Hitoshi Ogawa (小河等)– Drivin' like Prost

Japan has a really ancient culture. Despite the Meiji Restoration and the U.S. occupation after their terrible defeat in WWII, it didn't destroy the Japanese way of thinking, turning the country into one of the most developed worldwide. Motor racing in Japan also retained particular features, and it grew almost isolated from the Europe-led top series or the U.S. ones. But it wasn't no problem for them. Japan created its own rich scenario, which is yet extremely powerful.

 

Hitoshi Ogawa (unknown)

            Bikes apart, as Japanese manufacturers slowly earned their reputation on the MotoGP World Championship with manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki, the four-wheel scenario took many years to become international. Well, Honda started an F1 campaign by mid-1964 but employed world-class drivers, and the design of their latest models was made through a partnership with Lola Cars. It was the first serious attempt from a Japanese manufacturer to establish itself on a World Championship, but it didn't last long, and the project ended at the end of 1968, albeit with wins and some exciting results. However, market demands didn't stimulate Japanese car manufacturers to further invest in Europe or America by then.

John Surtees, Dutch Grand Prix 1967 (Motorsport Images)

             However, this was the first sign the Japanese racing scene was about to open itself, and, in the forthcoming seasons, there were increasingly more international races in Japan, primarily with Can-Am style cars. Even more important than that, Japanese drivers came to Europe to try themselves on F2 in the first half of the seventies. Then, some racing-related manufacturers appeared in F1, like Maki and Kojima. Well, they didn't become properly famous, but it was just the beginning. And, in 1976, Japan had its first F1 Grand Prix at Mount Fuji, but it only lasted for two seasons. It's worth to mention there was an enormous culture shock, apart from the language barrier, that Japanese drivers and race-related men had to overcome when they came to Europe or the USA, so it was better to stay at home with their extremely lucrative series. There were plenty of big sponsors in Japan, a thriving car and components industry and high-quality tuners, so there was no need to leave the comfort zone. And it was intending to earn more money that some European drivers and teams tried their hands against the best Japanese drivers by the late '70s. Every piece was taking its place for the Japanese manufacturer boom that took place in the '80s. Racing and rallying worldwide would never be the same again.

 

Perhaps the best Japanese driver ever, Kazuyoshi Hoshino drive on the first F1 Japanese G.P. in 1976 (unknown)

Humble beginnings:

            While Japan's reputation was growing on the international scene, one man, his name Hitoshi Ogawa (小河等), cut his teeth as a racing mechanic with the small Hayashi Racing squad. Born at Okazaki on 15^th February 1956, Ogawa came from humble origins and was trained as a mechanic, knowing his racing dream would probably, never be achieved. However, he was an excellent professional and caught the attention of Hayashi team bosses, which gave him a drive on one of their single-seaters on the FL500 Championship, centred on the demanding Suzuka circuit (which would host the Japanese G.P. from 1987 onwards, apart of 2007 and 2008) late in 1979. Hitoshi learned exceptionally well, and Hayashi decided to promote him as a full-time driver in 1980. Albeit a late starter, Ogawa soon stood out as one of the best drivers in the series and winning two races that year and gaining points in almost all of them. Contrary to the majority of his rivals, he soon developed a regular and extra smooth driving style that would help him a lot in the future and turn Ogawa into a legend.

            With the few money and sponsoring he had after less than two seasons in FL500, Ogawa took the thoughtful decision to advance to Japanese F3 and become a professional racing driver. He found a place with Gallop Racing, driving a March 803B-Toyota and, unlike most of his rivals, he took his regular approach to the Championship again, finishing the Championship eighth, with 26 points. It was a fantastic result for a newcomer, and in 1982 Ogawa further enhanced his reputation while driving a Hayashi again, not for the works team – as future F1 driver did – but for the smaller Racing Team Hayate, improving to sixth overall with his first pole position and podium, at Suzuka. As it was said before, there were big racing prizes and local sponsorship, which kept the national championships extremely healthy. Despite his age, almost 26 years old, and having an entirely different approach from the top drivers in Japan – which were known for a far more aggressive driving style than his European counterparts – Hitoshi Ogawa impressed some influential team bosses, and in 1983 he was ready to move up to the Japanese F2.

