Kojima Engineering

Origins

Kojima had made a fortune importing bananas, and was a motor-racing enthusiast, having ridden in Motocross himself in the 1960s. He then developed and sold racing versions of various Suzuki motorcycles, an endeavour which ended when Suzuki themselves began producing competition machinery. His first involvement with cars was in selling tuning kits for the Suzuki Fronte's LC10 engine, and then moving on to building a series of Suzuki-engined race cars for the FJ360 category (later models for the FL500 category). He then began entering Formula Two cars in Japan, and after having had major success he struck a deal with Dunlop to supply tyres for the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix.

History

The F1 team was founded in 1976 by Matsuhisa Kojima. Taking advantage of their position as a Dunlop tire supplier for the 1976 Japanese GP, the company constructed the KE007 chassis, bringing in several staff members from the Maki team. They helped arrange an entry for the Grand Prix at Fuji, and a Cosworth DFV engine.

The car was tested throughout the autumn of 1976, with Masahiro Hasemi, a Japanese Formula 2 driver, at the wheel. Hasemi then scored a huge stir at the Japanese Grand Prix, posting 4th best time in the first qualifying session. However, he crashed in the second session, and the car had to be rebuilt virtually from scratch. Hasemi started 10th, and ran superbly before tyre trouble led to an eventual 11th place. He was initially credited with fastest lap, but this was a timekeeping mistake, and, several days later, the circuit issued a press release to correct the fastest lap holder of the race to Jacques Laffite.

A planned entry into the 1977 South American races was cancelled, but the team built a new Kojima KE009 for the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix. The KE008 which was presented in between was a BMW M12-engined Formula Two car, essentially a scaled down version of the KE007/009 cars. Bridgestone supplied the tyres for the 009, but these were unsatisfactory, and Noritake Takahara started only 19th before crashing avoiding debris. A second KE009 was entered by Heros Racing for the same race, Kazuyoshi Hoshino starting and finishing 11th. During that same year, Kojima also won the Suzuka Formula Championship with Kunimitsu Takahashi.

Kojima continued as an F2 entrant until the late 1980s, but did not venture again beyond domestic racing.