Suzuka Great 20 Drivers Race

Suzuka, 25 Sep 1975

All cars are 2-litre F2 unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. March 742 [9] (Masami Kuwashima): New to Masami Kuwashima, run for him by Roy Kennedy, and raced in European F2 until September, at which point the car was shipped to Japan for the JAF GP in November. Retained by Kuwashima for the Japanese F2 series in 1975, then to Kenji Takahashi for 1976, 1977 and 1978.
2. March 742 (Kazuyoshi Hoshino): Kazuyoshi Hoshino raced a March 742 in Japanese Formula 2 in 1975 and 1976. When it first appeared, entered as #5 by Victory Circle Club at Fuji on 4 May 1975, it was guest driven by Brian Henton, and in its next six races by Hoshino. It kept the same number for 1976, but was entered by Heroes Racing Corporation. Nothing more known.
3. Surtees TS15 (Jiro Yoneyama): Jiro Yoneyama raced a Hart-engined Surtees TS15 in Japanese F2 from September 1974 until November 1977. The car was entered by Jirou Motor Racing in 1974, Hickok Racing Team in 1975, Jirou Motor Racing again in 1976, and then Hickok Racing Team again in 1977. Nothing more known.
4. Surtees TS15 (Tetsu Okada): Kunimitsu Takahashi raced a Surtees TS15 at Fuji in May 1975, where it was described as a being BMW-engined and was entered by Sakai Racing Team. When Takahashi next appeared in the Surtees at Suzuka three weeks later, it was said to have a Hart engine and the entrant was Racing Shop Yatsuka. A TS15 was entered by Racing Shop Yatsuka at six more races from 1975 to 1977, driven by Tetsu Okada. Nothing more known.
5. March 722 (Naoki Nagasaka): Heroes Racing Corporation run a brand new red March 722 for Hiromu Tanaka in Japanese F2 in 1972 (with a Mitsubishi Colt R39B engine) and then for Motoharu Kurosawa (with a BMW engine) in 1973. The car returned to the team in 1975 and 1976 for Naoki Nagasaka.
6. March 732 (Tomohiko Tsutsumi): Heroes Racing Corporation ran a March 732 in the Japanese Formula 2 series in 1973, raced by Hiromu Tanaka. Tetsu Ikuzawa raced the car in early 1974, and it is then highly likely to have been the 732 entered by Niscait Racing for Fukumi Koutake in November 1974. By the same logic, as it was the only 732 known to have gone to Japan, it was presumably the BDA-engined 732 raced by Tomohiko Tsutsumi in 1975. Subsequent history unknown.
7. March 742 (Masahiro Hasemi): Masahiro Hasemi raced a March 742 in Japanese Formula 2 from late 1974 to the end of 1976. It was entered by either Kojima Engineering or Sakai Racing Team. Nothing more known.

Sources

The identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' original results.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.