Masahiro Hasemi

Masahiro Hasemi (Shinjitai: 長谷見 昌弘, Hasemi Masahiro, born 13 November 1945 in Tokyo) is a former racing driver and team owner from Japan. He started racing motocross when he was 15 years old. In 1964 he signed to drive for Nissan. After establishing himself in saloon car and GT races in Japan, he participated in his only Formula One race at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix for Kojima on 24 October 1976. He qualified 10th after an error which cost him his chance of a pole position and finished 11th, seven laps behind the winner. Contrary to a widely propagated but mistaken result, however, he never set a fastest lap in a Formula One championship race.¹ Along with compatriots Noritake Takahara and Kazuyoshi Hoshino, he was the first Japanese driver to start a Formula One Grand Prix.

Masahiro Hasemi

Born	13 November 1945 Tokyo, Japan
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Japanese
Active years	1976
Teams	Kojima
Entries	1
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0^1
First entry	1976 Japanese Grand Prix
Last entry	1976 Japanese Grand Prix

Hasemi became the Japanese Formula 2 champion in 1980, and got two titles in the Fuji Grand Champion Series in 1974 and 1980. After that he reverted to racing Skylines, which he became heavily synonymous with in Group 5, touring cars and JGTC. He won the Japanese Touring Car Championship in 1989, 1991 and 1992. He also won the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship in 1990, with the controversial win at the Guia Touring Car race at the Macau Grand Prix in 1990 and Daytona 24 hour in 1992. Hasemi retired from driving in 2001 and now runs NDDP Racing, a Super GT team that currently competes in the GT500 class. Hasemi also owns Hasemi Sport, a former Super GT racing team that ran under the Hasemi Motorsport banner and Nissan aftermarket parts company.

Hasemi is the most recent Japanese driver to win his home Grand Prix, winning it in 1975, when it was a non-championship race.

Hasemi's former Kojima KE007 on display at Yurakucho Marion in 2013.

Racing record

Japanese Top Formula Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1974	Kojima Engineering	SUZ	SUZ 1	SUZ 3	SUZ 9								2nd	20
1975	Sakai Racing Team	FUJ 1	SUZ 1	FUJ	SUZ Ret								3rd	45
	Kojima Engineering					SUZ 5
1976	Kojima Engineering	FUJ 5	SUZ	FUJ 2	SUZ 2	SUZ 4							2nd	52
1977	Kojima Engineering	SUZ	SUZ	MIN	SUZ 1	FUJ 3							4th	46
	Private Hasemi						FUJ 9	SUZ 4	SUZ 9
1978	Tomy Racing Team	SUZ 2	FUJ 3	SUZ 4	SUZ Ret	SUZ 3	MIN 1	SUZ 4					2nd	72 (82)
1979	Tomy Racing Team	SUZ 3	MIN 4	SUZ 7	FUJ 6	SUZ 1	SUZ 9	SUZ Ret					5th	55 (58)
1980	Tomy Racing Team	SUZ 2	MIN 1	SUZ 2	SUZ 1	SUZ 5	SUZ 3						1st	71 (79)
1981	Tomy Racing Team	SUZ 7	SUZ Ret	SUZ 7	SUZ 4	SUZ 7							9th	22
1984	Speed Star Wheel Racing Team	SUZ 12	FUJ 5	MIN 5	SUZ 15	SUZ 3	FUJ 12	SUZ 5	SUZ 8				6th	39
1985	Speed Star Wheel Racing Team	SUZ 8	FUJ Ret	MIN 4	SUZ 2	SUZ 7	FUJ 8	SUZ 11	SUZ 9				8th	37
1986	Speed Star Wheel Racing Team	SUZ 7	FUJ 7	MIN 5	SUZ 11	SUZ 7	FUJ 7	SUZ 7	SUZ 9				9th	28 (30)
1987	Speed Star Wheel Racing Team	SUZ Ret	FUJ 4	MIN 6	SUZ 12	SUZ 12	SUG 4	FUJ 3	SUZ Ret	SUZ Ret			7th	38
1988	Speed Star Wheel Racing Team	SUZ Ret	FUJ Ret	MIN 8	SUZ 13	SUG 8	FUJ 7	SUZ Ret	SUZ 3				9th	4
1989	Speed Star Wheel Racing Team	SUZ 6	FUJ 4	MIN 5	SUZ 3	SUG Ret	FUJ 8	SUZ 5	SUZ 1				4th	21
1990	Speed Star Wheel Racing Team	SUZ 4	FUJ 6	MIN Ret	SUZ 6	SUG 13	FUJ 8	FUJ Ret	SUZ 11	FUJ 12	SUZ 8		13th	5
1991	Speed Star Wheel Racing Team	SUZ 9	AUT DNQ	FUJ 14	MIN DNQ	SUZ Ret	SUG Ret	FUJ 19	SUZ 15	FUJ C	SUZ 14	FUJ 5	21st	2

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	Pts
1976	Kojima Engineering	Kojima KE007	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA	JPN 11	NC	0

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1981	Nissan Motor Co.	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Nissan Bluebird Turbo	4 Cylinder	66	DNF	DNF
1982	Nissan Motor Co.	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Nissan Bluebird Turbo	B	153	8th	1st

Note on fastest lap in Formula One

^ It was initially announced that Hasemi set the fastest lap at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix, but it was a measurement mistake, and, several days later, the circuit issued a press release to correct the fastest lap holder of the race to Jacques Laffite.[1] This press release was promptly made known in Japan, and the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and Japanese media corrected the record.[2][3] But this correction was not made well known outside Japan, thus, Hasemi is credited with one fastest lap in many record books.

References

1. i-dea archives (14 January 2006), '76 F1イン・ジャパン (1976 F1 World Championship in Japan), Auto Sport Archives 日本の名レース100選 (The 100 Best races in Japan) (in Japanese), Vol. 001, San-eishobo Publishing Co., Ltd., p. 77, ISBN 978-4-7796-0007-4, archived from the original on 13 December 2010, retrieved 16 December 2010
2. "Motorsport competition results: 1976 F1 World Championship in Japan" (in Japanese). Japan Automobile Federation. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
3. "Archive: 1976 F1 World Championship in Japan" (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports News. 25 October 1976. Retrieved 17 December 2010.

External links

• Masahiro Hasemi profile at the Japan Automobile Federation
• Hasemi Sport Deals with Nissan aftermarket parts (Japanese)
• Kojima F1 Project 1976 Japanese Grand prix page, partially dedicated to Hasemi-san and the car
• Gzox Hasemi's Super GT sponsor's page (Japanese)
• Team profile