is a Japanese professional racing driver. He participated in three Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 1994 European Grand Prix, but did not score any championship points. He replaced Yannick Dalmas in the Larrousse car for the last three Grands Prix of the season, but failed to finish in any of the three races. In 1995, he joined Simtek as a test driver, hoping to get some races in. However, the Kobe earthquake and the folding of the Simtek team ended his brief Formula 1 career.

A year later, Noda went to America and raced in the Indy Lights and became the only Japanese driver to win a CART-sanctioned event. After a few years in America, Noda moved back to Japan, where he drove a Team Cerumo Toyota Supra with Hironori Takeuchi. In the annual non-championship All-Star event at Aida, Noda and Takeuchi were forced out with mechanical problems. In 1999, he joined the Esso Tiger Team Le Mans under Koichiro Mori, again to drive a Toyota Supra, ex-Australian V8 Supercar driver Wayne Gardner. The highlight of their season was a win at Fuji. With 33 points, they were equal seventeenth in the series.

In 2002, Noda returned to the United States and drove in six Indy Racing League IndyCar Series races for Convergent Racing and Indy Regency Racing with a best finish of tenth at Phoenix International Raceway while with Convergent. He also competed in a round of the inaugural A1 Grand Prix season with Japan at Lausitz, where he scored three points for the Japanese team.

Career

Early career Noda began his racing career in karts winning various national titles between 1982 and 1986.

Formula One (1994-1995) Noda replaced French driver Yannick Dalmas at Larrousse towards the end of the 1994 season at the European Grand Prix in Jerez. After qualifying 24th behind his teammate Érik Comas, he retired due to gearbox failure. At his home race in Japan, Noda was 23rd on the grid but retired again due, this time due to an electrical fault. His last Grand Prix saw him 23rd on the grid at Adelaide, this time out qualifying his new teammate Jean-Denis Délétraz. Noda again retired, this time due to an oil leak.

In 1995, Noda was due to drive for Simtek in Canada, but the team withdrew from F1 before he could. In his last attempt to drive in F1, he was denied his super license, preventing him from driving for Forti at the TI Circuit for the Pacific Grand Prix.

A1 Grand Prix (2005–2009)

In 2005, Noda was announced as the second driver for the Japan entry for the 2005-06 A1 Grand Prix season, second to Ryo Fukuda. His first race for the team came at the second round at Lausitz, where he qualified in 21st place. In sprint race, Noda managed to move up eleven places to finish tenth and score one point for Japan. The feature race saw Noda finish one place higher in ninth place, scoring a further two points for the Japanese A1 GP team. Japan finished 21st at the end of the season, with eight points.

Personal life Noda's daughter Juju is also a racing driver, who competed in the W Series.

Racing record

Complete Japanese Formula 3 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Pts 1988 JAX Racing Team with TOM'S Toyota SUZ TSU FUJ SUZ SUG TSU SEN NIS SUZ 10th 4

Complete British Formula Three Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Engine Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 DC Pts 1990 Alan Docking Racing Mugen A DON SIL THR BRH SIL BRH THR SIL DON SIL SNE OUL SIL BRH DON THR SIL 12th 8 1991 Alan Docking Racing Mugen A SIL THR DON BRH BRH THR SIL DON SIL SIL SNE SIL BRH DON SIL THR 7th 36

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points 1992 3001 International SIL PAU CAT PER HOC NÜR SPA ALB NOG MAG 23rd 0 1993 TOM's DON SIL PAU PER HOC NÜR SPA MAG NOG 25th 0 1994 Forti Corse SIL PAU CAT PER HOC SPA EST MAG 10th 6

Complete Japanese Formula 3000/Formula Nippon results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points1993TOM'SSUZFUJMINSUZAUTSUGFUJFUJSUZFUJSUZ NC 01998 Team CerumoSUZMINFUJMOTSUZSUGFUJMINFUJSUZ10th91999ImpulSUZMOTMINFUJSUZSUGFUJMINMOTSUZ11th72000 Team LeMansSUZMOTMINFUJSUZSUGMOTFUJMINSUZ5th152001 DoCoMo Team DandelionSUZMOTMINFUJSUZSUGFUJMINMOTSUZ21st02003 Team MOHNSUZFUJMINMOTSUZSUGFUJMINMOTSUZ13th12004 Team MOHNSUZSUGMOTSUZSUGMINSEPMOTSUZ15th02005 Team MOHNMOTSUZSUGFUJSUZMINFUJMOTSUZ16th0

Complete Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points 1994 Tourtel Larrousse F1 Larrousse LH94 Ford V8 BRA PAC SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR JPN AUS NC 0

American open-wheel racing results (key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Indy Lights Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Rank Points 1996 Indy Regency RacingMIALBHNAZMISMILDETPORCLETORTROVANLS 14th 34 1997 Indy Regency RacingMIALBHNAZSAVSTLMILDETPORTORTROVANLSFON 9th 51

Indy Racing League Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Rank Points Ref 2002 Convergent Racing 20 G-ForceChevroletHMSPHXFONNZRINDYTXSPPIRIRKANNSHMISKTY 32nd 54 Indy Regency Racing 28STLCHITX2

Complete JGTC/Super GT results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points1998 Team Cerumo Toyota SupraGT500SUZFUJSENFUJMOTMINSUG11th221999Team LeMansToyota SupraGT500SUZFUJSUGMINFUJTAIMOT12th332000Team LeMansToyota SupraGT500MOTFUJSUGFUJTAIMINSUZ9th352001Team LeMansToyota SupraGT500TAIFUJSUGFUJMOTSUZMIN7th402002TOM'SToyota SupraGT500TAIFUJSUGSEPFUJMOTMINSUZNC02003Team TsuchiyaToyota SupraGT500TAIFUJSUGFUJFUJMOTAUTSUZNC02005Team TsuchiyaToyota SupraGT500OKAFUJSEPSUGMOTFUJAUTSUZ20th12006Team TsuchiyaToyota SupraGT500SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ28th52012Hitotsuyama RacingAudi R8 LMSGT300OKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOTNC0

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2008 Kruse Schiller Motorsport Jean de Pourtales Allan Simonsen Lola B05/40-Mazda LMP2 147 DNF 2009 Jean de Pourtales Matthew Marsh Lola B07/46-Mazda 261DNF 2010 Jean de Pourtales Jonathan Kennard Lola B07/40-Judd 291 26th 10th

Footnotes

References

All Formula One race and championship results are taken from: Official Formula 1 Website. Archive: Results for 1994 season www.formula1.com . Retrieved 7 July 2006 All IRL race and championship results are taken from: Official IRL Website. Archive: Results for 2002 season IndyCar.com. Retrieved 7 July 2006

External links

Hideki Noda Official Website