| Kenji Takahashi | |||||||
| Nationality: | Japanese | ||||||
| Birth Date: | 1946 5, df=yes | ||||||
| Birth Place: | Tokyo, Japan | ||||||
| Prev Series: | FJ1300 Championship All-Japan Formula Two Championship All Japan Endurance Championship Japanese Touring Car Championship All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship | ||||||
| Prev Series Years: | 1974–1976 1976–1986 1984–1990 1986–1991 1996–1997 | ||||||
| Titles: | All Japan Endurance Championship Japanese Touring Car Championship | ||||||
| Title Years: | 1985–1986 1990 | ||||||
| Module1: |
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was a Japanese racing driver.
Takahashi began his racing career in 1969, driving a Datsun Sports in Minor Touring, a companion championship to the Fuji Grand Champion Series; he also raced a Nissan Fairlady Z and Sunny Coupe in these championships and winning a championship in the Sunny.[1]
Takahashi was most commonly associated with the ADVAN brand of tires;[2] he would most often be found racing a Porsche 956 or 962 alongside compatriot Kunimitsu Takahashi (no relation), usually with ADVAN branding. Takahashi won the 1985 and 1986 All Japan Endurance Championships as well as the 1990 Japanese Touring Car Championship; he is a two-time winner of the Suzuka 1000 km. Takahashi retired from racing in 1997.
Takahashi died of liver cirrhosis on 1 January 2005; he was 58 years old. Kunimitsu Takahashi, a close friend, eulogized him at his funeral.[3]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Chassis | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | DC | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | March 733 | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | ? | ? | |||
| 1975 | March 733 | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | FUJ | FUJ | ? | ? | ||||
| Alpine A364 | MIN | SUZ | SUZ | |||||||||
| 1976 | March 733 | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | ? | ? |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | Tire | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Murakami & Co. Tomei Jidosha | March 742 | BMW M12/7 2.0 I4 | FUJ | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | 5th | 28 | ||||
| 1977 | March 742 | SUZ | SUZ | MIN | SUZ | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | 7th | 36 | |||
| 1978 | Murakami Shokai RS Watanabe Tomei | March 742 Kai | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | MIN | SUZ | 4th | 55 | |||
| 1979 | March 782 | SUZ | MIN | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | 3rd | 63 (66) | ||||
| 1980 | Murakami & Co. Tomei Jidosha | March 782 | SUZ | MIN | SUZ | SUZ | C | 12th | 7 | |||||
| Team ADVAN | March 802 | SUZ | SUZ | |||||||||||
| 1981 | ADVAN Tomei Jidosha | March 802 March 812 | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | 6th | 29 | |||||
| 1982 | March 822 | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | 4th | 50 (58) | |||||
| 1983 | ADVAN PIAA Tomei | March 822 March 832 | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | SUZ | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | 3rd | 71 (74) | ||
| 1984 | ADVAN PIAA Nova Tomei | March 842 | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | SUZ | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | 11th | 15 | ||
| 1985 | Team ADVAN | March 85J | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | SUZ | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | 9th | 37 | ||
| 1986 | Team ADVAN | March 86J | Yamaha OX66 2.0 V6 | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | SUZ | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | 12th | 16 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Co-driver(s) | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | DC | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | ADVAN Sport Nova | Kunimitsu Takahashi Geoff Lees | Porsche 956 | C1 | SUZ | TSU | SUZ 1 | FUJ | 9th | 20 | ||||
| 1985 | Kunimitsu Takahashi | Porsche 962C | C1 | SUZ 3 | FUJ Ret | FUJ 1 | SUZ 1 | FUJ Ret | FUJ 1 | 1st | 72 | |||
| 1986 | Kunimitsu Takahashi | C1 | SUZ 1 | FUJ 1 | FUJ 2 | SUZ Ret | FUJ 8 | FUJ 2 | 1st | 70 | ||||
| 1987 | Hoshino Racing | Kazuyoshi Hoshino Dave Scott | Nissan R87E | C1 | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | FUJ | SEN | FUJ | 30th | 9 | ||
| Kazuyoshi Hoshino | Nissan R86V | FUJ | ||||||||||||
| 1988 | Calsonic NISMO | Kazuyoshi Hoshino Toshio Suzuki | Nissan R88C | C1 | FUJ | SUZ | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | FUJ | 18th | 20 | ||
| 1989 | Ba-Tsu ADVAN Alpha Tomei | Kazuo Mogi Giovanni Lavaggi | Porsche 962C | C1 | FUJ | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | FUJ | ? | ? | |||
| 1990 | Taisan SG Alpha Racing | Will Hoy Stanley Dickens | Porsche 962C | C1 | FUJ | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | SUG | FUJ | ? | ? |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Co-driver | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | DC | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | STP/Ralliart | Kunimitsu Takahashi | Mitsubishi Starion | DIV.3 | MIN | SUG | TSU | SEN | FUJ Ret | SUZ | NC | 0 | |
| 1987 | ADVAN Sports Tomei | Takao Wada | Nissan Skyline RS Turbo | DIV.3 | MIN Ret | SEN 3 | TSU 3 | SUG 4 | FUJ 7 | SUZ 7 | ? | ? | |
| 1988 | Reebok Hasemi MS | Masahiro Hasemi | Nissan Skyline GTS-R | JTC-1 | SUZ 5 | MIN Ret | SEN Ret | TSU 8 | SUG 5 | FUJ Ret | ? | ? | |
| 1989 | Taisan ADVAN Alpha | Stanley Dickens | BMW M3 (E30) | JTC-2 | MIN 1 | SEN 1 | TSU 1 | SUG 1 | SUZ Ret | FUJ 1 | 1st | 126 | |
| 1990 | Team Taisan | Will Hoy | JTC-2 | MIN 7 | SUG Ret | SUZ 2 | TSU 2 | SEN 1 | FUJ Ret | 5th | 62 | ||
| 1991 | Team Taisan | Keiichi Tsuchiya | Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32) | JTC-1 | SUG Ret | SUZ 2 | TSU 2 | SEN 3 | AUT 4 | FUJ 3 | 6th | 128 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | AI Auto Racing | Porsche 911 RS | GT300 | SUZ 6 | FUJ Ret | SEN | FUJ 4 | SUG 11 | MIN 9 | 12th | 18 |
| 1997 | GT300 | SUZ Ret | FUJ Ret | SEN 11 | FUJ 9 | MIN 5 | SUG 11 | 19th | 10 |