Kenjiro Shinozuka

Kenjiro Shinozuka (篠塚 建次郎, Shinozuka Kenjirō, born November 20, 1948 in Ōta, Tokyo) is a Japanese rally driver. Since his debut in 1967, his greatest successes have been as a works driver for Mitsubishi Motors. Behind the wheel of a Galant VR-4 he won the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in 1988 and scored consecutive victories in the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire Bandama in 1991 and 1992, when it was a round of the World Rally Championship, making him the first Japanese competitor to win a WRC event.[1] He is also of note for his success in the Dakar Rally, where he became the first Japanese winner of the world's most famous endurance rally in 1997 driving a Mitsubishi Pajero.[2]

Kenjiro Shinozuka

Personal information
Nationality	Japanese
Born	20 November 1948
World Rally Championship record
Active years	1976–1997
Co-driver	John Meadows Pentti Kuukkala Fred Gocentas
Teams	Mitsubishi Motors
Rallies	20
Rally wins	2
Podiums	3
Stage wins	3
Total points	88
First rally	1976 Safari Rally
First win	1991 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire
Last win	1992 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire
Last rally	1997 Rally Australia

Shinozuka resigned from Mitsubishi in 2002,[3] but continued to compete. He drove a Nissan pickup in the 2003 Dakar, but after hitting a sand dune he rolled his vehicle several times, enduring severe facial injuries and being placed in a coma. His co-driver Thierry Delli-Zotti suffered fractures to both his legs, although unlike Shinuzoka his injuries were not life-threatening.[4]

Shinuzoka announced before the 2006 event that it would be his final appearance as a competitor, saying "[m]y decision has been taken: it’s my last Dakar. But I still hope to enjoy myself one last time behind the steering wheel. To win? No, that’s not my goal. After that, I don’t yet know what I’ll do but I do know that we need new talents in Japan. Just look at our drivers, they're all sixty or over, like Asaga san or Sugawara san… So I might help out in finding new promising competitors for the future."[5] However, despite this, he returned for the 2007 Dakar, again driving a Nissan, and finished in 59th place out of the 109 cars that finished the race.

WRC victories

#	Event	Season	Co-driver	Car
1	23ème Rallye Côte d'Ivoire Bandama	1991	John Meadows	Mitsubishi Galant VR-4
2	24ème Rallye Côte d'Ivoire Bandama	1992	John Meadows	Mitsubishi Galant VR-4

Dakar Rally results

Year	Class	Vehicle	Result	Stages
1986	Car	Mitsubishi	46th	0
1987			3rd	1
1988			2nd	0
1989			6th	1
1990			5th	2
1991			DNF	1
1992			3rd	1
1993			5th	0
1994			DNF	0
1995			3rd	0
1996			17th	1
1997			1st	3
1998			2nd	4
1999			4th	3
2000			DNF	1
2001			30th	0
2002			3rd	1
2003		Nissan	DNF	1
2004			DNF	1
2005			DNF	0
2006		Nissan	DNF	0
2007			59th	0

References

1. History of Galant VR-4 Archived 2006-04-09 at the Wayback Machine, Mitsubishi Motors website
2. 1997 Dakar-Agades-Dakar Archived 2006-03-24 at the Wayback Machine, Mitsubishi Motors website
3. "Mitsubishi Motors' Kenjiro Shinozuka resigns" Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, Ralliart.com press release, June 13, 2002
4. "Rally driver escapes with his life", Taipei Times, January 11, 2003
5. "Kenjiro Shinozuka: "It’s my last Dakar!", Dakar.com official website

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)