was a Japanese racing driver.

Career

Born in

Odawara is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 188,482 and a population density of 1,700 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Odawara lies in the Ashigara Plains, in the far western por ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Hagiwara was a graduate of the

Tokai University is a private non-sectarian higher education institution located in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Dr. Shigeyoshi Matsumae. It was accredited under Japan's old educational system in 1946 and under the new system in 1950. In 2008, Tokai Un ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. He started his racing career at age 21, driving a Nissan Sunny, and eventually progressed to the Japanese Formula 3 championship finishing fourth in 1980 and runner-up in 1981. After a season spent in the JAF Pacific Series, Hagiwara embarked on a full-time campaign in the Japanese Formula 2 championship alongside sporadic appearances in the All Japan Endurance Championship, racing alongside

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 ...

. In 1985, Hagiwara, Hoshino, and

Keiji Matsumoto was a Japanese racing driver who competed at the top level of Japanese Formula racing, currently known as Super Formula, between 1976 and 1992. Under the Japanese Formula 2 moniker, he won the championship in 1979 and was runner-up to future Form ...

became the first Japanese drivers to ever win a race in the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

; Hoshino was actually the only one who got to drive the car before the race was stopped early due to heavy rain.

Death

Hagiwara was killed during a private testing session at Sportsland SUGO on Monday, 7 April 1986. Piloting a Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16V operated by

Leyton House Racing Leyton House Racing was a Formula One constructor that raced in the 1990 and 1991 seasons. It was, in essence, a rebranding of the March team which had returned to F1 in . Leyton House, a Japanese real estate company, had been the team's marqu ...

, Hagiwara crashed in Turn 2 (now called Rainbow Corner). The car then engulfed in flames, trapping the 29-year-old driver inside. Originally, Hagiwara was not supposed to test on Monday as he had entered the opening race of the All Japan Endurance Championship held on Sunday, 6 April 1986 (the International Suzuka 500km held at

Suzuka Circuit The , more famously known as the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka, Mie, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Honda Mobilityland, a subsidiary of Honda, Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000. Int ...

). However, the Nissan R86V, which was scheduled to race in Suzuka, suffered from a mechanical problem during free practice and was unable to participate in the race. Hagiwara thus changed his schedule and headed for Sportsland SUGO which led to the fateful testing session. After his death,

Aguri Suzuki Aguri may refer to: *Aguri (caste), Bengali Hindu agricultural caste in India *Aguri Igarashi (born 1975), female manga artist from Japan * Aguri Suzuki (born 1960), former racing driver from Japan **Aguri Suzuki F-1 Super Driving, Formula One si ...

was chosen to replace Hagiwara for the

1986 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1986 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 54th Grand Prix of Endurance as well as the third round of the 1986 World Sports-Prototype Championship. It took place on 31 May and 1 June 1986. Pre-race Due to construction of a new roundabout at the Muls ...

in the #23 Nissan R86V entry.

Racing record

Japanese Top Formula Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

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

References

*http://afw.fc2web.com/ziko/ziko1980.htm 1956 births 1986 deaths Japanese racing drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in Japan People from Kanagawa Prefecture Sportspeople from Kanagawa Prefecture People from Odawara {{Japan-autoracing-bio-stub Japanese Sportscar Championship drivers