Takagi's voice?

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Jocke1
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Takagi's voice?

Post by Jocke1 »

Before the arrival of Youtube I didn't have much hope (I was never into the clip trading culture), I watched the races on tv
and always wondered, but how come in all the years that Youtube has existed I have never found an interview with Tora Takagi?

About once every year I find myself searching for one and I always come up short.
I remember back in 1999 reading an F1 Racing mag that mentioned he was taking english lessons
(I still have it somewhere), and ever since then I have wanted to hear him speak.
It remains one of the big secrets in motorsport for me. :ugeek:

I have never seen/found a Formula One interview, a CART interview or an
Indycar interview. Heck, I have never even been able to find a Japanese language interview!
I guess I must suck at using a search box, for now a fellow member will probably throw up a link
and in 15 seconds end my 15-year quest for Takagi's voice?
lol


Edit:
I know for a fact Tora was at least interviewed once on camera.
Back then when he finished 3rd at the Texas Motor Speedway in 2003.
Transcript from the press conference:
Q: We've got a translator translating each of the questions, but Tora, give us your general impression of
racing on a big track like in Texas and your third-place run in the Pioneer Mo Nunn Racing machine.
TORA TAKAGI: I have to avoid the crash. I have to go down. I have to go down. My team did a good job.

MODERATOR: The third-place finish, are you happy with the third-place finish?
TAKAGI: Yeah, I think so.

MODERATOR: Go ahead and hop with questions from the media. Once again wait for a microphone.
Let us know who you are addressing the question to, please.
Q: To Tora. Before the meeting, they made it clear to the drivers not to go below the white line.
Can you just explain more about what happened that led up to the accident and what you feel you
are involved with. Did you go under the white line before you got pushed down at all?

TRANSLATOR: He was already inside within the track, and he was trying to come down because he
was hit by Scott. That's why he was cutting inside of the white line.
Q: So there was actually contact?
TRANSLATOR: Yes. He pushed him off to the right.

Q: How important is having someone spot for you that's comfortable with this racing from before?
TAKAGI: Very good.

This must be on film somewhere.
-*:-
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UncreativeUsername37
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by UncreativeUsername37 »

Rob Dylan wrote:Mercedes paying homage to the other W12 chassis by breaking down 30 minutes in
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Jocke1
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by Jocke1 »

Thanks.
For some reason Tora always reminded me of Tohru Ukawa.
Ukawa didn't have the greatest english vocabulary either, during press conferences it was
usually something like "Slippery on track, but good race. Thank team. I'm happy."

I know I read it in F1 Racing in 1999 that Takagi took english lessons, but I can't
find it again. I just went through all of the issues except July and November but no luck.
After four years in the states (01-04) Tora's english was seemingly still non-existent.
I'm not criticizing or having a go at Tora & Tohru, rather I think it's quite charming.
At least Ukawa tried, and spoke the little english he knew, I remember Tetsuya Harada and
Daijiro Katoh (brilliant riders) never even tried and always had translators during their
press conferences.

But I think Ma Qing Hua said it best:
I never learned english. Just talking and talking.
Because, you know, in motorsports everybody speak english. In Europe,
in Britain, in every country. Nobody speak chinese so you must speak english.
-*:-
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andrew2209
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by andrew2209 »

In an IndyCar book I have about the 2004 season, it says Tora Takagi had a poor command of English
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dr-baker
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by dr-baker »

So Yuji Ide was NOT the first F1 driver with a rejectful grasp of the English language then?!
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Salamander
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by Salamander »

dr-baker wrote:So Yuji Ide was NOT the first F1 driver with a rejectful grasp of the English language then?!


Uh, considering the early days of F1 when Britain was not where nearly every team was based, I would think that would be obvious...
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Everything's great.
I'm not surprised about anything.
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Jocke1
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by Jocke1 »

Salamander wrote:
Uh, I would think that would be obvious...

Me thinks the Doctor was being sarcastic.

andrew2209 wrote:In an IndyCar book I have about the 2004 season, it says Tora Takagi had a poor command of English

Written by Parker Johnstone no doubt?

