Hattori Racing Enterprises founder and owner Shigeaki “Shige” Hattori died in a three-car motor vehicle accident on the morning of Saturday, 5 April. He was 61 years old.
Born in Okayama, Japan, Hattori knew he wanted to start racing at an early age – though it took just a bit of trouble starting his uncle’s motorcycle to push him towards a four-wheel racing career. Following success in the national karting circuit, Hattori began his single-seater career in 1990. He finished as runner-up in the 1991 Suzuka Circuit FJ1600 Championship, and in 1994, he won the coveted Esso Formula Toyota Series title in a close battle.
In between his Formula Toyota campaign, Hattori went to Indianapolis to watch the very first Brickyard 400 NASCAR race – and fell in love with American motorsport. He moved to America in 1995, beginning his North American open-wheel career in the Toyota Atlantic Championship, before moving up the ladder to Indy Lights in 1996. Competing against the likes of Cristiano da Matta, Didier Andre, Guy Smith, Oriol Servia, Paul Morris, and Naoki Hattori (no relation), Hattori won his first race in America in 1998 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and became the first Japanese driver to win an oval race in the series – then followed it up with another win at Gateway Motorsports Park.
His promotion to the CART IndyCar Championship in 1999 proved to be the most challenging point in his driving career, and by the end of the year, he suffered the indignity of having his competition license revoked by CART. He was able to revive his career in the Indy Racing League from 2000 to 2003, where he scored 12 top-ten finishes in 26 starts – including two starts at the Indianapolis 500, in 2002 and 2003. Hattori then made the more difficult leap to stock car racing by the end of 2004, driving in the NASCAR Truck Series and making ten starts in 2005.
While tangible success was hard to come by as a driver, Hattori never gave up on his dream to carve out a successful career in American motorsport. After studying at UCLA, he established HRE in 2008 and debuted at Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina with a car for former Grand-Am and SPEED World Challenge driver – and future Trackhouse Racing co-founder – Justin Marks.
Young prospect Brett Moffitt’s success in the K&N Pro East (now the ARCA Menards East Series) with HRE sparked the team’s move up to the NASCAR Truck Series in 2013. Hattori’s team won 14 races in the Truck Series, and achieved its greatest triumph in 2018, when Moffitt drove the #16 Toyota to the Truck Series Championship. The likes of Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain, current stars in the NASCAR Cup Series, would also spend brief tenures at Hattori’s team.
Then in 2022, Hattori Motorsports expanded into American sports car racing, beginning in the SRO America paddock in a Toyota GR Supra GT4 programme built around 16-year-old driver Seth Lucas. Lucas has since progressed into the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Hattori Motorsports would also move on, joining the IMSA paddock the following year.
In the team’s first Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, drivers Parker Thompson and Billy Johnson Jnr scored an improbable debut win.
The team and its Toyota GR Supra GT4 would continue racing into 2024 and 2025, featuring a cast of accomplished drivers including Thompson, Jack Hawksworth, Yuichi Nakayama, Jaden Conwright, Gabby Chaves, and most recently, the duo of Zach Veach and Harrison Goodman.
Last year, Hattori Motorsports also began a new programme in the GR Cup North America series, forging a partnership with Masanori Sekiya and the all-womens’ Kyojo Cup series to give young Japanese drivers like Miki Koyama, Anna Inotsume, and Miki Onaga their first opportunities to compete in America.
Hattori Racing Enterprises wrote in a statement issued today: “Shige was known for his relentless drive, focus and competitive spirit. Team ownership through HRE and Hattori Motorsports had become both his passion and his life’s work. He had a unique gift to constantly inject a light-hearted attitude and one-of-a-kind sense of humour into his race teams that will never be forgotten. We’ll miss you dearly. Farewell, Shige.”
And so will we. DSC would like to extend its sincerest condolences to Hattori’s family and friends, and to everyone at Hattori Racing Enterprises.
Images © IMSA, SRO Motorsports America
