Hideki Noda

Former F1 driver
Name = Hideki Noda


Nationality = flagicon|Japan Japanese
Years = 1994
Team(s) = Larrousse, Simtek
Races = 3
Championships = 0
Wins = 0
Podiums = 0
Points = 0
Poles = 0
Fastest laps = 0
First race = 1994 European Grand Prix
First win =
Last win =
Last race = 1994 Australian Grand Prix|
nihongo|Hideki Noda|野田 英樹|Noda Hideki|born March 7, 1969 in Osaka, Japancite web |url=http://www.oldracingcars.com/bydriver/watn.asp?letter=N |title= The World Championship drivers - Where are they now? |accessdate=2007-07-29 |last=Jenkins |first=Richard |publisher=OldRacingCars.com] is a racing driver from Japan. He participated in 3 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 3 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 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 17th in the series.

In 2002, Noda returned to the United States and drove in 6 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series races for Convergent Racing and Indy Regency Racing with a best finish of 10th 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 3 points for the Japanese team. He has also been seen in the Zytek sports-prototype in 2006.Fact|date=March 2007

Career

Before Formula One

Hideki began his motor racing career through karting. In 1982 he competed in the Kansai Kart Land J-class category, where he was champion."Hideki Noda Biography (1982-1987)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#before F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006] He then took out the Japanese National A-1 class championship the next year, and won the Japanese National A-1 West Division series in 1985."Hideki Noda Biography (1982-1987)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#before F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006] Moving up to the A-2 class for 1986, Noda was Japanese champion again, before going to Japanese Formula Junior 1600 for 1987, where he won 4 times and was the top rookie."Hideki Noda Biography (1982-1987)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#before F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006]

He moved up into the highly competitive world of Japanese Formula 3 in 1988. Driving for the JAX Racing Team in a Reynard 873 with a Toyota engine,"Hideki Noda Biography (1988-1989)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#before F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006] he came 5th as a 19-year-old in his very first race at Suzuka, and repeated the feat in round four, also at Suzuka. Those were his only two points-scoring finishes; a tally of 4 points; finishing equal 10th in the series."Hideki Noda Biography (1988-1989)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#before F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006]

After then competing in the prestigious Macau F3 event at the end of 1988, and harbouring ambitions of F1, in 1989 Noda moved to Europe. He raced in both the British Vauxhall Lotus championship(where he came 5th overall with a win at Donnington plus two 3rd places, at Donington and Mondello Park in Ireland), and in the GM Opel Lotus Euroseries, where he was 9th in the standings with 2nd place finishes at Paul Ricard and Zandvoort.

These exploits were impressive enough to land him a ride in British F3 for 1990 with Alan Docking Racing in a Ralt RT34 Mugen."Hideki Noda Biography (1990-1992)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#before F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006] He scored 8 points that season, placing 12th in a year dominated by Mika Häkkinen and Mika Salo, but he stayed with the same team for 1991. Upgrading to a Ralt RT35, Noda moved up to 7th overall, scoring 36 points, including a win at Silverstone. This was the first time that a Japanese driver had won an F3 race outside of his homeland.

By 1992 he was racing in F3000 for the Mike Earle's 3001 International team in a Reynard 92D Mugen, but here he found the going much harder. In ten rounds he failed to qualify once, at Hockenheim, but when he did make it onto the grid he never reached higher than 21st. His first season was also marred by two accidents at Barcelona and Enna, although he became more reliable towards the end of the year, climaxing in an 8th place finish at Magny-Cours.

In 1993 Noda joined the TOM'S team in a Reynard 93D Cosworth, and although like in 1992 he failed to score any points, he managed to qualify in the top 20 a few times."Hideki Noda Biography (1993-1994)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#before F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006] He also did a good job of bringing the car home, a highlight being 9th at Pau. In Noda's third season in F3000, he switched to the Forti Corse team to drive a Reynard 94D Cosworth as team-mate to Pedro Diniz.

The pair did well at the Silverstone opener, Noda qualified 4th and Diniz started 6th, with Noda eventually finishing 5th and scoring his first F3000 points. He then had a mid-season trot in which he qualified 5th, 6th and 5th respectively at Barcelona, Enna and Hockenheim, scoring a podium finish with 3rd place at Enna. He ended the year in equal 9th spot with 6 points.

Formula One

By the end of 1994, though, Noda had landed an F1 seat. Although his results had not been unimpressive, it was more by virtue of the sponsorship money he brought that he got himself into the financially troubled Larrousse team towards the end of the season. Still a relative unknown on the world stage, though, Noda himself was well aware of the fact that expectations of him were low. As he said himself: "People think I'm useless.""Hideki Noda Biography (1994-Larrousse)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#f1 F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006]

Despite the limitations of the Larrousse LH94 Ford HB V8 package. As team-mate to Érik Comas, at the 1994 European Grand Prix at Jerez, there were fears that both he and fellow newcomer Domenico Schiattarella would be so far off the pace that they would not beat Bertrand Gachot's horrible Pacific to the last grid spot.

