Tetsuya Ota

Tetsuya Ota (太田 哲也) is a retired racing driver from Maebashi in the Gunma Prefecture, Japan.

He drove in the junior formula FJ1600 (Formula Japan) series before moving on to All-Japan Formula Three Championship in 1986 and then graduated to race in the domestic Formula 3000 series between 1987 and 1991, excepting 1989.

Ota also competed in numerous domestic series such as Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTCC), All Japan Sports Prototype Championship (JSPC) and Fuji Grand Champion Series as well as in Super Taikyu.

Of the GT300 cars, the third car in front of the Porsches (and 22nd on the grid), the BMW M3 of Yasushi Hitotsuyama, behind, managed to avoid the Porsche by driving onto the grass and then back to the circuit, while the Porsche struck a barrier and rested on the grass.

A caution flag was waved out.

Seconds later, the Team Ferrari Club of Japan's Ferrari F355 Challenge driven by Ota, slowed down, causing it to aquaplane and swerve left directly into the Porsche.

Both exploded into a fireball on impact.

The Ferrari, after hitting the wall, slid across to the other side of the track and rested at the pit stop exit.

Another Porsche swerved to avoid Ota.

Tomohiko Sunako managed to stumble out of his car with a fractured right leg and was quickly attended to by rescue officials.

The RE Amemiya RX-7 driven by Shinichi Yamaji stopped in front of the Ferrari while the other cars drove on.

Yamaji used a fire extinguisher from the side of the track to extinguish the fire and then helped to release Ota's safety harness.

He did this before race marshals arrived.

Ota was trapped in his car for 1 minute and 30 seconds while exposed to 800-degree temperatures and had to be dragged out of the car by a safety marshal.

The marshal laid him on the ground which caused his semi-melted visor to sag onto his face.

Ota attempted to get up, but fell.

During another attempt, another marshal spotted Ota, picked him up, and bundled him into the circuit's support vehicle, rather than an ambulance.

Ota was taken to a hospital in Gotemba where he was treated for third-degree burns to his face and neck area and minor burns to the rest of the body.

He required plastic surgery to the nasal area as a result of the visor melting on his face.

He also suffered from intoxication from the fumes he inhaled from the fire.

As a result of his injuries, Ota was no longer able to move his right arm, right shoulder and fingers properly.

His injuries brought an end to his professional race career.

The race was to be rescheduled to a shortened 51 lap race, but thick fog rolled in over the circuit causing the race to be delayed.

Organizers waited, hoping that the weather would improve, but by 17:00 the organizers announced that the race was officially called off and all results were voided.

Following his education at Musashi University, Ota turned to racing cars in 1982.

While competing in JSPC, Ota was a factory driver for Mazda between 1989 and 1991.

In 1990 Ota married Atsuko.

Ota's first foray in racing outside Japan was when he competed in four straight 24 Hours of Le Mans races between 1993 and 1996, all with a DNF and one DNS.

In 1993 he became a regular contributor to Neko Publishing's Tipo magazine.

This gave him the privilege of being on the selection committee of the Car of the Year Japan (COTY).

Since his inaugural season Ota has competed in the All-Japan GT Championship.

His speciality was racing Ferraris, especially in other series.

Ota became the most highly regarded driver of the marque in Japan.

He survived a fiery multi-car pileup he was involved in during a JGTC race at Fuji Speedway on May 3, 1998, caused by a safety car which was driven at twice the recommended speed in torrential rain during a parade lap.

Ota was seriously injured and, as a result, he brought a lawsuit against the race organizers.

On May 3, 1998, during round 2 of the JGTC at Fuji Speedway, Ota was badly injured.

There were 47,000 spectators in attendance for the JGTC round scheduled for 300km (67 laps).

At the time of race there was torrential rain and visibility was limited.

Following the parade lap, the safety car drove through the starting line at 150 km/h (93 mph) then suddenly slowed down.

This caused 910 Racing's Porsche 911 RSR driven by Tomohiko Sunako to aquaplane and strike the rear of Kaoru Hoshino's 911 GT2.