Akira Watanabe (渡辺 明, Watanabe Akira, born 15 December 1954)^[1] is a retired Japanese racing driver.

Watanabe first began competing in 1975 in the Fuji Freshman Race. He is a noted touring car racing specialist, winning multiple championships in Super Taikyu and the Civic Inter Cup.^[1] He competed in a round of the 1988 Japanese Formula 3 Championship at Sendai Hi-Land Raceway but failed to qualify; he would be replaced by Hisashi Wada for the next round.^{[citation needed]}

Watanabe first competed in Super GT in 1985 but did not race full-time until 1998; in that year, he drove a Toyota Cavalier for KRAFT. He last competed in Super GT in 2007. After retiring from active motorsports, Watanabe drove the medical car in Super GT and is still involved with the medical team in some way.^[2]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

• Akira Watanabe career summary at DriverDB.com