# Aguri Suzuki

Aguri Suzuki (Japanese: 鈴木 亜久里, Hepburn: Suzuki Aguri, born 8 September 1960) is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1988 to 1995.
Suzuki entered 88 Formula One Grands Prix, achieving a best result of third at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the first Asian driver to score a podium finish. He also won the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship in 1988, and later finished third overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998. He was also a race-winner in the All-Japan GT Championship.
He became involved in team ownership after his Formula One career, first forming Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) in 1997 in partnership with Autobacs. ARTA has competed mostly in Super GT, where they have won titles in both the GT500 and GT300 classes. He was the owner of the Super Aguri F1 team, which participated in Formula One from 2006 to 2008. He also formed Team Aguri, which raced in Formula E from 2014 to 2016.

## Early life

Aguri Suzuki was born in Tokyo; his father Masashi Suzuki was of mixed ancestry from Japan and Martinique. Masashi Suzuki had worked as an aircraft technician for Honda Airways, and in 1973 established a go-cart shop.
Aguri was named after the main character in the Kuri-chan comic strip. He attended Josai University majoring in the sciences, but did not complete his degree.

## Racing career
### Early career

Suzuki began racing karts in 1972, at the age of 12. In 1978 he won the Japanese kart championship and in 1979 made his debut in the Japanese Formula Three (All-Japan F3) championship. He continued in karting and in 1981 was again Japanese Kart Champion. In 1983 he finished second in the All-Japan F3 series, driving a Hayashi-Toyota. He then turned to touring car racing and, driving for the Nissan factory team won the Japanese title in 1986. The same year he made his debut in Japanese F2 and drove in the Le Mans 24 Hours. In 1987 he finished runner-up in the Japanese F3000 series, winning one race (Suzuka). In 1988, driving a March-Yamaha he won the title with three wins (Fuji, Nishi-Nippon and Suzuka).

### Formula One career

In 1988, Suzuki raced in European F3000 with Footwork, before he debuted in Formula One on October 30 at his home race, replacing the ill Yannick Dalmas in the Larrousse-Lola. Zakspeed, who were using Yamaha engines, hired Suzuki for 1989, but he failed to pre-qualify in all 16 races.
For 1990 and 1991, he drove again for Larrousse. He finished sixth three times, before finishing third at Suzuka – the first ever podium for an Asian driver in F1. He also set the second-fastest lap.
In 1992 and 1993, he was at Footwork alongside Michele Alboreto and then Derek Warwick, but both usually outperformed him. He shared a Ligier with Martin Brundle in 1995, but only scored one point in his races, and was criticised by Mika Salo after the two collided in Buenos Aires. A massive crash in practice for the 1995 Japanese Grand Prix caused a neck injury which saw him miss the race, and he immediately announced his retirement.
Suzuki scored a total of eight championship points in F1. At the time he retired, he was the second most successful Japanese F1 driver after Satoru Nakajima in terms of points scored, but Takuma Sato and Kamui Kobayashi have since passed them both.

### After Formula One

Suzuki later raced in the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, and remained involved in Japanese driver development. In 2000, with long-term sponsor Autobacs, he ran Autobacs Racing Team Aguri, which won the GT300 title in 2002, and expanded to Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters a season later. He also launched Super Aguri Fernandez Racing with Adrian Fernandez, running cars in the Indy Racing League.

## Team ownership

From 2006 Suzuki ran the Super Aguri F1 Formula One team with the backing of Honda. He put his new team together in four and half months from his initial announcement on 1 November 2005. The team's initial entry was rejected by the FIA after they failed to secure financial guarantees before the entry deadline, and their acceptance was not formally confirmed until 26 January 2006. The team made its debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix on 12 March 2006. In 2007, Takuma Sato scored two top-eight finishes, earning the team its first points, and Super Aguri ended up ninth in the Constructors' World Championship. On 6 May 2008, after competing in the opening four races of the season, the team withdrew from Formula One due to financial problems.

## Helmet

Suzuki's helmet is white with a red line with black sides surrounding the top, a red and black line going from the Rear down the chin (forming an A) and a black circle on the top.

