is a Japanese former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

and

motorsport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...

executive, who competed in

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

from to . Suzuki entered 88

Formula One Grands Prix Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing series managed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name alludes to a series of FIA ...

, achieving a best result of third at the

1990 Japanese Grand Prix The 1990 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 21 October 1990 at Suzuka Circuit, the fifteenth and penultimate race of the 1990 Formula One World Championship. It was the 16th Japanese Grand Prix and the 6th held at Suzuka. ...

, becoming the first Asian driver to score a podium finish. He also won the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship in 1988, and later finished third overall at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. He was also a race-winner in the All-Japan GT Championship. He became involved in team ownership after his Formula One career, first forming

Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) is a joint racing project formed between former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki and Autobacs in 1997. The team's original name was "ARTA F1 Project," but due to trademark claims based on the usage of the word "F1", the n ...

(ARTA) in 1997 in partnership with

Autobacs () is a retailer of Automotive industry, automotive parts and accessories based in Japan, with branches primarily in Asia and stores also located in France. Etymology Autobacs was given a backronym as follows, which reflects the products the c ...

. ARTA has competed mostly in

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of ...

, where they have won titles in both the GT500 and GT300 classes. He was the owner of the Super Aguri F1 team, which participated in Formula One from to . He also formed

Team Aguri Team Aguri, formerly Amlin Aguri and officially the Team Aguri Formula E Team, was an international motor racing team founded by former Formula One and 24 Hours of Le Mans driver Aguri Suzuki (Executive Chairman) and Mark Preston (businessman), Ma ...

, which raced in

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...

from 2014 to 2016.

Early life

Aguri Suzuki was born in Tokyo; his father Masashi Suzuki was of mixed ancestry from Japan and

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

. Masashi Suzuki had worked as an aircraft technician for Honda Airways, and in 1973 established a go-cart shop. Aguri was named after the main character in the

Kuri-chan is a yonkoma manga series by Susumu Nemoto which ran from October 1, 1951, to March 31, 1965, in the Asahi Shimbun evening edition. Nemoto modeled the main character, Kuri-chan, after his oldest son, born in 1948. The name of the main characte ...

comic strip. He attended

Josai University is a private university in Sakado, Saitama, Japan, established in 1965. The predecessor of the school, Jōsai Gakuen Middle School, later Jōsai High School, was founded in 1918. The university is operated by the Josai University Educational Cor ...

majoring in the sciences, but did not complete his degree.

Racing career

Early career

Suzuki began racing karts in 1972, at the age of 12. In 1978 he won the Japanese kart championship and in 1979 made his debut in the Japanese Formula Three (All-Japan F3) championship. He continued in karting and in 1981 was again Japanese Kart Champion. In 1983 he finished second in the All-Japan F3 series, driving a Hayashi-

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

. He then turned to touring car racing and, driving for the

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

factory team won the Japanese title in 1986. The same year he made his debut in Japanese F2 and drove in the Le Mans 24 Hours. In 1987 he finished runner-up in the Japanese F3000 series, winning one race (Suzuka). In 1988, driving a

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

- Yamaha he won the title with three wins (Fuji, Nishi-Nippon and Suzuka).

Formula One career

In 1988, Suzuki raced in European F3000 with Footwork, before he debuted in Formula One on October 30 at his home race, replacing the ill

Yannick Dalmas Yannick Dalmas (; born 28 July 1961) is a former racing driver from France. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times (in 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1999), each with different teams. Prior to this, he participated in 49 Formula One Grands Prix, debuti ...

in the

Larrousse Larrousse Formula One was a motorsports racing team founded in 1987 by Didier Calmels and former racer Gérard Larrousse, originally under the name Larrousse & Calmels. It was based in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, Antony, in the southern suburbs of Pa ...

- Lola.

Zakspeed Zakspeed () is a motor racing team from Germany, founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski and then run by his son Peter Zakowski. It is based in Niederzissen, Rhineland-Palatinate, around from the Nürburgring circuit. The team was, together with th ...

