Kojima Engineering was a Japanese Formula One constructor who entered cars in the Japanese Grand Prix in 1976 and 1977.
thumb|left|The KE007 on display at Yurakucho Marion in 2013.
The team was founded in 1976 by Matsuhisa Kojima. Kojima had made a fortune importing bananas, Hasemi started 10th, and ran superbly before tyre trouble led to an eventual 11th place. He was initially credited with fastest lap, but this was a measurement mistake, and, several days later, the circuit issued a press release to correct the fastest lap holder of the race to Jacques Laffite.
A planned entry into the 1977 South American races was cancelled, but the team built a new Kojima KE009 for the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix. Bridgestone this time supplied the tyres, but these were unsatisfactory, and Noritake Takahara started only 19th before crashing avoiding debris. A second KE009 was entered by Heros Racing for the same race, Kazuyoshi Hoshino starting and finishing 11th.
Kojima continued as an F2 entrant until the late 1980s, but did not venture again beyond domestic racing.
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key) (results in italics indicate fastest lap)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
! Year
! Entrant
! Chassis
! Engine
! Tyres
! Drivers
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! 12
! 13
! 14
! 15
! 16
! 17
! Points
! WCC
|-
|rowspan="2"|
|rowspan="2"| Kojima Engineering
|rowspan="2"| Kojima KE007
|rowspan="2"| Ford V8
|rowspan="2"|
||
|| BRA
|| RSA
|| USW
|| ESP
|| BEL
|| MON
|| SWE
|| FRA
|| GBR
|| GER
|| AUT
|| NED
|| ITA
|| CAN
|| USA
|| JPN
||
|rowspan="2"|0
|rowspan="2"|NC
|-
| Masahiro Hasemi
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 11
|
|-
|rowspan="3"|
|rowspan="2"| Kojima Engineering
|rowspan="3"| Kojima KE009
|rowspan="3"| Ford V8
|rowspan="3"|
|
|| ARG
|| BRA
|| RSA
|| USW
|| ESP
|| MON
|| BEL
|| SWE
|| FRA
|| GBR
|| GER
|| AUT
|| NED
|| ITA
|| USA
|| CAN
|| JPN
|rowspan="3"|0
|rowspan="3"|NC
|-
| Noritake Takahara
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| Ret
|-
| Heros Racing
| Kazuyoshi Hoshino
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 11
|}
Notes
- It was initially announced that the fastest lap at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix was set by Masahiro Hasemi in a Kojima, but this was a measurement mistake, and, several days later, the circuit issued a press release to correct the fastest lap holder of the race to Jacques Laffite in a Ligier. This release was promptly made known in Japan, and the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and Japanese media corrected the record. But this correction was not made well known outside Japan, thus, Kojima is credited with one fastest lap in many record books.
References
- Kojima Formula One Cars