Masahiro Hasemi

Masahiro Hasemi (born 13 November 1945, in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese former racing driver most notable for his appearances in Formula One and World Touring Car Masters.

Hasemi preparing for a Japanese Top Formula race in the early 1970s

Formula One

1976

Masahiro Hasemi made his Grand Prix racing debut at the inaugural Japanese Grand Prix for the unfancied Kojima Engineering at Fuji Speedway alongside Canadian rookie Gilles Villeneuve.

Against all odds, Hasemi brought the Kojima-Ford home in sixth place, scoring a point on his and his team's debut.

World Touring Car Masters

1988

The newly formed World Touring Car Masters saw Nissan join the championship with three new Nissan Skyline R32s driven by Hasemi, Naoki Nagasaka and Kenji Katayama. The Skyline dominated the opening round in Australia, with Hasemi winning the Endurance race - but a protest from Ford saw the Skyline R32 have its homogolation withdrawn by the FIA for the rest of the season. The ruling saw Nissan return to the Skyline R31 GTS-R in the B Class division. The R31 proved quick for Hasemi and he took eight class wins over the course of the season on the way to third in class behind Nagasaka and independent driver Francisco Hernandez.

1989

With the R32 homogolated in time for the 1989 season, Nissan entered four Skylines for Hasemi, Nagasaka, new recruit Toshio Suzuki and Mercedes-Benz refugee and 1988 Class C Champion Roland Asch.

Unfortunately for Hasemi, his season would be a short one - after failing to qualify for the season opening race at Fuji Speedway, Hasemi was involved in a huge wreck at the Watkins Glen raceway which saw him suffer two broken legs - ending his season.

Hasemi was replaced by Impul's Kazuyoshi Hoshino, who in turn suffered an injury in the same car at the following round. Hoshino was replaced by 1988 Class D champion Andrea Geisler.