Aguri Suzuki

Aguri Suzuki is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to.
Suzuki entered 88 Formula One Grands Prix, achieving a best result of third at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the first Asian driver to score a podium finish. He also won the Japanese [Formula 3000 Championship] in 1988 [Japanese Formula 3000 Championship|1988], and later finished third overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998 [24 Hours of Le Mans|1998]. He was also a race-winner in the All-Japan GT Championship.
Suzuki became involved in team ownership after his Formula One career, first forming Autobacs Racing Team Aguri in 1997 in partnership with Autobacs. ARTA has competed mostly in Super GT, where they have won titles in both the GT500 and GT300 classes. He was the owner of the Super Aguri F1 team, which participated in Formula One from to. He also formed Team Aguri, which raced in Formula E from 2014 to 2016.

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Early life

Suzuki was born in Tokyo; his father Masashi Suzuki was of mixed ancestry from Japan and Martinique. Masashi Suzuki had worked as an aircraft technician for Honda Airways, and in 1973 established a go-cart shop.
Suzuki was named after the main character in the Kuri-chan comic strip. He attended Josai University majoring in the sciences, but did not complete his degree.

Racing career

Early career

Suzuki began racing karts in 1972, at the age of 12. In 1978, he won the Japanese kart championship and in 1979 made his debut in the Japanese Formula Three championship. He continued in karting and in 1981 was again Japanese Kart Champion. In 1983, he finished second in the All-Japan F3 series, driving a Hayashi-Toyota. He then turned to touring car racing and, driving for the Nissan factory team won the Japanese title in 1986. That same year, he made his debut in Japanese F2 and drove in the Le Mans 24 Hours. In 1987, he finished runner-up in the Japanese F3000 series, winning one race. In 1988, driving a March-Yamaha he won the title with three wins.

Formula One career

In 1988, Suzuki raced in European F3000 with Footwork, before he debuted in Formula One on October 30 at his home race, replacing the ill Yannick Dalmas in the Larrousse-Lola. Zakspeed, who were using Yamaha engines, hired Suzuki for 1989, but he failed to pre-qualify in all 16 races.
For 1990 and 1991, Suzuki drove again for Larrousse. He finished sixth three times, before finishing third at Suzuka – the first ever podium for an Asian driver in F1. He also set the second-fastest lap.
In 1992 and 1993, Suzuki was at Footwork alongside Michele Alboreto and then Derek Warwick, but both usually outperformed him. He shared a Ligier with Martin Brundle in 1995, but only scored one point in his races, and was criticised by Mika Salo after the two collided in Buenos Aires. A massive crash in practice for the 1995 Japanese Grand Prix caused a neck injury which saw him miss the race, and he immediately announced his retirement.
Suzuki scored a total of eight championship points in F1. At the time he retired, he was the second most successful Japanese F1 driver after Satoru Nakajima in terms of points scored, but Takuma Sato and Kamui Kobayashi have since passed them both.

After Formula One

Suzuki later raced in the All Japan Grand [Touring Car Championship], and remained involved in Japanese driver development. In 2000, with long-term sponsor Autobacs, he ran Autobacs Racing Team Aguri, which won the GT300 title in 2002, and expanded to Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters a season later. He also launched Super Aguri Fernandez Racing with Adrian Fernandez, running cars in the Indy Racing League.

Team ownership

From 2006, Suzuki ran the Super Aguri F1 Formula One team with the backing of Honda. He put his new team together in four and half months from his initial announcement on 1 November 2005. The team's initial entry was rejected by the FIA after they failed to secure financial guarantees before the entry deadline, and their acceptance was not formally confirmed until 26 January 2006. The team made its debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix on 12 March 2006. In 2007, Takuma Sato scored two top-eight finishes, earning the team its first points, and Super Aguri ended up ninth in the Constructors' World Championship. On 6 May 2008, after competing in the opening four races of the season, the team withdrew from Formula One due to financial problems.
[file:Aguri Suzuki 2008 Super GT.jpg|thumb|Suzuki in 2008]

Helmet

Suzuki's helmet is white with a red line with black sides surrounding the top, a red and black line going from the rear down the chin and a black circle on the top.