            Japanese F2 – now called Superformula – was a far more critical venture, as it was the top single-seater Championship in Japan, and the long-time established stars were there, as well as some European drivers that, failing to achieve a place in F1, decided to move to the Land of the Rising Sun, trying to earn big money and, if the occasion appeared, forge a career there. Some of the stars were the Japanese F1 pioneers, such as Kazuyoshi Hoshino, Masahiro Hasemi, Kunimitsu Takahashi!!! Well, Ogawa took the challenge with the modest Rays Racing, and on the four races he drove, he grabbed one point. In 1984 it improved a little, with Ogawa finishing eighteenth in the Championship with five points. Despite some impressive performances, Hitoshi was actually running out of budget and had no other choice than ending his career, at least for a while.

 

The best things come when unexpected:

            Ironically, this forced halt of Ogawa's single-seater career would be the decisive moment of his career. Rays Racing also entered Toyotas on the increasingly popular Japanese Sports-Prototype Championship (JPSC), which mixed FISA and IMSA rules, which meant the marvellous Group C cars were eligible for the series. The biggest Japanese manufacturers, namely Nissan, Toyota and Mazda, didn't want to be decimated by the army of Porsche 956/962C the biggest Japanese teams bought, which gave it an enormous development wave of new models. After so many years with little projects, Japan had its eyes set on one race – the 24h of Le Mans. Even if 1985 produced modest results, Ogawa's smoothness and analytic approach to racing caught the attention of TOM's, the leading tuner who was developing the Group C Toyotas, and team boss Nobuhide Tachi invited Hitoshi to drive his cars both on the JPSC and, occasionally, on the Japanese Touring Car Championship which, by then, was also on pair with FISA's ETCC, using Group A cars as its top category. It was the beginning of a long friendship that lasted until Ogawa's demise.

            It's worthy to note that the Japanese round of the World Sportscar Championship (WSC) almost always counted for the Japanese series, which meant Ogawa's international debut was on the dantesque Fuji 1000Km of 1985, where every team bar the Japanese chose to retire on the beginning of the race due to the hefty rain pouring over the track. Toyota entered Le Mans for the first time with the 85C on the 1985 24h Le Mans edition, and one car finished, the first time a Japanese car crossed the finish line at the mythical race. And it was this model Team TOM's used at the beginning of the Japanese series, while waiting for the Dome-designed 86C and, at home, both Toyota and Nissan were already matching Porsche in terms of pure speed, even if reliability gave yet a lot of headaches. Driving alongside some of the primary household names, such as Kaoru Hoshino and Toshio Suzuki (who would appear briefly in F1), Ogawa's performances impressed and, as soon as he took the wheel of the 86C, Hitoshi quickly became one of the fastest drivers on the squad, even reaching a second place on the Suzuka 1000Km. Ogawa ended the season eighth overall, with 29 points, and if there was any doubt's by Toyota's management when they "rescued" him from Rays, they all disappeared after that season.

Fuji 500 Miles 1986, Hitoshi Ogawa shared the Toyota with Motoharu Kurosawa and Kaoru Hoshino (Hiro/RacingSportscars)

 Back to single-seaters:

            Tom's connection also allowed Ogawa to take a second chance on his single-seater career, as they also had an F3 team. Even if he was two years without driving a formula, Ogawa was immediately fast, grabbed a podium on the first round, and put his usual tactic into action. Better to accumulate points than break the car or crash trying to achieve an elusive victory in such a fierce competition. And the TOM's Toyota engine wasn't as fast as the Toda-tuned one used exclusively by Ross Cheever's Funaki Racing. By mid-season, it became quite apparent the title would be fought between the younger brother of Eddie Cheever, widely known both for his F1 and Endurance career, and Ogawa, while the remaining rivals switched from hero to zero on consecutive rounds. Cheever had already won races by mid-season, but, thanks to his thoughtful approach, Ogawa wasn't so far and, at last, took his maiden single-seater win at Mine, winning again in Suzuka. So, it was a duel till the last round, again at Suzuka, where Ross Cheever dominated the Super Final and Ogawa hadn't his best day. But everyone saw he was good enough for it.

