The new year has begun, and in the month of January, we continue our now classic column Start Number, this time featuring Taki Inoue and his number 10. The reason: the paradox. Because 10 stands for perfection, the highest of the high, the best of the best. And Inoue is still seen by many as one of the worst F1 drivers ever. We delved into our archives and found this story by Mischa Bijenhof, about a Japanese cult hero.
The question of who was the worst Formula 1 driver ever regularly circulates on the internet. Often mentioned is Taki Inoue, the Japanese driver who raced for Simtek in 1994, and for a whole season for Footwork Arrows in 1995. And although Inoue was certainly no high flyer, he definitely does not qualify for the title ‘worst Formula 1 driver ever’ (that was the Austrian Ottorino Volonterio, look him up!)
Geschept
Takachiho Inoue’s Formula 1 career lives on YouTube in one moment: during the 1995 Hungarian Grand Prix, Inoue parks his Footwork Arrows with an engine fire along the track. While he is busy with a fire extinguisher, Inoue is hit by a track marshal’s car. It’s a hefty blow, but Inoue comes away with just a few bruises.
In Monaco, Inoue has an even more absurd incident: at the end of training, after yet another technical problem, he is towed back to the pits. Behind him, safety car driver Jean Ragnotti approaches at much too high a speed. Ragnotti crashes into the back of the Arrows, which flips over. Fortunately, Inoue, who had been standing by the guardrail for a while, had put his helmet back on after getting in.
Crash
Inoue’s fascination with Formula 1 begins when he sees a Grand Prix on TV for the first time at the age of fifteen. Without any karting experience, he goes to England where, a friend in Japan has told him, the best racing schools are. Inoue speaks hardly any English and asks at the airport how to get to a racetrack by bus. The bus driver drops him off at the nearest horse racing track.”When he finally gets into a race car, it turns out that Inoue is not a natural talent. After gaining some experience but achieving few notable results, he returns to Japan at the end of that year, where he competes in the national Formula 3 championship in 1990. His first notable incident is a crash at Suzuka, even before his first race. However, Inoue somewhat masters racing and in 1994 he returns to Europe to drive for Super Nova in Formula 3000. Here too, Inoue does not excel, but the same can be said for many drivers who venture into the precursor of the current Formula 2 during those years.
Somehow, the Japanese driver manages to attract sponsors. So much so, that he makes his Grand Prix debut for Simtek at the end of 1994. In the rain, he spins off the track early in the race, just like his compatriots Ukyo Katayama and Hideki Noda.
Problems
With his sponsorship budget, Inoue manages to secure a seat at Arrows for 1995. It turns out to be a season full of technical problems. Only in the sixth race of the year, in Canada, does Inoue finish, in ninth place. Later that year, he will finish eighth in Monza, although memories of that Grand Prix are mainly about Inoue’s involvement in the crash between Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher.
In press conferences, Inoue gets the audience laughing. He admits to having been scared before his first races ‘because those cars are so fast’. He doesn’t find driving a Formula 1 car very difficult. “Not at my level, at least.” He has no shortage of self-deprecating humor: Inoue realizes that he better not take himself too seriously, as the rest of the world doesn’t either. A deal with Minardi for the 1996 season falls through because his sponsor pulls out. It marks the end of Inoue’s Formula 1 career.
In retrospect, it’s probably for the best, Inoue now believes. On social media, he has become a cult hero, mocking the current Formula 1 and himself. But still: under the current points system, Inoue would have scored six World Championship points in 1995. As mentioned, he was far from the worst driver ever. He was, however, the funniest.”