## Racing record
### Career summary

| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
| 1979 | Japanese Formula Three | Team Italya With Tetsu | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14th |
| 1980 | Japanese Formula Three | Team Italya With Tetsu | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 13th |
| 1981 | Japanese Formula Three | N/A | 7 | 0 | 0 | ? | 1 | 30 | 7th |
| 1982 | Japanese Formula Three | Hayashi Racing | 9 | 0 | 0 | ? | 5 | 74 | 4th |
| 1982 | World Sportscar Championship | Kaoru Hoshino | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 55th |
| 1983 | Japanese Formula Three | Hayashi Cars | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 62 | 2nd |
| 1983 | World Sportscar Championship | Panasport Japan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1984 | Japanese Formula Three | N/A | 3 | 1 | 0 | ? | 1 | 28 | 7th |
| 1984 | All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship | Autobacs Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1985 | Japanese Formula Three | N/A | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 77 | 2nd |
| 1985 | All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship | Central 20 Racing Team | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 29th |
| 1985 | Japanese Formula Two | NC Speed | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 16th |
| 1985 | World Sportscar Championship | Central 20 Racing Team | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 92nd |
| 1985 | Macau Grand Prix | Nissan Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF |
| 1986 | Japanese Touring Car Championship | NISMO | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 92 | 1st |
| 1986 | All-Japan Endurance Championship | Person's Racing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 29th |
| 1986 | World Sportscar Championship | Nissan Motorsports | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1986 | Japanese Formula Two | Yura Takuya Racing Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13th |
| 1987 | Japanese Formula 3000 | Footwork Sports Racing Team | 9 | 2 | 1 | ? | 6 | 107 | 2nd |
| 1987 | All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship | Footwork Sports Racing Team | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 41st |
| 1987 | World Sportscar Championship | Nissan Motorsports | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1988 | Japanese Formula 3000 | Footwork Sports Racing Team | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 45 | 1st |
| 1988 | All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship | Nissan Motorsports | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 11th |
| 1988 | World Sportscar Championship | Nissan Motorsports | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1988 | International Formula 3000 | Footwork | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1988 | Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship | Nissan Motorsports | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1988 | Formula One | Larrousse Calmels | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1989 | Formula One | West Zakspeed Racing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1990 | Formula One | Espo Larrousse F1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12th |
| 1990 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Toyota Team Tom's | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF |
| 1991 | Formula One | Larrousse F1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22nd |
| 1992 | Formula One | Footwork Mugen Honda | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1993 | Formula One | Footwork Mugen Honda | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1994 | Japanese Touring Car Championship | Toyota Team Tom's | 15 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 102 | 5th |
| 1994 | Formula One | Sasol Jordan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1995 | Formula One | Ligier Gitanes Blondes | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17th |
| 1996 | All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship | Nismo Team Zexel | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 46 | 6th |
| 1996 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Nismo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF |
| 1996 | International Touring Car Championship | UPS Mercedes-AMG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27th |
| 1997 | All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship | Nismo | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 60 | 4th |
| 1997 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Nissan Motorsports | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF |
| 1997 | FIA GT Championship | AMG-Mercedes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 1998 | All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship | Nismo | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 8th |
| 1998 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Nissan Motorsports | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 3rd |
| 1999 | All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship | Nismo | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 6th |
| 1999 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Nissan Motorsports | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNS |
| 2000 | All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 13th |
| 2007 | Formula One | Super Aguri F1 | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver |

### Complete Japanese Formula 3000 Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Points |
| 1985 | NC Speed | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | SUZ | SUZ | FUJ DNS | SUZ 8 | SUZ 10 | | 16th | 4 |
| 1986 | Yura Takuya Racing Team | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | SUZ | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ 6 | | 13th | 6 |
| 1987 | Footwork Sports Racing Team | SUZ 2 | FUJ 2 | MIN 4 | SUZ 3 | SUZ 2 | SUG Ret | FUJ Ret | SUZ 1 | SUZ 1 | 2nd | 107 |
| 1988 | Footwork Sports Racing Team | SUZ 2 | FUJ 1 | MIN 1 | SUZ 1 | SUG Ret | FUJ 2 | SUZ 2 | SUZ Ret | | 1st | 45 |

### Complete Macau Grand Prix results

| Year | Team | Chassis/Engine | Qualifying | Race1 | Race2 | Overall ranking |
| 1985 | Nismo | Ralt・Nissan | 28th | 19 | DNF | DNF |

### Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 1986 | Nissan Motorsports | Kazuyoshi Hoshino Keiji Matsumoto | Nissan R86V | C1 | 64 | DNF | DNF |
| 1987 | Nissan Motorsports | Masahiro Hasemi Takao Wada | Nissan 87E | C1 | 117 | DNF | DNF |
| 1988 | Nissan Motorsports | Kazuyoshi Hoshino Takao Wada | Nissan (March) R88C | C1 | 286 | DNF | DNF |
| 1990 | Toyota Team TOM'S | Johnny Dumfries Roberto Ravaglia | Toyota 90C-V | C1 | 64 | DNF | DNF |
| 1996 | NISMO | Masahiko Kageyama Masahiko Kondo | Nissan Skyline GT-R LM | GT1 | 209 | DNF | DNF |
| 1997 | Nissan Motorsports TWR | Riccardo Patrese Eric van de Poele | Nissan R390 GT1 | GT1 | 121 | DNF | DNF |
| 1998 | Nissan Motorsports TWR | Kazuyoshi Hoshino Masahiko Kageyama | Nissan R390 GT1 | GT1 | 347 | 3rd | 3rd |
| 1999 | Nissan Motorsports | Masami Kageyama Eric van de Poele | Nissan R391 | LMP | 0 | DNS | DNS |

