, also known as Hammy, is the former director of the

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari (; ), currently racing under Scuderia Ferrari HP, is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "the Pranc ...

F1 Team Tyre Development. He previously worked for

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (18891976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of (), meaning ...

as the director of its Motorsport Tyre Development until 2011.

Career

Bridgestone

After graduating from

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology The commonly known as TUAT is a national university headquartered in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan. The university consists of two faculties that provide courses in agriculture and engineering. History The predecessor of the university was founded i ...

in a master's course in

macromolecular chemistry A macromolecule is a "molecule of high relative molecular mass, the structure of which essentially comprises the multiple repetition of units derived, actually or conceptually, from molecules of low relative molecular mass." Polymers are physi ...

, Hamashima joined a Japanese tire company,

, in 1977. He has consistently worked on the development of tires for motor sports since 1981. He worked in many racing categories, such as

Formula Two Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...

, DTM, the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

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 ...

and

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

. When the company started to supply tire to Formula One in , Hamashima took leading role to develop racing tire. During the Formula One era, he often appeared on the

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

's F1 program even in Grands Prix weekends and commented as a tire engineer, about the compatibility of the circuit and the tire, and other related matters. Thus, he became well known among Formula One fans in Japan.

Scuderia Ferrari

On 11 January 2012,

announced that Hamashima moved to the team and took a role in its technical department to improve the interaction of the Ferrari car and its tires. Hamashima left Ferrari at the end of 2014.

Later efforts

On 5 March 2015, MediaDo Kageyama Racing (owned by Masahiko Kageyama, who finished in 3rd place at the

1998 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 66th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 6 and 7 June 1998. Schedule Events for the 24 Hours of Le Mans began on 2 May with technical inspections, before initial pre-qualifying on 3 May. The race week ...

with

Kazuyoshi Hoshino is a Japanese former racing driver and businessman. Motorsport career Hoshino's nickname was . He won the Japanese motocross national championships in the 90cc and 125cc classes for Kawasaki in 1968 before switching to cars as a Nissan facto ...

and

Aguri Suzuki is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Suzuki entered 88 Formula One Grands Prix, achieving a best result of third at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the first Asian driver t ...

) announced that Hamashima had become a special advisor to the team. In January 2016, he joined CERUMO taking part in

Super Formula The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series held primarily in Japan. It is considered to be the pinnacle of single-seater racing in Japan or Asia as a whole, making it one of the top motorsport series in the region. The s ...

and

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 ...

, and he became the team principal.

References

Books

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External links

Bridgestone Motorsport
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Hirohide Hamashima's Grands Prix preview 2010
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Hirohide Hamashima's Grands Prix preview 2009
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Hirohide Hamashima's Grands Prix preview 2008
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Hirohide Hamashima's Grands Prix preview 2007
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Hirohide Hamashima's Grands Prix preview 2006
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Hirohide Hamashima talks about Formula One drivers
- {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamashima, Hirohide 1952 births Living people Engineers from Tokyo Formula One people Japanese automotive engineers Japanese motorsport people Bridgestone people Ferrari people Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology alumni