Heros Racing (listed in some sources as Heroes Racing) was a Japanese

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

team which competed briefly in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

in the and seasons. The team entered the

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

and

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

Japanese Grands Prix, each time with local driver

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 ...

with a best result of 11th in 1977. The team also competed in two races in the 1978 European Formula Two Championship and in Japanese top formula racing.

Racing history

Formula One

The team's first F1 race was the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix, where Hoshino qualified 21st using an outdated

Tyrrell 007 The Tyrrell 007 is a Formula One racing car, designed by Tyrrell's Chief Designer, Derek Gardner. It was used in the , , and Formula One seasons. Development Ken Tyrrell, owner of Tyrrell Racing needed two new drivers for because Jackie Stew ...

. However, in the race, run in very wet conditions, he placed as high as third at one point before having to pit for replacement tyres. He was forced to retire on lap 28 (of 73), having used all his available tyres. At the 1977 event, the team entered Hoshino in a

Kojima Kojima may refer to: Surname * Kojima (surname) Places * Kōjima, an island known for wild monkeys in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan * Kojima, an uninhabited island belonging to the Tokara Islands, in the southern part of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japa ...

KE009. He qualified 11th ahead of several works entries and also finished 11th, two laps down.

Formula Two

Heros Racing, with Hoshino driving, competed in two races in the 1978 European Formula Two Championship using a Nova- BMW, but did not score any points.

Japanese Top Formula racing

The Japanese Top Formula series (also known as the Super Formula Championship) was the premier single-seater domestic series run to various formulae over several years. In 1973,

Motoharu Kurosawa , nicknamed "Gan-san", is a retired professional Japanese racing driver. He is the patriarch of a racing family; his three sons, Takuya, Haruki, and Tsubasa, are all racing drivers. Racing career After a brief career in domestic motorcycle r ...

, driving a

March 722 The March 722 was a British open-wheel formula race car chassis, designed, developed and built by March Engineering, for both Formula 2 and Formula B Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was ...

for Heros Racing, won the inaugural series run to Formula 2000 rules. This success was repeated in 1976 with

Noritake Takahara Noritake Takahara (高原敬武, born June 6, 1951 in Tokyo) is a former racing driver from Japan. He participated in 2 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on October 24, 1976. He scored no championship points. Along with his c ...

driving a Nova-BMW and again in 1977 with Hoshino using a Nova. In 1978, the series moved to

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...

rules and Hoshino again took the title with a Nova-BMW. In 1984, 1985 and 1986 the team achieved a further hat-trick of title wins with Japanese driver

Satoru Nakajima is a Japanese former racing driver. He is a five-time Japanese Top Formula champion, and was the first full-time Japanese Formula One driver. Accordingly, he is responsible for several firsts for Japanese drivers in Formula One, including bei ...

in a

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

, and one further title in 1991 for

Ukyo Katayama is a Japanese former racing driver and team manager, most notable for competing for six years in Formula One. He participated in 97 Grands Prix, debuting on 1 March 1992. He scored a total of five championship points, all of them for the Tyrrel ...

(

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola (fo ...

Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of ''Double Four Valve'', the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had fo ...

) when the series had moved on to

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

regulations.

Complete Formula One 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 ...

)

References

{{reflist

External links

Stats
at ''

Motor Sport ''Motor Sport'' is a monthly motor racing magazine, founded in the United Kingdom in 1924 as the ''Brooklands Gazette''. The name was changed to ''Motor Sport'' for the August 1925 issue. The magazine covers motor sport in general, although from ...

'' magazine database
Stats at laberezina.com (in French)
Formula One entrants Japanese auto racing teams Japanese Formula 3 Championship teams