Hitoshi Ogawa (February 15, 1956 – May 24, 1992) was a Japanese racing car driver.
Ogawa was killed in an accident on lap 27 of a Japanese Formula 3000 race held at Suzuka in May 1992. Ogawa aimed to overtake Andrew Gilbert-Scott's car on the main straight, but the latter held his position while Ogawa moved slightly to the side. He clipped the rear left wheel and the front of his car became lodged in the rear bodywork. Both went down the straight at speed and went into the gravel trap, which was insufficient in slowing down either car. Gilbert-Scott spun, hit the tyre wall and flipped, landing upside-down. Ogawa went in nose-first, hit a mound in the gravel trap and was launched over the tyre barrier, hitting a high-fence supporting pole. Both cars were wrecked and the race was stopped immediately. As a result of the accident at least one cameraman, several photographers, and Gilbert-Scott all sustained injuries. Ogawa was freed but had suffered severe leg, head and neck injuries and was pronounced dead on the way to hospital.
Hitoshi Ogawa lost his life in this horrific Formula 3000 accident at Suzuka. His name might not mean much in Europe, but in Japan he was regarded as one of the best of his generation.
Although he was already 36, Ogawa was expected to graduate to F1 with the fledgling TOM'S team that was being put together in the UK by John Barnard, and which - in the weeks after the accident - would eventually fade away.
What made Ogawa special was that, more so than many of his Japanese contemporaries, he'd made a positive impression on the foreign drivers he worked with or raced against. They all had massive respect for him as a driver and found him to be a thoroughly likeable human being.
"It's unbelievable that it's been 20 years," says Eddie Irvine, Ogawa's team-mate on the weekend he died. "I didn't really get to know him, but he seemed like a really nice guy. His English was not very good, but he was super polite, that's what I remember about him. And he had a lovely family."
During the 1980s, he competed in several Fuji Grand Champion Series races. Ogawa won the 1989 All Japan Formula 3000 Championship and finished 2nd in the same championship in 1990. In the same year, teaming up with Masanori Sekiya, he won the JAF Grand Prix All Japan Fuji 500km, held at Fuji. In 1992, he won the first round of the World Sportscar Championship in Monza in C1, partnering Geoff Lees.
Ogawa was killed in an accident on lap 27 of a Japanese Formula 3000 race held at Suzuka in May 1992. Ogawa aimed to overtake Andrew Gilbert-Scott's car on the main straight, but the latter held his position while Ogawa moved slightly to the side. He clipped the rear left wheel and the front of his car became lodged in the rear bodywork. Both went down the straight at speed and went into the gravel trap, which was insufficient in slowing down either car. Gilbert-Scott spun, hit the tyre wall and flipped, landing upside-down. Ogawa went in nose-first, hit a mound in the gravel trap and was launched over the tyre barrier, hitting a high-fence supporting pole. Both cars were wrecked and the race was stopped immediately. As a result of the accident at least one cameraman, several photographers, and Gilbert-Scott all sustained injuries. Ogawa was freed but had suffered severe leg, head and neck injuries and was pronounced dead on the way to hospital.
Hitoshi Ogawa lost his life in this horrific Formula 3000 accident at Suzuka. His name might not mean much in Europe, but in Japan he was regarded as one of the best of his generation.
Although he was already 36, Ogawa was expected to graduate to F1 with the fledgling TOM'S team that was being put together in the UK by John Barnard, and which - in the weeks after the accident - would eventually fade away.
What made Ogawa special was that, more so than many of his Japanese contemporaries, he'd made a positive impression on the foreign drivers he worked with or raced against. They all had massive respect for him as a driver and found him to be a thoroughly likeable human being.
"It's unbelievable that it's been 20 years," says Eddie Irvine, Ogawa's team-mate on the weekend he died. "I didn't really get to know him, but he seemed like a really nice guy. His English was not very good, but he was super polite, that's what I remember about him. And he had a lovely family."
During the 1980s, he competed in several Fuji Grand Champion Series races. Ogawa won the 1989 All Japan Formula 3000 Championship and finished 2nd in the same championship in 1990. In the same year, teaming up with Masanori Sekiya, he won the JAF Grand Prix All Japan Fuji 500km, held at Fuji. In 1992, he won the first round of the World Sportscar Championship in Monza in C1, partnering Geoff Lees.
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