UgncreativeUsergname wrote:Very brief, but:
http://youtu.be/gHDmf_QsWK4?t=36s

His voice is much darker than I had imagined. Seems like quite the comedian.
The driver next to Tora is Andre Couto, right?
And the driver telling the funny story is Juichi Wakisaka?
I think I saw Bjorn Wirdheim there at 0:01 and Motoyama, but where is Firman?
That Super GT season sure had a lot of great names.
-*:-
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tommykl
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by tommykl »

Jocke1 wrote:The driver next to Tora is Andre Couto, right?

I believe that was Markus Winkelhock ;)
kevinbotz wrote:Cantonese is a completely nonsensical f*cking alien language masquerading as some grossly bastardised form of Chinese

Gonzo wrote:Wasn't there some sort of communisim in the East part of Germany?
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Jocke1
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by Jocke1 »

tommykl wrote:
Jocke1 wrote:The driver next to Tora is Andre Couto, right?

I believe that was Markus Winkelhock ;)

Image
Not sure if Tommy is trying to trick me.
-*:-
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takagi_for_the_win
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by takagi_for_the_win »

I saw the thread title and for a brief panicky second thought it was a thread about my voice... :oops: :P
TORA! TORA! TORA!
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tommykl
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by tommykl »

Jocke1 wrote:
tommykl wrote:
Jocke1 wrote:The driver next to Tora is Andre Couto, right?

I believe that was Markus Winkelhock ;)

Image
Not sure if Tommy is trying to trick me.

Whoops, I went back and looked again, and it does indeed look more like Couto :oops:
kevinbotz wrote:Cantonese is a completely nonsensical f*cking alien language masquerading as some grossly bastardised form of Chinese

Gonzo wrote:Wasn't there some sort of communisim in the East part of Germany?
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Jocke1
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by Jocke1 »

tommykl wrote:Whoops, I went back and looked again, and it does indeed look more like Couto :oops:

Yes, because Winkelhock was driving in DTM in 2008. :)

takagi_for_the_win wrote:I saw the thread title and for a brief panicky second thought it was a thread about my voice... :oops: :P

I always thought you were a mute, though. ;)
-*:-
BioBiro
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by BioBiro »

I know this is a ridiculous bounce (and I also don't remember why I thought of this thread, since I wasn't a member when it was posted, and I don't remember originally reading it), but I was watching a video on YouTube just now, and when I saw this... I thought of you.

It's a 1997 interview with Takagi, when he was a test driver for Tyrrell.
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by BioBiro »

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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by Londoner »

As we may (or may not) know, young Tora moved over to the Indy Racing League in 2003. That season, ABC commissioned some pretty decent starting grid rundowns where each driver did their own pre-recorded introduction. Tora's one is really quite awkward. Even then, I still think he's got a better grasp of English than that uneducated hick AJ Foyt IV. :pantano:

Incidentally, this race produced Tora's best result in his AOWR career as he finished 3rd - which he achieved by wrecking Scott Sharp and his own team mate Felipe Giaffone with a few laps to go. :facepalm:

Also of note in this race is Tomas "let's go and pick up a prostitute" Scheckter, who after throwing away his F1 chance with Jaguar moved over to the IRL and spent close to a decade tearing up equipment and contracts, to the point where no one would dare hire him again. :badoer:
Fetzie on Ferrari wrote:How does a driver hurtling around a race track while they're sous-viding in their overalls have a better understanding of the race than a team of strategy engineers in an air-conditioned room?l
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Bobby Doorknobs
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Re: Takagi's voice?

Post by Bobby Doorknobs »

East Londoner wrote:As we may (or may not) know, young Tora moved over to the Indy Racing League in 2003. That season, ABC commissioned some pretty decent starting grid rundowns where each driver did their own pre-recorded introduction. Tora's one is really quite awkward.

"Jacques Lazier"

Fifteen minutes in and still waiting to find out his number...
#FreeGonzo
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