is a 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 ...

from

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

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 ...

Racing career

As a youth, Suzuki won the All-Japan Kart Championships in 1975 and 1976. In 1979, he took the title of the first All-Japan Formula Three Championship. In 1992, he won the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

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

Masahiro Hasemi 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 ...

. In the same year, he was runner-up in the Japanese F3000 championship.

Formula One

In , he participated in two Formula One Grands Prix, standing in for

Philippe Alliot Philippe René Gabriel Alliot (born 27 July 1954) is a French former racing driver and broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Born and raised in Voves, Alliot initially studied political science before dropping out ...

at the Larrousse team. Though he scored no championship points, Suzuki finished both races.

After Formula One

Suzuki competed mainly in national championships, including the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship (later Formula Nippon),

Japanese Touring Car Championship The Japanese Touring Car Championship (abbr: 1985–1993: JTC, 1994–1998: JTCC, officially known as All Japan Touring Car Championship, ) was a former touring car racing series held in Japan. The series was held under various regulations during ...

(JTCC) and All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC). He also participated into 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 ...

. In 1996, he made a single start in the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

, driving for

Joe Bessey Joseph W. Bessey (born June 25, 1961) is a former NASCAR owner/driver. He won one career Busch Series race before heading back to the Busch Grand National North Series in 2001, where he continues to field teams. In his driving career in that seri ...

Nazareth Speedway Nazareth Speedway was an auto racing facility in Lower Nazareth Township, Pennsylvania, Lower Nazareth Township in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, which operated from 1910 to 2004. The racing facility operated in two distinct co ...

; an accident during the race left him with a concussion. In 2006, he became director of the R&D SPORT 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 ...

to continue the team that

Direxiv Direxiv Co. Ltd. was a motorsports company that competed in Super GT and Formula Nippon. The company had links to the GP2 Series, then the feeder series for Formula One, and had submitted an entry to run a Formula One team in 2008. History Direxiv ...

abandoned.

GT-R

Most recently, he worked for

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 ...

as a test driver to help in the development of the R35

Nissan GT-R The Nissan GT-R (''Gran Turismo–Racing''; model code: R35; Japanese: 日産・GT-R; ''Nissan GT-R'') is a series of cars built by Japanese marque Nissan from 2007 to 2025. It has a 2+2 (car body style), 2+2 seating layout and is considered b ...

Motorsports career results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Japanese Formula Two/Formula 3000/Formula Nippon results

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

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results

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

Complete JGTC results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) *The race at Fuji Speedway was cancelled due to a large crash on the first lap and heavy fog afterwards.

Complete Formula One results

( key)

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

References

External links

*
Profile at grandprix.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suzuki, Toshio Living people 1955 births Racing drivers from Saitama Prefecture Japanese racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Japanese Formula One drivers Japanese Formula 3000 Championship drivers Formula Nippon drivers Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers British Formula Three Championship drivers NASCAR drivers Super GT drivers Japanese Touring Car Championship drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Larrousse Formula One drivers Long Distance Series drivers TOM'S drivers Team LeMans drivers Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers Nismo drivers Team Goh Motorsports drivers