashi in 1963
Nationality	Japanese
Born	(1940-01-29)29 January 1940 Tokyo, Japan
Died	16 March 2022(2022-03-16) (aged 82)
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1960–1964 First race 1960 250cc German Grand Prix Last race 1964 125cc French Grand Prix First win 1961 250cc German Grand Prix Last win 1962 125cc Spanish Grand Prix Team(s) Honda Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 129 4 15 N/A 3 107
Formula One World Championship career
Active years	1977
Teams	non-works Tyrrell
Entries	1
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1977 Japanese Grand Prix
Last entry	1977 Japanese Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1986–1990, 1994–1996
Teams	Team Kunimitsu Honda, Kremer Racing
Best finish	8th (1995)
Class wins	1 (1995)

Kunimitsu Takahashi (Shinjitai: 高橋 国光, Takahashi Kunimitsu, 29 January 1940 – 16 March 2022) was a Japanese professional motorcycle road racer, racing driver, and team manager. Nicknamed "Kuni-san", he is known as the "father of drifting".

His racing career lasted from 1958 to 1999.^[1] He competed on motorcycles between 1958 and 1963, during which he became the first Japanese rider to win a World Grand Prix, taking four world-level wins in total. Injuries sustained in a crash in 1962 led to him switching to four-wheels in 1965, after which he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in class, become a four-time All-Japan Sports Prototype Champion, and won in Japanese Top Formula, JTC, and JGTC. His final victory as a driver came in 1999 at the age of 59.

His racing team, Team Kunimitsu, has won multiple championships in Super GT. He was the chairman of the GT Association, the organizers of the Super GT series, from 1993 to 2007.

In 1961, Takahashi became the first Japanese rider to win a motorcycle Grand Prix riding a 250cc Honda to victory at Hockenheim. His best World Championship finishes were a fourth place in the 1961 250 world championship and a fourth place in the 1962 125 world championship, both times on a Honda.^[2] He was seriously injured in the 1962 Isle of Man TT and switched to car racing in 1965. He won four Grand Prix races during his motorcycle racing career.

Takahashi participated in one Formula One race, the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix on 23 October 1977, driving the non-works Tyrrell that Kazuyoshi Hoshino had used in the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix. Takahashi finished 9th in his single Grand Prix outing, thus he scored no championship points. From 1987 to 1992, he competed in the Japanese Formula 3000 championship. He also competed in eight 24 Hours of Le Mans races between 1986 and 1996. In the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans, his team competed with a Honda NSX, winning the GT2 Class and finishing eighth overall.

In 1994, he formed Team Kunimitsu to compete in the inaugural JGTC season, running a Porsche 911 RSR Turbo in the GT1 class alongside Keiichi Tsuchiya. In 1996, with the advent of the GT500 class, Team Kunimitsu switched manufacturers from Porsche to Honda. The next year, Team Kunimitsu cars wore the Raybrig colors for the first time. Takahashi drove for his own team until 1999. He retired at the end of the season to focus on team management. Team Kunimitsu won their first Drivers Championship in 2018 with Naoki Yamamoto and 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button behind the wheel of the #100 Raybrig Honda.^[3]

Takahashi died from lymphoma on 16 March 2022, at the age of 82.^[4][5]

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key)

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2021)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1986	Kremer Racing	Jo Gartner Sarel van der Merwe	Porsche 962C	C1	169	NC	NC
1987		Kris Nissen Volker Weidler		C1	6	DNF	DNF
1988		Hideki Okada Bruno Giacomelli		C1	370	9th	9th
1989		Bruno Giacomelli Giovanni Lavaggi		C1	303	DNF	DNF
1990		Sarel van der Merwe Hideki Okada		C1	279	24th	21st
1994	Kremer Honda Racing	Keiichi Tsuchiya Akira Iida	Honda NSX GT2	GT2	222	18th	9th
1995	Team Kunimitsu	Keiichi Tsuchiya Akira Iida		GT2	275	8th	1st
1996		Keiichi Tsuchiya Akira Iida		GT2	305	16th	3rd

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kunimitsu Takahashi.

• Kunimitsu Takahashi on MotoGP.com
• Official Team Site
• Kunimitsu Takahashi career summary at DriverDB.com