Ogawa's driving at Sugo during his 1987 F3 campaign (unknown)

             If he finally found success in single-seaters, the new Toyota 87C was an enormous headache from the beginning and failed totally at Le Mans, while on the JSPC, Ogawa drove the first half of the season with an Alpha Cubic Team Porsche 962C. However, on the two races he did with the new Toyota, he won the first one, the renowned 1000Km of Suzuka, his first major Endurance triumph. At 31 years old, Ogawa was a rising star in the Japanese scenario, and the competition board of Toyota and TOM's relied more and more on his feedback. While racing and testing, Ogawa was a proper computer, as he could easily explain to his engineers what he really felt about the car, becoming the perfect development driver. And his calm approach to the races was an additional value for an Endurance driver, so he was finally included on the international Toyota line-up, being one of the men in charge of the development of the 88C, the new car for Le Mans.

1000Km Suzuka 1987 - Hitoshi Ogawa/Geoff Lees/Masanori Sekiya (unknown)

             If 1987 was the year when Hitoshi became a winner, 1988 was a season of mixed feelings. On one side, the new Toyota was far better than its predecessors, and the team embarked on a part-time international campaign. Ogawa just drove at Le Mans and Fuji for them, sharing the car with Tiff Needell and the already Le Mans 24h winner Paolo Barilla, probably one of the most renowned "gentlemen-drivers" back then, but was the unlucky one at La Sarthe. Even if there were no top results at home, he did miles and miles of testing because Toyota was planning a complete season on the WSC in 1989. It was also his best season on the JTC, where he also drove a works Toyota's since 1986. Yet his single-seater career appeared to stall again. Ogawa found no money to jump to F3000, where TOM's had no interest, so he did another season in F3. Hitoshi switched to Fuanaki Racing, the reigning champions, and they had now TOM's-prepared engines and support. Despite this, both Ogawa and Toyota acknowledged that the TOM's engine was no match any more for the Mugen-Honda's. 

24h Le Mans 1988 - Hitoshi Ogawa/Paolo Barilla/Stefan Johansson

 F3000 glory:

Since F2 was replaced by F3000 in Japan (it happened in the 1987 season, while in Europe, the series was introduced two years before), Mugen Power, the company founded by Hirotoshi Honda (Soichiro's son) and Masao Kimura, put an enormous effort to be recognized internationally. It's worthy of referring Mugen was never part of Honda; they were just a tuning company that always worked with Soichiro's brand. After many years of gaining a name in Japan, mainly on lower categories, they were now planning to conquer both F3 and F3000 in Japan to have a reliable and fast engine to sell worldwide. And they didn't fail. So, in F3, Ogawa could do no less than fourth, winning just one race, behind three Mugen-powered drivers.

By mid-season, he was invited by the renowned Leyton House Racing team to drive a second car for them on the Japanese F3000 Championship. Masanori Sekiya – one of Ogawa's greatest friends – was the number one driver, but the team (and Ogawa) scrapped some money to enter a second car from round four to the end of the season. Nevertheless, while Sekiya was using an aged but reliable Lola T87/50, Ogawa was given a new March 88B, which was wholly outclassed by all their rivals. Hitoshi tried his best, to no avail, as he never reached the points, despite finishing every race. Even if he wasn't retained by Leyton House, Ogawa had gained precious mileage on the powerful F3000 cars, and the wheel of fortune was about to turn around.

Albeit with no points, Ogawa's F3000 campaign was a deifining moment for his career (unknown)

 

At the beginning of 1989, Hitoshi Ogawa signed for Auto Beaurex Motorsport to drive their Lola T88/50-Mugen, a move that would further enhance his chances to shine on the top of the Japanese motoring scene, as the team used Dunlop tires, which were prevailing amidst the competitive tyre war that was an appanage of the Japanese series since their inception. While his old F3 rival Ross Cheever and the consecrated Kazuyoshi Hoshino divided the wins into the first rounds, Ogawa was always near them, both in qualifying and on the races, collecting precious points. It was precisely like Alain Prost used to do simultaneously in F1; if you can't win or want to risk too much, better play safe and grab the best score possible because, on such a disputed championship, every single point counted.

