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, nicknamed "Monster", is a hillclimb racer, tuning shop owner, rally team manager and former rally driver who is best known for his participation in Suzuki's
rallying Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed ...
program as well as his triumphs at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in USA and Silverstone Race to the Sky in NZ (which he won eight times out of eleven events).


Racing career

Tajima made his race debut in 1968 in the All Japan Dirt Trial Championship where he won his first race. His first involvement in the
World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...
was in the 1981
Lombard RAC Rally Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) cal ...
, where he entered a Datsun. In 1983 he established Monster Sport International, a motorsport preparation shop. In 1986, he sealed his association with Suzuki when he established Suzuki Sport, its in-house motorsport division and returned to the
World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...
where he competed driving a
Suzuki Cultus The Suzuki Cultus is a supermini car produced by the Japanese manufacturer Suzuki from 1983 to 2016. The nameplate is currently used as a rebadged Suzuki Celerio#second, second-generation Suzuki Celerio in Pakistan since 2017. It was first pres ...
in the
Olympus Rally The Olympus Rally is an event in the motorsport of rallying. While it has usually been run as a national rally, in 1986–1988, it was a round in the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA World Rally Championship, the most recent time a ...
. In 1987, he competed in the
Olympus Rally The Olympus Rally is an event in the motorsport of rallying. While it has usually been run as a national rally, in 1986–1988, it was a round in the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA World Rally Championship, the most recent time a ...
, taking his first class win and finishing 15th overall. He returned again the following year where he won his class again, finishing 7th overall. From 1991 to 1992, he competed in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, including dual APRC/WRC rounds such as
Rally Australia Rally Australia is an Rallying, automobile rally event which was held in Coffs Harbour as the final leg of the World Rally Championship (WRC) until 2018. First run in 1988, the rally was held in and around Perth, Western Australia until 2006. ...
and
Rally New Zealand The Rally New Zealand is an annual rally race in New Zealand. It was first included as a round of the World Rally Championship in 1977. The race is famous for its fast flowing gravel roads which carry the competitors through forests and alongsid ...
. Initially he drove a Suzuki Swift, then switched to a Suzuki Baleno Wagon Kit Car in 1997, and a Suzuki Ignis S1600 in 2001. As the Junior World Rally Championship project took off in 2002, he decided to retire from rally driving while he was competing in the Asia Pacific Rally to become team manager of Suzuki Sport. Tajima has continued to compete in
hillclimbing Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the firs ...
, which he is best known for. Suzuki and Tajima started the Pikes Peak challenge in 1989. In 1993, with a twin-engined Cultus, Tajima won the Unlimited Division, finishing second overall. In 1995, he achieved an outright victory at Pikes Peak with a twin-engined
Escudo The escudo ( Portuguese: 'shield') is a unit of currency which is used in Cape Verde, and which has been used by Portugal, Spain and their colonies. The original coin was worth 16 silver . The Cape Verdean escudo is, and the Portuguese escudo ...
, becoming the first Japanese driver to win the event. In 1996, he started driving a car which he became famous for, the V6 Suzuki Escudo. He used this vehicle to win the Silverstone Race to the Sky in the Cardrona Valley in
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
for three consecutive years from 1998 to 2000, and to finish runner-up at Pikes Peak three times in 1996, 1998 and 1999. In 2006, at the
Geneva Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show was an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show was hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon was organised b ...
, he announced his plan for Suzuki Sport to form the Suzuki World Rally Team, which would field a
Suzuki SX4 The Suzuki SX4 is a subcompact car and Crossover (automobile), crossover produced by Japanese automaker Suzuki since 2006. A successor of the Suzuki Aerio, Aerio tall hatchback and sedan (automobile), sedan, the first-generation model was availab ...
in 2007. However,
World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...
calendar changes meant Suzuki's team debuted in 2008. Tajima took Pikes Peak that year with a newer version of the Escudo. Despite crashing during practice, he achieved another overall victory in a race that was shortened by rain. On July 21, 2007, Tajima bested Rod Millen's thirteen-year-old course record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in his Suzuki Sport XL7 with a time of 10:01.408. He was the overall winner again in 2008 with the Suzuki XL7 with a time of 10:18.250. With a new
Suzuki SX4 The Suzuki SX4 is a subcompact car and Crossover (automobile), crossover produced by Japanese automaker Suzuki since 2006. A successor of the Suzuki Aerio, Aerio tall hatchback and sedan (automobile), sedan, the first-generation model was availab ...
, he again won outright in 2009 and 2010, driving up the hill in 10:15.368 and 10:11.490 respectively. On June 26, 2011, Tajima won again, bested his own record and broke the "10 minute barrier" of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with a time of 9:51.278, driving the Suzuki SX4 Hill Climb Special, developed by Monster Sport. This was his seventh overall win at Pikes Peak. For the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb event, Tajima switched to the electric class, citing concerns about climate change. That year his car was an electric Monster Sport E-RUNNER Pikes Peak Special. Although the clear leader of the class in qualifying, Tajima didn't complete the actual race due to a power transfer problem during his run. In 2013, he won the Electric class and placed 5th overall with a time of 9:46.530 in the Monster Sport E-RUNNER. In 2014, he again improved his time, creating a new record in the electric class with a time of 9:43.90 in the E-RUNNER. In 2015, Tajima was driving an electric Tajima Rimac E-Runner Concept_One, which was made in collaboration with
Rimac Automobili Rimac Automobili (, ) is a Croatian automotive manufacturer headquartered in Sveta Nedelja, Zagreb County, Sveta Nedelja, Croatia, that develops and produces electric car, electric sports cars. Its sister company, Rimac Technology (part of the R ...
. Tajima finished second overall with a time of a 9:32:401, behind
Rhys Millen Rhys Rodney Millen (born 6 September 1972) is a New Zealand-born racing driver. Nephew of IMSA GTS driver Steve Millen, son of Rodney and older brother of Ryan, is one of the America's top competitors in drifting. Prior to that he was a to ...
's 9:07.222 in a Drive eO PP03. In 2016, he came in fifth fastest overall and third of the EV's in his Tajima Rimac E-Runner Concept_One, behind Rhys Millen and Tetsuya Yamano. With a time of 9:51.978, the car was unable to beat last year's time (9:32.401), which itself was handicapped by a brake and overheating issues. In all, he has taken nine All Japan Dirt Trial Championship titles, four WRC class wins, two class wins in the Asia-Pacific Rally championship, seven overall
Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the List of mountain ranges of Colorado#Mountain ranges, highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. The Ultra-prominent peak, ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, ...
wins between 1995 and 2011, and eight overall Race to the Sky victories from 1998 to 2007. He also scored four points in the 1988 World Rally Championship season and finished 4th in the 2001 Asia-Pacific Rally championship for drivers.


Awards and honors

* Pikes Peak Hill Climb Museum Hall of Fame (2016)


References


External links


Official siteProfile and results of Tajima
Rallybase.nl
Pikes Peak gallery
ppihc.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Tajima, Nobuhiro 1950 births Japanese rally drivers World Rally Championship people World Rally Championship drivers Suzuki people Living people Racing drivers from Tokyo People from Suginami