, who were using Yamaha engines, hired Suzuki for 1989, but he failed to pre-qualify in all 16 races. Aguri Suzuki demonstrating Lola LC90 2012 Japan

For 1990 and 1991, he drove again for Larrousse. He finished sixth three times, before finishing third at Suzuka – the first ever podium for an Asian driver in F1. He also set the second-fastest lap. In 1992 and 1993, he was at Footwork alongside

Michele Alboreto Michele Alboreto (; 23 December 1956 – 25 April 2001) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Alboreto was runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari, and won five F ...

and then

Derek Warwick Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick (born 27 August 1954) is a British former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . In endurance racing, Warwick won the World Sportscar Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans, both in 1992 with Peuge ...

, but both usually outperformed him. He shared a

Ligier Ligier () is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Cham ...

with

Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Brundle won the World Sportscar Champions ...

in 1995, but only scored one point in his races, and was criticised by Mika Salo after the two collided in Buenos Aires. A massive crash in practice for the 1995 Japanese Grand Prix caused a neck injury which saw him miss the race, and he immediately announced his retirement. Suzuki scored a total of eight championship points in F1. At the time he retired, he was the second most successful

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese F1 driver after

Satoru Nakajima is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Born and raised in Okazaki, Aichi, Nakajima began his racing career at the Suzuka Circuit in 1973. He progressed to Japanese Formula Two in ...

in terms of points scored, but

Takuma Sato is a Japanese racing driver, who competes part-time in the IndyCar Series for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Sato competed in Formula One from to . In American open-wheel racing, Sato is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 2017 a ...

and

Kamui Kobayashi is a Japanese racing driver and motorsport executive, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, Toyota and in Super Formula for KC Motorgroup, KCMG. Kobayashi competed in Formula One from to . In end ...

have since passed them both.

After Formula One

Suzuki later raced in the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, and remained involved in Japanese driver development. In 2000, with long-term sponsor

, he ran

, which won the GT300 title in 2002, and expanded to

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, commonly abbreviated as the DTM, is a sports car racing series sanctioned by ADAC. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The series currently races a modified version of Group GT3 gra ...

a season later. He also launched Super Aguri Fernandez Racing with Adrian Fernandez, running cars in the

Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...

Team ownership

From 2006 Suzuki ran the

Super Aguri F1 Super Aguri F1 was a Formula One team that competed from to . The team, founded by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki, was based in Tokyo, Japan, but operated from the former Arrows factory at the Leafield Technical Centre, Oxfordshire, England. ...

Formula One team with the backing of

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

. He put his new team together in four and half months from his initial announcement on 1 November 2005. The team's initial entry was rejected by the FIA after they failed to secure financial guarantees before the entry deadline, and their acceptance was not formally confirmed until 26 January 2006. The team made its debut at the

Bahrain Grand Prix The Bahrain Grand Prix (), officially known as the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix for sponsorship reasons, is a Formula One motor racing event in Bahrain. The first race took place at the Bahrain International Circuit on 4 April 2004. It made hist ...

on 12 March 2006. In 2007,

scored two top-eight finishes, earning the team its first points, and Super Aguri ended up ninth in the Constructors' World Championship. On 6 May 2008, after competing in the opening four races of the season, the team withdrew from Formula One due to financial problems.''

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

''
"Struggling Super Aguri out of F1"
6 May 2008. Retrieved on 30 June 2013.

Helmet

Suzuki's helmet is white with a red line with black sides surrounding the top, a red and black line going from the rear down the chin (forming an A) and a black circle on the top.

Racing record

Career summary

Complete Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results

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

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete International Formula 3000 results

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

Complete Formula One results

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

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship (1994-) results

Complete JGTC results

( key)

References

External links

Official SiteSuzuki featured at itv-f1.comAguri Suzuki's profile and statistics at Formula One DataBase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Aguri 1960 births Living people Racing drivers from Tokyo Japanese racing drivers Japanese Formula One drivers Sports car racing team owners IndyCar Series team owners Formula One team owners Formula One team principals Formula E team owners Japanese Formula Two Championship drivers Japanese Formula 3000 Championship drivers Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers Japanese Touring Car Championship drivers International Formula 3000 drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Larrousse Formula One drivers Zakspeed Formula One drivers Arrows Formula One drivers Jordan Formula One drivers Ligier Formula One drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Nismo drivers TOM'S drivers Mercedes-AMG Motorsport drivers Team Aguri drivers Team LeMans drivers Japanese people of French descent Japanese motorsport people