This racing style attracted the attention of Keiichi Tsuchiya, among other pilots. Later, this technique was developed by Keiichi Tsuchiya and opened the door to drifting.
Takahashi, known as a motorcycle, Le Mans, and Formula 1 racer, was born in Japan on January 29, 1940.
The Japanese pilot, who started his racing career in 1958, took his first victory in the Japanese motorcycle clubman races at the age of 18. The racer went to Europe in 1960 and started his active career there in the Honda team. Kunimitsu Takahashi, who started the first race of his active years with a 250 cc engine in the German Grand Prix, won his first victory here with a Honda RC162.
Kunimitsu Takahashi (29 January 1940 – 16 March 2022) was a Japanese professional motorcycle road racer, racing driver, and team manager. Nicknamed "Kuni-san", he is known as the "father of drifting".
The racer, who won his last race in his 4-year motorcycle career with a 125 cc engine in Spain, completed his last race in France with a 125 cc engine and ended his active motorcycle racing career in 1964.
He later left his motorcycle career to pilot automobile races organized by Nissan. Kunimitsu Takahashi, who competed in his first race in the Nissan Fairlady 240Z Grand Champion racing series, demonstrated his success again in such races.
Kunimitsu Takahashi, who competed in Japan F2000 races after 1972, showed his success here too. After these successful years, when the calendar showed 1977, the door to Formula 1 was opened for him. The successful pilot, who had the chance to compete in the Tyrell Racing team in the 1977 Formula 1 Japan leg, could not find what he expected in Formula 1, and this race was also his last F1 race.
Unable to achieve what he wanted in Formula 1, Takahashi later returned to the Japan F2000 races. Here he saw the podium twice in the f2000 and f3000 races on the Nishinihon and Fuji tracks. When the calendar showed 1980, he tried his luck in Formula 2 races with the BMW Royce Racing team. The Japanese pilot, who had successful races until 1983, returned to f2000-f3000 races in 1984. In 1985, the racer took to the track in the Le Mans races, and although he was not very successful in this period, which lasted about 10 years, he managed to become a source of pride for the Japanese in this field.
He appeared in the Japanese GT Championship after 1995. The most important feature of the racer was his driving style in the JTC races in which he took part in 1977. The driving style here was to slide around corners at high speed. This racing style attracted the attention of Keiichi Tsuchiya, among other pilots. Later, this technique was developed by Keiichi Tsuchiya and opened the door to drifting. In addition, Takahashi, who was the president of the Japan GT Association between 1999 and 2000, is now recorded as a living legend in the world of motor racing in Japan.