Hideo Minagawa

Hideo Minagawa (皆川 英雄 Minagawa Hideo) is a professional racer who represents the uphill ace of Racing Team Katagiri along with Kai Kogashiwa. He went up against Keisuke Takahashi of Project D at Nagao.

Anime
At the start of the battle, Hideo states he plans to go all out in an attempt to pressure Keisuke into making a mistake and capitalize, even saying he could pass after he makes a mistake in the battle. But Hideo didn't predict the hillclimb to be at such a high pace and ends up causing his tires to wear throughout the race. Halfway through the battle in the technical section, Keisuke taps the brakes to cause Hideo to let off the gas and his turbo to spool down, which creates a gap. Towards the end of the battle though, Hideo closed the gap Keisuke made, but in the last straightaway, he concedes the race after lightly tapping Keisuke's rear bumper due to the fact that he lost all his tire grip to go for a second round.

He later on spectates Project D's final battles with Sidewinder team with Kai Kogashiwa and comments on it.

Manga
Halfway into the battle, Hideo and Keisuke enter the technical section of Nagao where Kobayakawa and a few others are spectating the battle. He points out neither driver is letting off the gas pedal due to the sounds of their exhausts in the distance and they are using left foot braking and weight shifting to control the car. This causes the air to be filled with the smell of burning tires. Kobayakawa states that he could never beat someone that skilled, showing the skill level Hideo was on.



Trivia

 * Near the end of the battle in the manga, it is stated that Hideo is able to pass Keisuke before the end of the battle, but due to his racer pride he can't make himself go through with it.
 * It is speculated that Hideo may have been based off Manabu Orido.