Such fears proved unfounded, as Noda qualified within a second of Comas' time, and was the 25th fastest."Hideki Noda Biography (1994 (Hideki comes to grips...)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#f1 F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006] But when David Brabham's best time in the Simtek was disallowed, Noda was bumped up to 24th on the grid, alongside Comas in 23rd. But in another department, he had comprehensively thrashed his more experienced team-mate. Under braking, he was pulling 4.1g, a Larrousse record, whereas Comas often pulled less than 3g. It showed how quickly he had got the hang of powerful F1 brakes.

In the race, he stalled on the grid, the same as his countryman, Ukyo Katayama. Both were push-started on their way, but while Katayama proceeded to storm back through the field to finish in 7th, Noda could do no more than tour at the back. That he only did for 10 laps, before he suffered a terminal gearbox problem and began limping back to the pits.

Yet as he did so, the front-running pair of Rubens Barrichello's Jordan and Nigel Mansell's Williams came up to lap him. Noda was a touch too slow in getting out of the way, and both Barrichello and Mansell had to guess which side to pass. Rubens pulled to the right and safely negotiated his way around the Larrousse, but all Nigel could do was lock his brakes and ram the back of the Japanese driver."Hideki Noda Biography (1994 Clashes with Mansell...)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#f1 F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006]

Noda pulled in to retire, and Mansell eventually had to come in for a new nosecone, ruining his race and denting his reputation. Noda's luck would then get no better at his home race in Japan, where he qualified 23rd, once again only one spot off Comas, although this time he was only 0.013s behind the Frenchman. His experience at Suzuka was obviously paying rich dividends, but when torrential rain drenched the circuit on race day, it would suddenly be a whole new ball game.

The opening laps saw cars slide off the circuit, but he would never get the choice to join the chaos, as his fuel injection system failed on the very first lap."Hideki Noda Biography (1994 Can't join the apuaplane party...) [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#f1 F1Rejects] . Retrieved 7 July 2006] In fact the entire Japanese contingent suffered a dreadful race, especially when both Katayama and rookie Taki Inoue then aquaplaned into the pit wall at the end of lap 3 in separate incidents. Within the first few minutes all the local heroes were out of the race.

The last race in Adelaide was little better. By now Comas had gone, replaced by the Jean-Denis Deletraz. Noda outqualified his team-mate by two grid positions and almost 2.3 seconds. From 23rd on the grid, he was passed off the line by the Simteks of Brabham and Schiattarella, and he trailed around in second-last spot for 18 laps before an oil leak brought his race to a premature end once again.

Still, in his three outings he had done a respectable enough job, and he was thought to have been in the frame for a few F1 seats come 1995. As it turned out, Larrousse folded, and the only deal that came his way was to drive the Simtek in the second half of 1995 as Jos Verstappen's team-mate, with Schiattarella racing in the first half of the year. Even so, the deposit Noda paid for the seat and the money he was going to bring to the team was of massive importance to the cash-strapped operation.

However, things quickly turned sour. Although he watched the first few races of the 1995 season with envy as Jos Verstappen and Schiattarella demonstrated the promise of the new car, the truth was that his funds had taken a battering after the devastating Kobe earthquake."Hideki Noda Biography (1995 Simtek)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#f1 F1Reject.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006] It contributed to Simtek's mounting financial problems, resulting in the team's closure after Monaco. Noda never even got to drive the car; he was forced to forfeit his deposit and the rest of his 1995 went up in smoke. He was briefly considered for a drive at Forti in F1|1996, but the seat went to Luca Badoer instead. [cite news| title = Noda close to Forti| publisher = Grandprix.com| url = http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns00437.html| date = 1996-01-15| accessdate = 2006-11-24]

After Formula One

American Open Wheelers (1996-1997)

With that, Noda was out of the picture as far as F1 was concerned, so for 1996 he went across the Atlantic to try his luck in Indy Lights in America."Hideki Noda Biography (1996-1997)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#after F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006] Adapting quickly, he finished 3rd on the streets of Toronto in his first year, and in 1997 continued in the same category, driving a Lola T97/20 for the Indy Regency Racing as team-mate to Mexican driver Rodolfo Lavin.

1997 was actually a very competitive year in Indy Lights, with future CART drivers: Cristiano da Matta; Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves all racing for leading teams. Noda was also not the only Japanese driver in the entry lists, with ex-F1 driver, Naoki Hattori and the unrelated Shigeaki Hattori also in the field. In the end Castroneves and da Matta took three wins each, but despite only taking one victory Kanaan's consistency won him the series. Noda was 9th with 51 points.

Though he was usually a midfield runner, he did qualify 2nd and finish 3rd on the streets of Vancouver, but it was at Portland where he had his fifteen minutes of fame. There he also started from 2nd on the grid, but come race day it rained and Noda could put his European experience to good use. After dicing with Castroneves for most of the race, he passed the Brazilian on lap 22 for the lead, and when the race was stopped after 29 laps, Noda was declared the winner.

