Moved up to Champ Car, after a few years in Indy Lights, with Walker Racing in 1999, but a broken leg blunted his chances. Now racing in Japan, albeit very rarely, mainly in special events, like the World Time Attack Series, as he works more in journalism, especially internet blogging and also as a television presenter these days. That said, in 2018, he appeared in the Super Taikyu Series and returned in 2019 and again in 2021 and 2022. He also formerly ran a team in single-seaters. He is now also the race director for Super GT. Hattori was a multiple race winner in Japanese F3000/Formula Nippon and also won the 1991 Spa 24 Hours as well as winning the 1990 Japanese F3 title and the the 1996 Japanese Touring Car title, so his brief F1 career - where he was given a drive in a slow, underfunded car with no practice - doesn't really reflect his ability.

Biography last updated 13 Jan 2023