is a retired Japanese professional drifting driver. He is the younger brother of Naoto who both were taught by Nobushige Kumakubo.
Suenaga began his motorsport career racing minibikes in the Kyūshū area, later winning a title. Following this, his motorcycle racing career ended at the age of 20 caused by injuries. As Naoto was involved in the 'Tono Club' hashiriya group (which one of the members included Katsuhiro Ueo), he also became involved which he was taught how to drift by Naoto. Masao later joined the 'Gowasu?' hashiriya group.
Suenaga has been competing in the D1 Grand Prix series since . In 2002 and , he was the youngest driver to compete in the top 16 and he was soon picked up by RE Amemiya a renowned tuner of rotary powered cars. So he switched from his Nissan Silvia to a Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) went from strength to strength. The Silvia would be driven by Naoto until he became one of the Kumakubo led Team Orange drivers. Masao took his first win in 2005 and went on to place second overall. He had a slight lull in his performance in , but was back on form in winning twice and finishing the season in third.
Suenaga is one of the few D1GP drivers to compete the spinoff D1 Street Legal series in his own FD RX-7 winning the first two rounds of the inaugural season.
Suenaga competed in the M150 20B-Powered FD3S RX-7 in the inaugural Formula Drift: Asia at Fuji Speedway Japan where he would take first place against Masashi Yokoi.
Suenaga had been with RE Amemiya for years, but left in 2016. In 2017, he was picked up by Toyo Tires GLION TRUST RACING and became teammate of Masato Kawabata. He drove Nissan GT-R (R35).From 2020, he belongs to D-MAX and works with Masashi Yokoi.
Suenaga announced his retirement from professional drifting at 2024 Tokyo Auto Salon due to personal reasons. By the time of his retirement, he have the most D1GP win without winning the championship and he holds record for the fastest time around Tsukuba circuit in D1GP car which he set in 2014.
Complete Drifting Results
D1 Grand Prix Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Position Points Toyota Corolla Levin AE86 BHHTAN EBSDNQ SGO6 TKB16 EBSDNQ SEKTAN NIK4 12 24 Nissan Silvia PS13 TKB16 BHH10 SGO5 FUJ16 EBSTAN SEK16 TKB8 13 20 RE Amemiya Nissan Silvia S13 IRW16 16 14 Mazda RX-7 FD3S SGO8 EBS16 APSTAN ODBDNQ EBSTAN TKB7 RE Amemiya Mazda RX-7 FD3S IRW6 ODB5 SGO6 APS3 EBS4 FUJ1 TKB4 2 96 RE Amemiya Mazda RX-7 FD3S IRWTAN SGO3 FUJTAN APS6 EBS6 SUZ10 FUJ16 IRW6 8 51 RE Amemiya Mazda RX-7 FD3S EBS3 FUJ2 SUZ1 SGO4 EBS11 APS13 FUJ1 3 92 RE Amemiya Mazda RX-7 FD3S EBS4 FUJ4 SUZ13 OKY5 APS6 EBSNS FUJ1 3 89 TOYO TIRES GLION TRUST RACING Nissan R35 ODB28 ODBR TKB3 MSI1 EBS22 EBS22 ODB201155
D1 Street Legal Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Position Points Mazda RX-7 FD3S SEK1 EBS1 SGO FUJ APS EBS SEK Mazda RX-7 FD3S SEK SUZ SGO EBS SEK
Sources D1 Grand Prix
References
External links Gowasu?のホームページ - Official page D1 Supporter profile D1 Supporter profile (D1SL)