### 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 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
| 1988 | Footwork | JER | VAL | PAU 11 | SIL DNQ | MNZ | PER | BRH Ret | BIR | BUG | ZOL | DIJ | NC | 0 |

### Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicates fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | WDC | Points |
| 1988 | Larrousse Calmels | Lola LC88 | Cosworth V8 | BRA | SMR | MON | MEX | CAN | DET | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN 16 | AUS | | NC | 0 |
| 1989 | West Zakspeed Racing | Zakspeed 891 | Yamaha V8 | BRA DNPQ | SMR DNPQ | MON DNPQ | MEX DNPQ | USA DNPQ | CAN DNPQ | FRA DNPQ | GBR DNPQ | GER DNPQ | HUN DNPQ | BEL DNPQ | ITA DNPQ | POR DNPQ | ESP DNPQ | JPN DNPQ | AUS DNPQ | | NC | 0 |
| 1990 | Espo Larrousse F1 | Lola LC89 | Lamborghini V12 | USA Ret | BRA Ret | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 12th | 6 |
| 1990 | Espo Larrousse F1 | Lola LC90 | Lamborghini V12 | | | SMR Ret | MON Ret | CAN 12 | MEX Ret | FRA 7 | GBR 6 | GER Ret | HUN Ret | BEL Ret | ITA Ret | POR 14 | ESP 6 | JPN 3 | AUS Ret | | 12th | 6 |
| 1991 | Larrousse F1 | Larrousse Lola LC91 | Cosworth V8 | USA 6 | BRA Ret | SMR Ret | MON Ret | CAN Ret | MEX Ret | FRA Ret | GBR Ret | GER Ret | HUN Ret | BEL DNQ | ITA DNQ | POR Ret | ESP DNQ | JPN Ret | AUS DNQ | | 22nd | 1 |
| 1992 | Footwork Mugen Honda | Footwork FA13 | Mugen Honda V10 | RSA 8 | MEX DNQ | BRA Ret | ESP 7 | SMR 10 | MON 11 | CAN DNQ | FRA Ret | GBR 12 | GER Ret | HUN Ret | BEL 9 | ITA Ret | POR 10 | JPN 8 | AUS 8 | | NC | 0 |
| 1993 | Footwork Mugen Honda | Footwork FA13B | Mugen Honda V10 | RSA Ret | BRA Ret | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | NC | 0 |
| 1993 | Footwork Mugen Honda | Footwork FA14 | Mugen Honda V10 | | | EUR Ret | SMR 9 | ESP 10 | MON Ret | CAN 13 | FRA 12 | GBR Ret | GER Ret | HUN Ret | BEL Ret | ITA Ret | POR Ret | JPN Ret | AUS 7 | | NC | 0 |
| 1994 | Sasol Jordan | Jordan 194 | Hart V10 | BRA | PAC Ret | SMR | MON | ESP | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | EUR | JPN | AUS | | NC | 0 |
| 1995 | Ligier Gitanes Blondes | Ligier JS41 | Mugen Honda V10 | BRA 8 | ARG Ret | SMR 11 | ESP | MON | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER 6 | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | EUR | PAC Ret | JPN DNS | AUS | 17th | 1 |

### Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship (1994-) results

| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | DC | pts |
| 1994 | Toyota Team Tom's | Toyota Corona | AUT 1 9 | AUT 2 5 | SUG 1 | SUG 2 | TOK 1 3 | TOK 2 2 | SUZ 1 5 | SUZ 2 4 | MIN 1 Ret | MIN 2 3 | AID 1 2 | AID 2 2 | TSU 1 3 | TSU 2 DNS | SEN 1 3 | SEN 2 Ret | FUJ 1 5 | FUJ 2 8 | 5th | 102 |

### Complete JGTC results

(key)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | DC | Pts |
| 1996 | Nismo Team Zexel | Nissan Skyline GT-R | GT500 | SUZ 4 | FUJ Ret | SEN 7 | FUJ 3 | SUG 5 | MIN 3 | | 6th | 46 |
| 1997 | Nismo | Nissan Skyline GT-R | GT500 | SUZ 1 | FUJ 4 | SEN 2 | FUJ 10 | MIN 9 | SUG 3 | | 4th | 60 |
| 1998 | Nismo | Nissan Skyline GT-R | GT500 | SUZ Ret | FUJ C | SEN 2 | FUJ 7 | MOT 11 | MIN 5 | SUG 9 | 8th | 29 |
| 1999 | Nismo | Nissan Skyline GT-R | GT500 | SUZ 5 | FUJ 11 | SUG 9 | MIN 12 | FUJ 12 | TAI 2 | MOT 2 | 6th | 40 |
| 2000 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX | GT500 | MOT 7 | FUJ Ret | SUG 15 | FUJ 1 | TAI Ret | MIN Ret | SUZ DSQ | 13th | 24 |