Tetsuya Ota

Shinichi Yamaji, the driver who saved Ota's life by extinguishing his car's fire and pulling him out, died on May 26, 2014, aged 50, from an undisclosed long illness. He reportedly checked in a hospital on May 25 due to a worsening health condition and died suddenly the next day.

On 29 October 2003 six race sponsors and promoters including TV Tokyo, VICIC and Fuji Speedway were found guilty of gross negligence. The success of the lawsuit was due to the recorded TV coverage of the incident which was shown in court. The responsible parties were ordered to pay ¥90 million ($800,000 US) compensation for pain and suffering, on the grounds that their first aid response was poorly prepared and their race marshals were poorly trained. The judge, Tsuyoshi Ono, decided that organizers neglected their responsibility, as Ota was left in his burning vehicle for longer than the 30 seconds in which he should have been out of the car. The organizers had failed to take sufficient precautionary measures, such as having fire engines on standby as is required to extinguish fires and rescue drivers in 30 seconds or less.

A documentary film about the incident titled Crash (クラッシュ ) was released in 2003, as well as the book titled Re•Birth, documenting Ota's struggle to rebuild his life and his body.

As a result, Ota filed a damages suit for about ¥290 million ($2,500,000 US) against seven organizers for their failure to implement proper safety measures in Tokyo District Court in November 1999. Those held liable included circuit operator, Fuji Speedway, series organizer, Japan Automobile Federation (JAF); the race operator, VICIC (Victory Circle Club) and broadcaster TV Tokyo.

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. 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.

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 1990 Ota married Atsuko. 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).

Following his education at Musashi University, Ota turned to racing cars in 1982. 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. While competing in JSPC, Ota was a factory driver for Mazda between 1989 and 1991.

Tetsuya Ota (太田 哲也 , Ōta Tetsuya, born 6 November 1959) is a racing driver from Maebashi in the Gunma Prefecture, 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.