Toranosuke Takagi

Toranosuke "Tora" Takagi (高木 虎之介; born 12 February 1974) is a Japanese former racing driver.

Early career

Takagi was heavily influenced by his father, a touring car driver. In the early 1980s he began racing karts, competing in his first championship kart race in 1987. After winning several All Japan National Kart A2 series races, Takagi ended his kart racing career in 1991 and began racing Formula Toyota in 1992. In 1993, he began competing in All Japan Formula Three, finishing tenth in his rookie season.

Formula One

File:Takagi 1998 Spanish GP.jpg

Takagi driving for Tyrrell at the 1998 Spanish Grand Prix.

During his performance in a 1994 race he drew the attention of Japanese Formula One driver Satoru Nakajima, joining the Nakajima Racing team and competing in Formula 3000. He was heavily involved in the team from 1995 until he was chosen as Tyrrell's Formula One test driver in 1997. He graduated to a race seat for Template:F1. Takagi later competed with the Arrows Formula One team, and his European popularity was on the rise. However, there were organizational and communication problems between Takagi and both teams, and he left Formula One at the end of the Template:F1 season.Template:Fact

Post–Formula One career

File:Tora Takagi - 2002 Sure For Men Rockingham 500 (1).jpg

Takagi competing at Rockingham Motor Speedway during the 2002 CART season.

In 2000, Takagi joined Nakajima Racing's Formula Nippon team, earning eight victories in ten races, the most dominant performance ever by a driver in the series. He later competed in CART for the Walker Racing team in 2001 and 2002 finishing in a career-best 4th place in Houston, Texas. He transferred to Indy Racing League and joined Mo Nunn Racing, finishing tenth in 2003. In the same year, he competed in the Indianapolis 500, starting in seventh place and finishing in fifth, earning him the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

After another, largely disappointing season in the IndyCar Series, Takagi returned to Japan in 2005 to compete in Formula Nippon once again, taking part ownership of the Cerumo team and running one of their cars in his own name (Takagi Planning with CERUMO). Takagi also was one of the co-drivers of the No. 38 Toyota Supra Super GT car, claiming the series title along with Yuji Tachikawa. Takagi's title made him the first Super GT rookie to become champion in the GT500 class since John Nielsen and David Brabham in 1996, as well as the last until Jenson Button in 2018.

Career timeline

• 1987 – Finished eighth in Japanese A2 National Kart Series championship.
• 1988 – Finished fourth in Japanese A2 National Kart Series championship.
• 1989 – Won the Japanese A2 National Kart Series championship.
• 1990 – Won the Japanese A2 National Kart Series championship.
• 1991 – Finished second in Japanese FA National Kart Series championship.
• 1992 – Won two races in Formula Toyota.
• 1993 – Finished tenth in his rookie season in Japanese Formula 3 championship.
• 1994 – Finished sixth in Japanese Formula 3 championship. Spot participation in Japanese Formula 3000 championship from Nakajima Planning, scoring three top-ten finishes.
• 1995 – Finished second in Japanese Formula 3000 championship with Nakajima Planning, scoring three victories.
• 1996 – Finished fourth in Japanese Formula Nippon championship (ex Japanese F3000)with Nakajima Planning, scoring two victories.
• 1997 – Served as test driver for Tyrrell Formula One team. Takagi scored one victory en route to finishing sixth in Japanese Formula Nippon championship with Nakajima Planning.
• 1998 – Drove in Formula One in rookie year driving for Tyrrell. He finished in the top-ten twice, including ninth at Silverstone and Monza.
• 1999 – Competed in Formula One with Arrows, scoring two top-ten finishes, including a career-best seventh at Melbourne (Australian Grand Prix).
• 2000 – Won eight of ten races en route to winning the Japanese Formula Nippon series title with Nakajima Planning.
• 2001 – Finished 21st in CART point standings in rookie year driving for Walker Racing. He finished in the top-ten three times, including a career-best fourth at Houston.
• 2002 – Finished fifteenth in CART point standings with Walker Racing. He finished in the top-ten seven times, including tying career-best finish with a fourth place at Chicago.
• 2003 – Finished tenth in Indy Racing League point standings in rookie year driving for Mo Nunn Racing. He scored nine top-ten finishes, including a season-best third in June at Texas. He started seventh and finished fifth in first Indianapolis 500, the highest-finishing rookie. He won the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award.
• 2004 – Competed in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series with Mo Nunn Racing.
• 2005 – Competed in Formula Nippon as owner-driver of Takagi Planning with CERUMO.

