During the opening round of the 2023 Eneos Super Taikyu Series powered by Hankook at Suzuka Circuit, driver Tetsuya Yamano suffered a frightening crash in the final hour of the race.
Yamano, driving of the #72 Nihon Automobile College (NATS) Mazda Roadster, was battling for position against the #17 Team NOPRO Mazda Demio Diesel of Tobio Ohtani. The two cars exited side-by-side through 130R Corner. Ohtani made contact with the right-rear quarter panel of Yamano’s Roadster and pitched it into a spin.
The car violently slammed against the Armco barrier on the right-hand side of the track before the final chicane and was spit back out into the middle of the track. Miraculously, oncoming cars avoided making further contact.
Yamano was able to get out of the car under his own power as reported on the Super Taikyu Series’ official Japanese YouTube channel, Super Taikyu TV. The 57-year-old driver from Tokyo was then taken directly to Suzuka Central General Hospital for overnight evaluation, accompanied by his brother Naoya Yamano (driver of the #22 Porsche Team EBI Waimarama Cayman GT4) and team manager Toshiyuki Inotsume (president of iCraft).
“He was conscious, but the impact was so great that he was dazed,” Naoya said of his older brother Tetsuya’s condition to Japanese publication auto sport Web. Inotsume posted an official statement today on his company’s Facebook page confirming that Yamano had not suffered any serious injuries.
This evening in Japan, Tetsuya Yamano posted to his social media accounts that he had suffered a concussion, broken ribs, and body bruises after undergoing an MRI and a full medical examination earlier today.
“But the injuries were minor, which was unthinkable from that impact,” Yamano reflected. “I have been racing for a long time, but this was the first time I had experienced such a big crash.”
He will be discharged from Suzuka tomorrow (21 March) and continue his recovery at the hospital in his home town of Moriya, where he hopes to return in time for the Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours on 27-28 May.
Yamano is best known in sports car racing circles for his accomplishments in the Autobacs SUPER GT Series as a GT300 driver from 1999 to 2013. He won three consecutive GT300 Drivers’ Championships from 2004 to 2006, the only driver to win three in a row – with three different teams, cars, and co-drivers.
Yamano is also celebrated as the most successful professional gymkhana driver in Japan – a 22-time All-Japan Gymkhana Champion with 129 wins in the discipline.
There will be a full race report to follow later this week at Dailysportscar.
Images © Super Taikyu Organisation (STO), iCraft
