Takachiho "Taki" Inoue (井上 隆智穂 Inoue Takachiho, born 5 September 1963) is a Japanese former racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 1994 to 1995, driving for Simtek and Footwork Arrows.
Biography Inoue was born in Kobe. He competed in the British Formula Ford Championship in 1988, followed by a spell in All-Japan Formula Three from 1989 to 1993 and a season in the International Formula 3000 championship in 1994.
Formula One
Inoue participated in 18 Formula One Grand Prix races. His first appearance was a one-off race for Simtek at the 1994 Japanese Grand Prix, from which he retired. For the next year he moved to Footwork Arrows. Over the course of his career he scored no championship points. He is perhaps best remembered for two bizarre incidents while driving for Footwork in 1995. The first occurred after a practice session at Monaco, when his stalled car was being towed back to the pits when it was hit by a course car, driven by Jean Ragnotti, causing it to roll into the barriers, although Inoue was fit to race the next day. The second happened on Hungarian GP on live TV worldwide – attempting to assist the marshals in putting out the engine fire which had forced him out of the race, a safety car Tatra 623 driven to the scene by a marshal hit him, injuring his leg, although he recovered for the next race.
For most of the season, Inoue's team-mate was Gianni Morbidelli, but late in the season Max Papis replaced Morbidelli, and was sometimes outpaced by Inoue. Entering the season, Inoue lobbied Tyrrell for a drive, but the team chose Ukyo Katayama with his Mild Seven sponsorship money from Japan Tobacco. Instead, he was announced in January to drive for the Minardi team. However, one of his personal sponsors pulled out at the last minute and Inoue withdrew from F1. Minardi took on Giancarlo Fisichella instead. Fisichella, the team's test driver in 1995, had backing from Marlboro Italy.
With his sponsorship reduced, Inoue was out of a drive in Formula One. After a brief switch to sportscars, he retired from racing at the end of 1999 and now manages drivers in his own country. He is also known for his self-deprecating humour, as Inoue publicly proclaimed himself as the "worst driver in Formula One", admitted that he initially had no idea what a pit stop was, and in an interview with the Top Gear magazine in 2015 stated that he was "not good enough to drive in F1". In another instance, after Nico Rosberg's retirement at the end of 2016, Inoue put out a tongue-in-cheek advertisement as a replacement driver on Twitter detailing his F1 antics which gained notable traction on social media, as have other tweets since.
Racing record Career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition1990Japanese Formula 3Phoenix Racing Team With Plus B300000NC1991Japanese Formula 3Dallara Japan Racing900000NC1992Japanese Formula 3Super Nova Racing110000510th1993Japanese Formula 3Super Nova Racing11000069th1994International Formula 3000Super Nova Racing800000NCFormula OneMTV Simtek Ford100000NC1995Formula OneFootwork Hart1700000NC1996BPR Global GT SeriesKonrad Motorsport100000NC1999All Japan Grand Touring Car ChampionshipClub: Yellow Magic40000332nd
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 DC Points 1994 Super Nova Racing SIL PAU CAT PER HOC SPA EST MAG NC 0
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 17 WDC Points MTV Simtek Ford Simtek S941 Ford V8 BRA PAC SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR JPNAUS NC 0 Footwork Hart Footwork FA16 Hart V8 BRA ARG SMR ESP MON CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR PAC JPN AUS NC 0
Complete JGTC results Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 DC Points 1999 Club: Yellow Magic Ferrari F355 GT GT300 SUZ FUJ SUG MIN FUJ TAI MOT 32nd 3
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