It was the first, and to this point, only time a Japanese driver has won a CART-sanctioned event. ["Hikeki Noda Biography (1997)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#after F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006] In fact it may arguably be the best victory by a Japanese driver in open wheelers on the international stage yet, although it's a result which is largely forgotten. Those seven laps in front were the only ones Noda led all year. Despite his winning performance, he was never on the Champ Car shopping lists, and by 1998 the American adventure was looking a bit like a dead end.

Back To Japan (1998-2001)

In 1998 he returned to Japan, and in the four seasons since has had parallel careers in Formula Nippon and the Japanese GT Championship. In the latter he drove a Team Cerumo Toyota Supra in 1998 with Hironori Takeuchi, finishing 5th at Motegi and 3rd at Sugo, scoring 22 points for equal 21st overall. The season was marred, though, by the abandonment of the Fuji round due to fog, and 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, this time alongside ex-500 cc motorcycle World Champion and Australian V8 Supercar driver Wayne Gardner. In truth it was an inconsistent season, with several rather average results offset by fastest lap at Sugo (despite a retirement), 5th at both Mine and the non-championship Fuji 1000 km, and, in the highlight of their season, a fine win plus fastest lap for Noda at Fuji. ["Hideki Noda Biography (1998-1999)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#after F1Reject.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006] With 33 points they were equal 17th in the series.

The combination of Noda, Gardner and the Esso Le Mans am remained the same for 2000, and this time consistency was their key, finishing 6 of the 7 races in the top 10, with an 8th at Motegi, 7th places at Sugo and Aida, 6th at Suzuka, 5th at Mine and 4th at Fuji. However, they were unable to make it onto the podium, and with 35 points they could only rank equal 14th overall. Also, at the All-Star event held at Sepang, Noda and Gardner took 9th place, albeit a lap down. ["Hideki Noda Biography (2000-2001)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#after F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006]

Noda also competed in the Formula Nippon series from 1998 to 2001. In 1998 he drove for the Cosmo Oil Racing Team in the standard Lola T98/51 chassis with the obligatory Mugen engine, but apart from a 3rd at Sugo and a smattering of 5ths and 6ths, there were also three spin-outs at Mine and Suzuka, the first of which Noda crashed twice. With 9 points he could only manage 10th overall."Hideki Noda Biography (1998-99 Noda down in midfield with Impul...)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#after F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006]

1999 he switched to the Be Brides Impul team. Starting the season in a Lola B99/51 Mugen, he could not break into the top ten in either qualifying or races, and in midstream the team changed to a Reynard 99L chassis. This brought about an upturn in fortunes, and towards the end of the year Noda recorded a 6th at Suzuka, 2nd at Mine and 9th at Motegi, and with 7 points ended up in 11th position.

A full season in a Reynard 99L Mugen for the Le Mans team in 2000 saw Hideki jump up to 5th place with 15 points, with a 6th at Fuji, 5ths at Suzuka and Motegi, 3rd at Mine and 2nd at Suzuka. But this was a pittance compared to another ex-F1 driver, Toranosuke Takagi, who won eight of the ten rounds for the Nakajima team, scoring a mammoth 86 points to second-placed Michael Krumm's 34."Hideki Noda Biography (2000-2001)" [http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/noda/biography.html#after F1Rejects.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006] After the improvement of 2000, though, in 2001 Noda joined the DoCoMo Dandelion Racing team, piloting a Reynard 2KL Mugen. In an ambitious operation, the team also ran an older Reynard 99L for one-time Benetton test driver Hidetoshi Mitsusada and Polish racer Jaroslav Wierczuk. It was probably too much for the outfit, and it showed as Noda failed to score any points at all, retiring from 6 of the 10 rounds, despite a best qualifying effort of 3rd at Motegi.

Noda returned to the United States in 2002 and drove in 6 Indy Racing League races for Convergent Racing and Indy Regency Racing (whom Noda drove for in Indy Lights) with a best finish of 10th at Phoenix International Raceway while with Convergent.

A1 Grand Prix (2005-Present)

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 11 places to finish 10th and score one point for Japan. The feature race saw Noda finish one place higher in 9th place, scoring a further two points for the Japanese A1 GP team. Japan finished 21st at the end of the season, with 8 points.

Complete Formula One results

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External links

* [http://www.hideki-noda.com/ Hideki Noda Official Website] Jp icon

Footnotes

References

All Formula One race and championship results are taken from:
* "Official Formula 1 Website. Archive: Results for 1994 season" [http://www.formula1.com/archive/driver/detail/1994/92/55.html www.formula1.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006All IRL race and championship results are taken from:
* "Official IRL Website. Archive: Results for 2002 season" [http://www.indycar.com/stats/driver_stats.php?statYear=2002&driver_id=72 IndyCar.com] . Retrieved 7 July 2006

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NAME= Noda, Hideki
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DATE OF BIRTH=1969
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