Hideki Noda (野田 英樹) is a Japanese professional racing driver. He participated in three Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the 1994 European Grand Prix, but did not score any championship points. He replaced Yannick Dalmas in the Larrousse car for the last three Grands Prix of the season, but failed to finish in any of the three races. In 1995, he joined Simtek as a test driver, hoping to get some races in. However, the Kobe earthquake and the folding of the Simtek team ended his brief Formula 1 career. A year later, Noda went to America and raced in the Indy Lights and became the only Japanese driver to win a CART-sanctioned event. After a few years in America, Noda moved back to Japan, where he drove a Team Cerumo Toyota Supra with Hironori Takeuchi. In the annual non-championship All-Star event at Aida, Noda and Takeuchi were forced out with mechanical problems. In 1999, he joined the Esso Tiger Team Le Mans under Koichiro Mori, again to drive a Toyota Supra, ex-Australian V8 Supercar driver Wayne Gardner. The highlight of their season was a win at Fuji. With 33 points, they were equal 17th in the series. In 2002, Noda returned to the United States and drove in six Indy Racing League IndyCar Series races for Convergent Racing and Indy Regency Racing with a best finish of 10th at Phoenix International Raceway while with Convergent. He also competed in a round of the inaugural A1 Grand Prix season with Japan at Lausitz, where he scored three points for the Japanese team.

Career

Formula One (1994-1995)

Noda replaced French driver Yannick Dalmas at Larrousse towards the end of the 1994 season at the European Grand Prix in Jerez. After qualifying 24th behind his teammate Érik Comas, he retired due to gearbox failure. At his home race in Japan, Noda was 23rd on the grid but retired again due, this time due to an electrical fault. His last Grand Prix saw him 23rd on the grid at Adelaide, this time out qualifying his new teammate Jean-Denis Délétraz. Noda again retired, this time due to an oil leak. In 1995, Noda was due to drive for Simtek in Canada but the team withdrew from F1 before he could. In his last attempt to drive in F1, he was denied his super license, preventing him from driving for Forti at the TI Circuit for the Pacific Grand Prix.

A1 Grand Prix (2005–2009)

In 2005, Noda was announced as the second driver for the Japan entry for the 2005-06 A1 Grand Prix season, second to Ryo Fukuda. His first race for the team came at the second round at Lausitz, where he qualified in 21st place. In sprint race, Noda managed to move up 11 places to finish 10th and score one point for Japan. The feature race saw Noda finish one place higher in ninth place, scoring a further two points for the Japanese A1 GP team. Japan finished 21st at the end of the season, with eight points.

Personal life

Noda's daughter Juju is also a racing driver, who competed in the W Series.

Racing record

Complete Japanese Formula 3 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete British Formula 3 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Japanese Formula 3000/Formula Nippon results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results

(key)

American open-wheel racing results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Indy Lights

Indy Racing League

Complete JGTC/Super GT results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Footnotes