Kozo Hoshino

Kozo Hoshino (星野 好造 Hoshino Kōzō), affectionately called Ko-chan (好ちゃん Kō-chan), is one of the top two racers in Purple Shadow and also part of a two-man team of middle-aged racers, along with Dr. Toshiya Joshima.

History
He is known by the name of "God Foot" due to his extraordinary acceleration control and his ability to drift the BNR34 with the ATTESA E-TS 4WD system activated, which is considered almost impossible. He shouts exclamations, kiais, and grunts during a race in order to keep himself from over concentrating. If he becomes silent and concentrates too hard, he will drive without braking, which would cause him to crash. He races Keisuke Takahashi in a full lap (combination of uphill and downhill) battle, demonstrating his sense of fairness, as the FD3S would have no chance against the GT-R Nür uphill. He prefers the GT-R over other cars such as Ferraris and Lamborghinis, saying he could easily afford them but could care less. Also, he states that he'll drive the GT-R till death, as the R32 had left an indelible impression on him when he drove it for the first time.

He has owned a total of 4 GT-Rs: an R32, an R33 in which he was disappointed with, another R32, and finally his current car, the R34 that he uses in the race against Project D. He displays incredible control of his accelerator and brake pedals, but his heavier car is chased down by Keisuke's lighter FD3S in the first run although it barely remains ahead of the FD. The second run displays Hoshino's cunning as he overtakes Keisuke on the uphill/downhill pylon, though his heavier GT-R begins losing traction. Keisuke's doggedness inspires Hoshino to initiate a drift battle which makes his tires suffer even more. Near the goal line, Hoshino drifts too far because of his tires, allowing Keisuke to attempt to pass him on the outside. Although Hoshino's weaker tires made him bump Keisuke slightly, the FD pulled out in front and finished the second round in the lead. Hoshino conceded the match as his traction was now not enough to win another run.

After his race with Keisuke, he offers to introduce him to his professional racing contacts. Keisuke refuses the offer, as he has unfinished business he wishes to take care of first (beating Takumi Fujiwara). Although he lost, his time attack record still remains unbeaten, even by Keisuke no matter how hard he tried, due the the fact that his previous R32 that Kozo used had around ¥10,000,000 invested in it, effectively making it a circuit time attack car.

Exclusively in the manga him and Dr. Joshima watches Project D's final battles with Sidewinder at Tsubaki Line in Kanagawa prefecture.

Trivia

 * The Fujimi Model Kit and the Dream Tomica toy of Kozo's R34 use Bayside Blue as its color, as opposed to the Millennium Jade that is used in the Anime. These sets/toys may predate the anime and so Bayside Blue, one of the R34 OEM colors, may have been chosen as part of an educated guess.
 * Kozo Hoshino is also playable in Initial D Arcade Stage 8 Infinity in the Rival Side mode, where you get to play him to alter the outcome of his race against Keisuke Takahashi.
 * His last name may be a nod to Kazuyoshi Hoshino, a professional race driver known for driving Skylines and other Nissans in several major Japanese circuits, and also Impul Corporation's founder.