By mid-season, Ogawa was second only to Cheever without any win, while Hasemi, Hoshino and Sekiya were trailing them already a bit far. After his first retirement of the season st Sugo, Hitoshi bounced back and took his third podium at Fuji, winning at last after a stunning performance in Suzuka. Now Ogawa was leading the Championship with an advantage of three points over Ross Cheever, while Hasemi and Hoshino were out of contention when the peloton returned to Suzuka for the last round of the Championship. Ogawa couldn't just trail Cheever because, in case of a win for the American, they'd tie-up, and Cheever had already two wins under his sleeve, so this time the best Ogawa could do was switch to the attack mode he was also extremely capable of. And it duly happened, as he took his second consecutive pole position and got off the grid like a bullet to take the lead and gain a comfortable margin over his rivals. However, with just eleven laps to go, Ogawa's car broke down, a suspension failure that might have been caused by Ogawa's abnormal forcing. With Cheever fighting for the win with Hasemi, the American just needed to finish fourth to become champion, but luck helped Ogawa on the last lap. One of his best friends among the F3000 drivers, the backmarker Osamu Nakako, spun off on the final lap, and Cheever hit him on the spot, thus being forced to retire. Ogawa was Champion!!! A deserving champion and, by now, an extremely popular and confident driver.

Ogawa finally won his first title with just one win, sadly his sole win in F3000, in 1989 (Tooru Kitajima)

 Swift and with style:

Alongside his victorious F3000 campaign, Ogawa had one of his best seasons ever on the Japanese Touring Car Championship, ending third overall, and he also continued to impress as one of the fastest Toyota drivers in Endurance. As expected, Toyota used the old 88C and, when ready, the 89C-V on their first full-time campaign on the World Sportscar Championship, recurring to the services of three renowned British drivers – Johnny Dumfries, John Watson and Geoff Lees, occasionally calling for others. Ogawa's aim was the JSPC, where he drove alongside Geoff Lees and then Paolo Barilla, and the new Toyota proved to be substantially better than its predecessors and was TOM's was the sole team able to match the Porsche's on race pace, which was rewarded by a win on the prestigious 1000Km of Mount Fuji, alongside Barilla. On the international front, Hitoshi just did two races, the inaugural round at Suzuka, finishing fifth, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, alongside Barilla and arch-rival Ross Cheever, but it was again a disappointment the team retiring early with a broken engine. By the end of the season, being often compared with Alain Prost and Thierry Boutsen for his driving style and analytic approach, some F1 team bosses were interested in Ogawa but, unlike many of his fellow countrymen who were supported by an F1 manufacturer or some disposed of big sponsors, Ogawa had no money and, despite conversations with Lotus and Minardi, it was soon put aside. Ironically, Minardi would hire his teammate Paolo Barilla to partner with the legendary Pierluigi Martini in 1990. But there was one more positive event in 1989 – Hitoshi married his fiancée Masako.

24h Le Mans 1989 - Hitoshi Ogawa/Ross Cheever/Paolo Barilla (Motorsport Images)

 

For the 1990 F3000 Championship, Ogawa signed for the renowned Stellar International, switching back to Bridgestone tyres. The Japanese company had worked with our man at the beginning of his career, and their motorsport manager back then, Hirohide Hamashima, wanted him back and was behind his move to Stellar. Bridgestone was experiencing some teething problems, but Ogawa's strong testing skills soon produced the expected results. With the precision of a powerful computer and strong technical sense, Hitoshi was quickly able to help the company solve its issues. However, his five podiums and three pole-positions weren't enough to challenge Hoshino, who conquered the Championship after some dominating performances, while Ogawa finished second overall. However, the JSPC campaign wasn't so successful; the new Toyotas 90 C-V were now faster but were plagued by unreliability, and, despite winning the first round, the team accumulated retirements. This time, his best performances came from his part-time campaign on the WSC. Ogawa entered on three rounds, finishing fourth in Suzuka, and at last, he had a relatively untroubled ride at Le Mans, finishing sixth overall with Lees and his friend Sekiya, even if they failed to be the best Japanese manufacturer at Le Mans, being beaten by Nissan for the fifth place.

