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Nobuhiro Tajima AI simulator
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Nobuhiro Tajima AI simulator
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Nobuhiro Tajima
Nobuhiro Tajima (Shinjitai: 田嶋 伸博, Tajima Nobuhiro; born Suginami, Tokyo, June 28, 1950; Japanese nickname モンスター田嶋 Monsuta Tajima), nicknamed "Monster", is a hillclimb racer, tuning shop owner, rally team manager and former rally driver who is best known for his participation in Suzuki's rallying program as well as his triumphs at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in USA and Silverstone Race to the Sky in NZ (which he won eight times out of eleven events).
Tajima made his race debut in 1968 in the All Japan Dirt Trial Championship where he won his first race. His first involvement in the World Rally Championship was in the 1981 Lombard RAC Rally, where he entered a Datsun.
In 1983 he established Monster Sport International, a motorsport preparation shop. In 1986, he sealed his association with Suzuki when he established Suzuki Sport, its in-house motorsport division and returned to the World Rally Championship where he competed driving a Suzuki Cultus in the Olympus Rally.
In 1987, he competed in the Olympus Rally, taking his first class win and finishing 15th overall. He returned again the following year where he won his class again, finishing 7th overall.
From 1991 to 1992, he competed in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, including dual APRC/WRC rounds such as Rally Australia and Rally New Zealand. Initially he drove a Suzuki Swift, then switched to a Suzuki Baleno Wagon Kit Car in 1997, and a Suzuki Ignis S1600 in 2001.
As the Junior World Rally Championship project took off in 2002, he decided to retire from rally driving while he was competing in the Asia Pacific Rally to become team manager of Suzuki Sport.
Tajima has continued to compete in hillclimbing, which he is best known for. Suzuki and Tajima started the Pikes Peak challenge in 1989. In 1993, with a twin-engined Cultus, Tajima won the Unlimited Division, finishing second overall. In 1995, he achieved an outright victory at Pikes Peak with a twin-engined Escudo, becoming the first Japanese driver to win the event. In 1996, he started driving a car which he became famous for, the V6 Suzuki Escudo. He used this vehicle to win the Silverstone Race to the Sky in the Cardrona Valley in New Zealand for three consecutive years from 1998 to 2000, and to finish runner-up at Pikes Peak three times in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
In 2006, at the Geneva Motor Show, he announced his plan for Suzuki Sport to form the Suzuki World Rally Team, which would field a Suzuki SX4 in 2007. However, World Rally Championship calendar changes meant Suzuki's team debuted in 2008. Tajima took Pikes Peak that year with a newer version of the Escudo. Despite crashing during practice, he achieved another overall victory in a race that was shortened by rain.
Nobuhiro Tajima
Nobuhiro Tajima (Shinjitai: 田嶋 伸博, Tajima Nobuhiro; born Suginami, Tokyo, June 28, 1950; Japanese nickname モンスター田嶋 Monsuta Tajima), nicknamed "Monster", is a hillclimb racer, tuning shop owner, rally team manager and former rally driver who is best known for his participation in Suzuki's rallying program as well as his triumphs at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in USA and Silverstone Race to the Sky in NZ (which he won eight times out of eleven events).
Tajima made his race debut in 1968 in the All Japan Dirt Trial Championship where he won his first race. His first involvement in the World Rally Championship was in the 1981 Lombard RAC Rally, where he entered a Datsun.
In 1983 he established Monster Sport International, a motorsport preparation shop. In 1986, he sealed his association with Suzuki when he established Suzuki Sport, its in-house motorsport division and returned to the World Rally Championship where he competed driving a Suzuki Cultus in the Olympus Rally.
In 1987, he competed in the Olympus Rally, taking his first class win and finishing 15th overall. He returned again the following year where he won his class again, finishing 7th overall.
From 1991 to 1992, he competed in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, including dual APRC/WRC rounds such as Rally Australia and Rally New Zealand. Initially he drove a Suzuki Swift, then switched to a Suzuki Baleno Wagon Kit Car in 1997, and a Suzuki Ignis S1600 in 2001.
As the Junior World Rally Championship project took off in 2002, he decided to retire from rally driving while he was competing in the Asia Pacific Rally to become team manager of Suzuki Sport.
Tajima has continued to compete in hillclimbing, which he is best known for. Suzuki and Tajima started the Pikes Peak challenge in 1989. In 1993, with a twin-engined Cultus, Tajima won the Unlimited Division, finishing second overall. In 1995, he achieved an outright victory at Pikes Peak with a twin-engined Escudo, becoming the first Japanese driver to win the event. In 1996, he started driving a car which he became famous for, the V6 Suzuki Escudo. He used this vehicle to win the Silverstone Race to the Sky in the Cardrona Valley in New Zealand for three consecutive years from 1998 to 2000, and to finish runner-up at Pikes Peak three times in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
In 2006, at the Geneva Motor Show, he announced his plan for Suzuki Sport to form the Suzuki World Rally Team, which would field a Suzuki SX4 in 2007. However, World Rally Championship calendar changes meant Suzuki's team debuted in 2008. Tajima took Pikes Peak that year with a newer version of the Escudo. Despite crashing during practice, he achieved another overall victory in a race that was shortened by rain.