Hiroshi Fushida is known above all at Le Mans for having been Dome President and Team Director of the Japanese manufacturer at Le Mans. Being 70 years old, he has eft Dome’s Presidence last March. What it is less known is that he has raced at Le Mans three times -1973, 1975 and 1981- and that he has been also raced in Formula 1 in 1975 behind the wheel of a Japanese Formula 1, a Cosworth powered Maki. Hiroshi is a member of the Club des Pilotes des 24 Heures du Mans and he has kindly agreed to answer a few questions :

Fushida-san, is it important for you to be member of the Club ? Only a few Japanese drivers are Club members : yourself, Hideki Noda, Shinji Nakano, Yojiro Terada and Keiko Ihara. Can you explain why ?

“I guess most of the Japanese drivers have only participated to one or a few races because of the distance with Japan, and have not been involved after their participation, therefore they need not to be a member of the Club. As you know, I have been involved in Le Mans not only a driver but also as a team director and as a manufacturer for many years. Yes, it is important for me to be a member of the Club and I’m proud of it.”

You have been racing three times at Le Mans. Did you went to Le Mans before racing there ? If so, what were your feelings about the event, as a spectator ? Was it as you have imagined it could be or was it very different ?

“No, 1973 was my first visit to Le Mans as a driver. I did have only limited information from Le Mans through magazines (we did not have website etc at that time), the most useful information was the movie « Le Mans » with Steve McQueen. The movie gave me a lot of useful information as well as good image training. I was delighted and very happy to be at Le Mans at the first time in 73, it was a dream come true! I did have strong wish to race outside of Japan since I started racing in Japan, you may be aware I raced in the USA in 70-71, at Le Mans in 1973, 1975 and 1981. I raced also in the Bathurst 1000 Km in 1975, and I raced too in Formula 1 in 1975.”

As a driver, could you share with us your first Le Mans experience ? What  ?What did you think about the circuit (which had no chicanes at the time…). Was it different from every other track you had been racing on ?

“It was completely different from an ordinary race circuit, but very enjoyable. The long straight was fascinating, I actually had no fear of the maximum straight speed since our car was not that quick on the straight but I had to be very careful when other very fast car overtook me especially during the night.”

At this time, you were racing in sportscars in Japan. Was it different from racing in Europe ?

“At that time Japanese races were very popular and got much attention from the public but the biggest difference from Le Mans was the history of Le Mans and the environments and the chemistry of the French event.”

Was Le Mans as popular in Japan than he is now ?

“Yes it was, even if there was less participation of Japanese teams/drivers and if there was no live TV coverages.”

Could you say some words about your Le Mans races and about the cars you have been driving ?

“My first car SIGMA MC73 was not too bad, it was a fantastic performance as the first participation since we qualified 13th. Unfortunately due to the vibrations from the rotary engine we lost the clutch during the race.

The second car was not good, we did have so many problems especially related to the engine. We could not qualify but we could start the race due to the withdrawal of the Ferraris of the NART.

The third car, Mazda RX7 was a good car to drive with Terada and Win Percy, performance was good but we retired from the race due to the mechanical trouble.”

You have raced with a Wankel powered Sigma. Was it different to drive by comparison to a traditional engine ?

“Driving the rotary engine car was not much different, compared to atmospheric engine cars, but the engine too noisy, we got a lot of complaints from pits next to us.”

You have been at Le Mans as a driver and as a manufacturer. Are the feelings about the event the same ? Has your experience as a Le Mans driver important for the Dome campaign in the Sarthe ? Are the feelings the same from both points of view ?

“The feelings are the same, I always felt happy to be back! However participating as a driver was always very easy, there was much more work to do during whole event when I was at Le Mans as a team director and/or in charge of a manufacturer. To participate at Le Mans for Dome was the kind of technical showcase which was therefore always very important.”