is a Japanese businessman and semi-retired amateur racing driver. He is the CEO, president and founder of VT Holdings and Honda Cars Tokai, a chain of Honda dealerships found across Aichi Prefecture.
Racing career Takahashi's first known form of racing was in 1994 in the Tokachi 24 Hours; he would race intermittently in that series, last competing in that series in 2001. Takahashi also competed in two editions of the Suzuka 1000 km as a privateer; it was around 1998 when he started Cars Tokai Dream28 as the racing arm of his family of dealerships.
Takahashi first competed in what was then known as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship in 2001; being a Honda-based team thanks to his dealerships he would drive a Honda NSX. Initially paired up with Hiroshi Kimura, for 2002 he would pair up with Akira Watanabe. The team switched from a Honda NSX to a Vemac RD320R in 2005, the series now being known as Super GT.
2006 would see Takahashi with a new teammate, Hiroki Katoh, and a new car, the Mooncraft Shiden. 2006 and 2007 were both strong years for the team, achieving wins and podiums; both years would have the team fighting for the Drivers's and Constructors's championships at the end of the year. Despite tying with other teams in points Cars Tokai Dream28 would lose both the 2006 and 2007 Drivers's Championships on countback, although they would win the 2007 Constructors's Championship.
Takahashi retired from full-time competition after the 2019 Super GT Series but vowed to continue racing in other categories.
Racing record Complete 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 Points 2001 Verno Tokai Dream28 Honda NSX GT300TAIFUJSUGFUJMOT13SUZ13MIN NC 0 2002 GT300TAI9FUJ14SUG4SEP8FUJ10MOTRetMINRetSUZ9 16th 22 2003 GT300TAI5FUJRetSUG5FUJ21FUJ9MOT19AUT13SUZ8 14th 22 2004 GT300TAI18SUGRetSEP17TOK17MOT14AUT20SUZ22 NC 0 2005 Vemac RD320R GT300OKA14FUJ13SEP14SUG9MOT6FUJRetAUT14SUZ6 14th 12 2006 Cars Tokai Dream28 Mooncraft Shiden GT300SUZ6OKA11FUJ4SEP4SUG3SUZ5MOT21AUT1FUJ122nd89 2007 GT300SUZ2OKA2FUJ5SEP11SUG4SUZ1MOT6AUT10FUJ32nd89 2008 GT300SUZ2OKA9FUJ3SEP5SUG10SUZRetMOT2AUT3FUJ11 4th 68 2009 GT300OKA6SUZFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT 20th 5 2010 GT300SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZ18FUJMOT NC 0 2011 GT300OKA7FUJRetSEP10SUG13SUZ6FUJ3AUT4MOT8 10th 32 2012 GT300OKA7FUJ2SEPDNSSUGRetSUZ15FUJ13AUTDNQMOT16 11th 25 2013 McLaren MP4-12C GT3 GT300OKARetFUJ18SEP15SUG16SUZ18FUJ14FUJ5AUT11MOT17 25th 3 2014 GT300OKA14FUJ7AUT13SUG21FUJ12SUZ12CHA15MOT19 33rd 4 2015 Lotus Evora MC GT300 GT300OKA16FUJRetCHA11FUJ22SUZ7SUGRetAUT21MOT13 24th 5 2016 GT300OKA17FUJ13SUG23FUJRetSUZRetCHADNSMOT19MOTRet NC 0 2017 GT300OKA26FUJ22AUT24SUGRetFUJ24SUZ23CHA20MOTRet NC 0 2018 GT300OKA23FUJ23SUZ13CHA12FUJ20SUGRetAUT21MOT22 NC 0 2019 GT300OKA14FUJ23SUZ23CHA21FUJ12AUT23SUG17MOT29 NC 0
24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2008 Terramos Yojiro Terada Hiroki Katoh Courage LC70 LMP1 224 NC NC
References
External links