Career results

Complete Formula Nippon results

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

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	DC	Points
1994	Nakajima Racing	SUZ	FUJ	MIN	SUZ	SUG	FUJ	SUZ Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	FUJ	SUZ Template:Small	NC	0
1995	Nakajima Racing	SUZ Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	MIN Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	SUG Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	TOK Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small		2nd	29
1996	PIAA Nakajima Racing	SUZ Template:Small	MIN Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	TOK Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	SUG Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	MIN Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	4th	25
1997	PIAA Nakajima Racing	SUZ Template:Small	MIN Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	SUG Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	MIN Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	6th	18
2000	PIAA Nakajima Racing	SUZ Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	MIN Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	SUG Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	MIN Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	1st	86
2005	Team Cerumo	MOT Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	SUG Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	MIN Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small		15th	0
2006	Team LeMans	FUJ Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SUG Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small		18th	0
2007	Forum Engineering Team LeMans	FUJ Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	OKA Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SUG Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small		16th	3

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Points
1998	PIAA Tyrrell Ford	Tyrrell 026	Ford V10	AUS Template:Small	BRA Template:Small	ARG Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	MON Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	LUX Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	21st	0
1999	Repsol Arrows F1 Team	Arrows A20	Arrows V10	AUS Template:Small	BRA Template:Small	SMR Template:Small	MON Template:Small	ESP Template:Small	CAN Template:Small	FRA Template:Small	GBR Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	GER Template:Small	HUN Template:Small	BEL Template:Small	ITA Template:Small	EUR Template:Small	MAL Template:Small	JPN Template:Small	20th	0

Complete American Open Wheel racing results

(key)

CART

Year	Team	No.	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Rank	Points	Ref
2001	Walker Racing	5	Reynard 01i	Toyota RV8F V8t	MTY Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	TXS NH	NZR Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MIS Template:Small	CHI Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	LSZ Template:Small	ROC Template:Small	HOU Template:Small	LS Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	FON Template:Small	21st	29	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2002	Walker Racing		Reynard 02i	Toyota RV8F V8t	MTY Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	LS Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CHI Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	MTL Template:Small	DEN Template:Small	ROC Template:Small	MIA Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	FON Template:Small	MXC Template:Small			15th	53	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	No.	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points	Ref
2003	Mo Nunn Racing	12	G-Force GF09	Toyota Indy V8	HMS Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	TXS Template:Small	PPIR Template:Small	RIR Template:Small	KAN Template:Small	NSH Template:Small	MIS Template:Small			NZR Template:Small	CHI Template:Small	FON Template:Small	TX2 Template:Small	10th	317	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
			Dallara IR-03												STL Template:Small	KTY Template:Small
2004	Mo Nunn Racing		Dallara IR-04		HMS Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	TXS Template:Small	RIR Template:Small	KAN Template:Small	NSH Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	MIS Template:Small	KTY Template:Small	PPIR Template:Small	NZR Template:Small	CHI Template:Small	FON Template:Small	TX2 Template:Small	15th	263	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2003	G-Force	Toyota	7	5	Mo Nunn Racing
2004	Dallara	Toyota	26	19	Mo Nunn Racing

Complete Super GT results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	DC	Points
2005	ZENT Toyota Team Cerumo	Toyota Supra	GT500	OKA Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SEP Template:Small	SUG Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small		1st	67
2006	Toyota Team Cerumo	Lexus SC430	GT500	SUZ Template:Small	OKA Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SEP Template:Small	SUG Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	5th	71
2007	ZENT Toyota Team Cerumo	Lexus SC430	GT500	SUZ Template:Small	OKA Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SEP Template:Small	SUG Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	7th	53
2008	Toyota Team SARD	Lexus SC430	GT500	SUZ Template:Small	OKA Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	SEP Template:Small	SUG Template:Small	SUZ Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	AUT Template:Small	FUJ Template:Small	21st	11

External links

• Toranosuke Takagi official website