Team story
Origins
Kojima Engineering prepared its own single-seater for the first World Championship event at Fuji in 1976. The Kyoto team had asked Dunlop to develop tyres as early as the previous November. Masahiro Hasemi drove the Cosworth-powered KE007: an independent Japanese project, distinct from Honda’s earlier works venture and the foreign cars used by local drivers.
The Formula 1 journey
In the first qualifying session, Hasemi set the fourth-fastest time, close to the best. An accident in the next session required extensive repairs; the KE007 nevertheless made the start and was eleventh in the wet Grand Prix. In 1977 the constructor returned with the KE009, used by Noritake Takahara and Kazuyoshi Hoshino under the Heroes Racing entry.
Its World Championship programme remained confined to these two events at Fuji.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Kojima
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · Japanese Grand Prix
Masahiro Hasemi · Japanese Grand Prix 1976. The recorded position is P11; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · Japanese Grand Prix
Masahiro Hasemi · Japanese Grand Prix 1976. The recorded position is P11; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This marks the first win or podium where one exists, otherwise the highest recorded placing for this constructor.
Latest recorded appearance · Japanese Grand Prix
Noritake Takahara · Japanese Grand Prix 1977. The recorded outcome is DNF. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
Dunlop’s account documents tyre development begun without direct experience of Formula 1 specifications, even deriving dimensions from published photographs. Hasemi’s initial performance grew out of that relationship between a local chassis and tyres developed for the occasion. The accident did not end the project: forty hours of repairs enabled the KE007 to contest the race.
What remains
Kojima did not embark on a full World Championship season. Its record retains the KE007 and KE009, the three Japanese drivers and the distinction between the constructor team and Heroes Racing as an entrant. The famous attribution of the 1976 fastest lap is disputed in historical accounts; it need not be treated as proof of the car’s competitiveness, already documented by qualifying and its actual race participation.