Education
Tokai University.
篠塚 建次郎
Tokai University.
Since his debut in 1967, his greatest successes have been as a works driver for Mitsubishi Motors. Shinozuka resigned from Mitsubishi in 2002, but continued to compete. He drove a Nissan pickup in the 2003 Dakar, but after hitting a sand dune he rolled his vehicle several times, enduring severe facial injuries and being placed in a coma.
His co-driver Thierry Delli-Zotti suffered fractures to both his legs, although unlike Shinuzoka his injuries were not life-threatening.
Shinuzoka announced before the 2006 event that it would be his final appearance as a competitor, saying "y decision has been taken: it’s my last Dakar. But I still hope to enjoy myself one last time behind the steering wheel.
Number, that’s not my goal. After that, I don’t yet know what I’ll do but I do know that we need new talents in Japan.
Just look at our drivers, they"re all sixty or over, like Asaga san or Sugawara san… So I might help out in finding new promising competitors for the future." However despite this, he returned for the 2007 Dakar, again driving a Nissan, and finished in 59th place out of the 109 cars that finished the race.