Katashi Kimura

**Katashi Kimura** (born 14th January 1975) is a Japanese racing driver from Osaka.

## **Early Racing Career**

Katashi started racing in the year 1988 at the age of 13, competing in different junior karting series around Japan. In 1992 he would graduate to the Karting Asia Championship, where he would prove he had his place among the fastest young talents in Asia.

After winning the Karting Asia Championship in 1993, he got the call up to the All-Japan Formula 3000, where he would drive for the Acom Evolution Team Nova being the yougest driver of the grid, and challenge for the championship. His title hopes would be cut short, as he suffered a knee injury after a crash at the fifth round of that season at Sugo, ending that years season early for him.

Kimura would return in 1995, now racing for the Impul Racing Team, and challenged for the title again, winning two races and getting on the podium five times. He couldn't claim the championship trophy, finishing third in the standings. He would also test for Jordan at Silverstone, with Eddie Jordan giving the young driver praise for his feedback on how the car felt and what could be changed to make it handle better.

## **Formula One Career**

### **Jordan (1996)**

#### 1996 season

After racing in the All-Japan Formula 3000 in 1995, Kimura was called by Eddie Jordan to race for his team in the 1996 Formula One World Championship alongside Tatsuno Takamori, making it an all-Japanese driver lineup. His best performance would be at Imola, where he finished 6th place. That would be his only points finish of the season, as he was beaten by his teammate in the championship, finishing 15th in the standings. He would part ways with the team at the end of the season.

### **Benetton (1997 - 1999)**

#### 1997 season

For the 1997 season, Katashi didn't have a seat secured, but after a departing Jimmy Russell left Benetton to join Williams, an offer came from the Witney based team.

Kimura would race alongside Timo Pakkinen, and would prove to have decent pace on the first round of the season in Melbourne, but then a streak of bad results would plague him for the following six rounds, with only one points finish at the fourth round in Estoril and four retirements (two crashes and two due to reliability issues) at Imola, Silverstone, Hockenheim and Spa. Despite not having the results Benetton trusted Kimura's pace, as he could prove in qualifying that he could belong in the front running positions. This was proven true when, at Austria, Katashi got his first pole position and then would convert it into the first win of his Formula One career. He would then end the season on a high, with a 6th position at his home race in Suzuka. Katashi would finish 9th in the drivers championship.

#### 1998 season

After the later half of the 1997 season concluded, Katashi signed a multi-year deal with the team. Despite ending the season on a high, 1998 wouldn't prove to be a great year for the japaneese driver, as he struggled to find pace with the new car while his teammate Pakkinen fought for the championship title. The later half of the season would bring results in Hockenheim and Suzuka, where he scored a podium in both races finishing second, which allowed him to secure 7th place in the championship.

#### 1999 season

After Kimura's disappointing 1998 season, Benetton started to think if keeping Katashi in the team was the right call to fight for the constructor's title and back Pakkinen in the driver's title fight. They decided to keep him in the seat however, and this would prove to be the right call as he had a strong start to the season. Pakkinen had the upper hand at the first race in Melbourne, with Katashi finishing 8th due to a fuel pump issue at the closing stages of the race. He would come back with a podium finish in Brazil and two race wins in Monaco and Hockenheim. All was looking good for the Japanese driver as he took the lead of the championship, but those races would be his only podium finishes of the season as reliability became more of a problem for the Benetton drivers. With no points finishes at the A1 Ring and Sepang and Williams' dominating end of the season, Kimura was effectively out of the title picture, finishing 4th in the drivers standings and beating his teammate for the first time in his career. He announced at the end of the season that he would not continue at Benetton, having frustrations with a lack of upgrades as the team shifted their focus to the 2000 season.

## **Racing Record**

**Karting Asia Championship**

**All-Japan Formula 3000**

 1995

*\*Missed the last 6 rounds due to injury*

**FIA Formula One World Championship**