Technical Articles

Tetsuya Tanaka…

DIXCEL chose Tetsuya Tanaka to be the technical advisor since he is one of the best professional racing drivers in Japan. Nobody other than Tetsuya has the vast knowledge of the limits of a multitude of cars from racing cars to super cars. His experience and achievements shows he has ‘used the performance brake pads’ of all around the world.
No matter what kind of car, Tetsuya is like ‘a lion tamer who can easily control a lion’ when he grips the steering wheel of a car. He is like a craftsman who works quickly and accurately with his insight. Tetsuya makes no unnecessary movements when driving through a corner. On top of that, Tetsuya Tanaka is a driver that competes in the professional racing world, and leads his teams to pole positions, wins, and championships. His racing does not stop in Japan.
He even drives at Nurburgring, the place where major vehicle testing is done by many major manufacturers. Tetsuya frequently tests and races cars there. The reason why car manufacturers and tire manufacturers listen to his feedbacks are due to his expert analytical ability. Tetsuya was a part of the development of the Nissan R35 GT-R as a test driver from the beginning. This was because no one has the ability or experience that Tetsuya brings with him. His ability and advice was a necessity for the development of DIXCEL brake products.

When the contract was being signed, Tetsuya said, “I will not OK a product unless DIXCEL brings the best products for testing that I can be satisfied with.”
DIXCEL challenged ourselves by setting a high standard of not being able to commercialize a product until Tetsuya gave his approval.

The contract was like an agreement of each others pride, constantly improving each others skills

Between DIXCEL and Tetsuya Tanaka, there is no room for error.

Profile of Tetsuya Tanaka

born on 16th December 1965 in the Kyoto prefecture.
During his days at Tenri High School, Tetsuya was a varsity baseball starter. Shortly after entering the Ritsumeikan University as a economics major, Tetsuya decided he wanted to become a racing driver. In 1987, he entered in the Gymkhana A2 class, and in 1990, he debuts as a professional racing driver. As a professional racing driver, he raced in a wide variety of races from Formula Nippon to Super GT, and also numerous races outside of Japan such as the 24 Hours Nurburgring. Tetsuya is an instructor at Suzuka Racing School. As an contracted NISMO driver, he is also an instructor at the Nissan Racing School. Tetsuya is an writer for various magazines since he has a vast knowledge of not only Japanese cars but also European cars.
In 2009, Tetsuya became an advisor for DIXCEL, mainly to be a test driver to test new products. The development test were done not only on race circuits, but on regular streets. Tetsuya tested DIXCEL M-type brake pads on his personal car, to do a long term brake test to replicate everyday street-use. Tetsuya can not only test DIXCEL products from the views of a professional racing driver, he can also test from the views of a everyday ordinary street drivers. Tetsuya is one of a few drivers who can give accurate product feedbacks from both views.

《 Racing Career 》

• 2000 – All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship GT500 class, Super Taikyu Class 1 (SERIES CHAMPION)
• 2001 – All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship GT500 class (5th), Super Taikyu Series Class 1 (SERIES CHAMPION)
• 2002 – All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship GT500 class, Super Taikyu Class 1 (2nd)
• 2003 – All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship GT500 class, Super Taikyu Class 1 (2nd)
• 2004 – All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship GT500 class (3rd), Super Taikyu Series Class 1 (SERIES CHAMPION)
• 2005 – SUPER GT GT300 class (4th), Super Taikyu ST class 1 (2nd)
• 2006 – SUPER GT GT300 class, Super Taikyu ST class 1 (SERIES CHAMPION, WON EVERY RACE)
• 2007 – SUPER GT GT300 class, Super Taikyu ST class 1 (4th)
• 2008 – SUPER GT GT300 class, Super Taikyu ST class 1
• 2009 – SUPER GT GT300 class (3rd), Super Taikyu ST class 1 (2nd)
• 2010 – SUPER GT GT300 class, Double win @ Fuji Sprint Cup
• 2011 – SUPER GT GT300 class (2nd), Super Taikyu ST class 3 (2nd)
• 2012 – SUPER GT GT300 class (7th), Super Taikyu ST class 3 (4th)
• 2013 – SUPER GT GT300 class (20th), Super Taikyu ST class 3 (2nd)
• 2014 – GR 86/BRZ race (#328 DIXCEL Osaka Toyota86), Super Taikyu ST class 3
• 2015 – Super Taikyu ST class 3 (Champion)
• 2016 – Super Taikyu ST class 3