24h Le Mans 1990 - Hitoshi Ogawa/Geoff Lees/Masanori Sekiya (Dan Morgan)

The long-awaited internationalization:

New rules were being enforced at last at the World Sportscar Championship in 1991, turning the F1-like atmospheric 3.5-litre engines mandatory unless for Le Mans. It was the beginning of the end for Group C and even the WSC for two decades, as the raising costs alienated the small manufacturers and privateers, while the big ones had to build new engines to remain competitive. At the same time, the use of similar engines on the two most important racing championships in the world was expected to allow the manufacturers to be able to sell engines on both categories, but their F1 programmes took priority, and the WSC was on the verge of collapse when Mercedes and Jaguar retired at the end of 1991 while the old Porsches were no longer competitive. However, Toyota was hopeful they could finally have a chance and put their efforts into a brand-new car to be used in 1992. Thus, Ogawa's season was spent entirely in Japan, again on three fronts.

His full-time comeback to the JTC only gave him one win and a bunch of retirements (his commitments in 1990 didn't allow Hitoshi to invest a lot on this Championship), Ogawa's second season with Stellar International in F3000 wasn't as good as the year before, the driver from Okazaki finishing fifth overall with just three podiums while watching the winner, Ukyo Katayama, earning a place in F1 in 1992 thanks to his primary sponsor, Cabin. However, the positive side came from the Sport-Prototypes, as Toyota was now embroiled in a hefty fight against Nissan (which also lost interest in the WSC), and their latest model, the 91 C-V, was as reliable as fast. Driving alongside his old friend Masanori Sekiya, Ogawa was embroiled in a great fight for the title against Kazuyoshi Hoshino/Toshio Suzuki's works Nissan. This royal duel ended with Nissan's victory, just two points ahead of Ogawa/Sekiya's Toyota, who had one win and four podiums, again proving regularity is a practical approach to fight for a championship.

1000Km Fuji 1991 - Hitoshi Ogawa/Masanori Sekiya (Kunihiro Osada/RacingSportscars)

 

The 1992 WSC was at risk for some time due to the lack of interest from manufacturers and private entrants, bit it survived at least for one more season thanks to Peugeot, Toyota and Mazda – which was basically the TWR Jaguar chassis from 1991 coupled with a Judd engine – and a bunch of privateers, but the first race of the season only attracted 11 entries!! Despite the meagre expectations about the Championship, which had been second just behind F1 in terms of worldwide racing, Toyota had decided to fully concentrate their efforts on it for the first time, coupled with the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In between, TOM's was already thinking about F1 and hired John Barnard to equip their factory in England and do a project for an F1 car to convince the administration to advance with the money. At last, at 36 years old, Ogawa was an international driver, as he was chosen by Toyota to drive on the WSC alongside Geoff Lees and was expected to take part in the F1 project.

The first race of the 1992 WSC, which should have taken place at Autopolis, was cancelled, and the Championship's opening took place at Monza two weeks later. Peugeots were expected to dominate, at least the first half of the season, while the new Toyota TS010 came to terms with the usual teething troubles. However, after qualifying second, Lees/Ogawa fought against the second Peugeot until the latter's retirement and were running comfortably in second place, a minute behind the Warwick/Dalmas Peugeot until the fading brakes of the French car failed on the second chicane on the penultimate lap and Dalmas spun off and crashed with some violence. Uninjured, Dalmas had to see Ogawa inherit his lead and take the first win ever for Toyota on the WSC. It was a lucky win, undoubtedly, but it was a win nevertheless, and the Toyota proved quite reliable. But the dire state of the Championship could be seen by the few entries and the final results – only three cars crossed the finish line, and from them, just the winner completed the distance required to be classified! On the following round, at Silverstone, Peugeot dominance continued as expected, but Lees/Ogawa were again driving at a good pace until an electric failure sidelined the Toyota halfway through the race. Then, the third round at Jarama was also cancelled, and Ogawa returned to Japan.

Ogawa/Lees were extremely lucky to win the WSC Monza round (unknown)

The untimely end of a legend:

Hitoshi was happy he was driving at last on an international level, but he knew the WSC was moribund, and his main aim was Le Mans, where he should share the car with Lees and old F3000 rival Katayama. And there was the F1 project, so it was better to use the forced pause to come back to F3000 not to lose his rhythm on single-seaters. Suzuka hosted the third round of the Championship, and Ogawa agreed with prestigious Team Cerumo to drive their second car alongside a promising Irish star, Eddie Irvine. But those who met Hitoshi on that weekend sensed him tired and gloomy, something far from his usual temper. Ogawa qualified in tenth, while Irvine was second, but the Irish failed to start when his first gear broke on the grid, and it caused an enormous pile-up. Surviving the initial carnage, Ogawa's race wasn't going properly fine, as he couldn't overtake anybody and relied on the retirements to lie fifth approaching the end of the race. However, he was closing on Andrew Gilbert-Scott, driving from his previous team, Stellar, and when the Brit committed an error on the chicane, Ogawa sensed he could overtake him on the first turn of the 27^th lap…

Ogawa caught Gilbert-Scott's draft and moved to the right side, which Andrew easily covered, so he tried to go outside. However, both cars were so closed that, when Ogawa made his move, his Lola hit the rear-left wheel and climbed over it, somersaulting at full speed. Gilbert-Scott spun into the gravel, lost some momentum, hit the tyre wall and was launched into the air before landing upside-down. At the same time, Ogawa's flying car hit the gravel trap nose-first and was relaunched on the air, clearing the tyre barrier and crashing with great violence into a pole that supported the fence behind the wall. The chassis was completely destroyed, and what remained of the car was scattered all over the place. Ogawa was promptly rescued and sent to the nearby hospital, but he died three hours later of massive head and leg injuries. Gilbert-Scott's impact was strong enough to leave his car almost destroyed, but the Brit only suffered minor injuries, while a cameraman and some photographers were also lightly injured, mainly due to flying debris. The race was promptly stopped for good, and the final classification was taken by the 26^th lap, giving a sad win to Volker Weidler, in front of Ross Cheever, Naoki Hattori, Andrew Gilbert-Scott and poor Ogawa.

 The Japanese motoring community was thrown in deep mourning, as Hitoshi Ogawa was one of the most popular drivers among his peers, team personnel and spectators. Always calm, extremely polite and friendly, he used to quickly captivate the foreign drivers that went to race in Japan or with whom he raced abroad both for his personal traits as for his immense skills. And his style was so different but effective that he soon became a favourite to everyone. Ogawa left a son aged just one and his widow, Masako, pregnant. His older son, Ryo Ogawa, would follow his father's footsteps and won the Japanese Porsche Carrera Cup and, after a short single-seater stint, he now drives primarily on GT races. Toyota went to Le Mans and achieved his best result ever, a second place. The team didn't forget the tribute to Ogawa, hanging a picture of him over the pit wall below his white and blue helmet. At the same time, his old friend Masanori Sekiya, jointly with Kenny Acheson and Pierre-Henri Raphanel, held a framed photo of Hitoshi during the podium ceremony. And the Toyota /TOM's project? Well, it can't be said it was due to Ogawa's death it all ended, but the loss of their greatest test driver and single-seater star certainly helped, and the Toyota board announced a few weeks later they wouldn't support the project. Toyota would wait ten years until joining the Great Circus. The project might be forgotten unless from some die-hard petrolheads, but Hitoshi Ogawa's memory still lives in the heart of many enthusiasts and race-related people.

Hitoshi Ogawa and his son, Ryo (unknown).