Direxiv Co. Ltd. was started in July 2004. The company operated a motorsport team, Direxiv Motorsports, that competed in
Super GT and
Formula Nippon, the top echelons of Japanese motorsport, with no results in lower categories. Direxiv also acted as a title sponsor for
David Price Racing in the
GP2 and
GP3 Series. The company appointed former
race queen Misato Haga as the manager for their race team, giving them increased attention within the Japanese racing scene. Direxiv Motorsports's first season of competition was in 2005, fielding a
Vemac RD320R in the GT300 class of Super GT in a technical partnership with
R&D Sport, with
Shogo Mitsuyama and
Yasuo Miyagawa as drivers. The company also began sponsoring drivers in several teams in the GP2 Series, namely
Olivier Pla,
Clivio Piccione and
Hiroki Yoshimoto. With increased attention internationally, Direxiv launched into a partnership with
David Price Racing in 2006 to become
DPR Direxiv, hiring former Formula One driver
Jean Alesi as executive director and
McLaren test driver
Alexander Wurz as director of the team's young driver program. Direxiv also continued their involvement in Super GT, this time with
Nobuteru Taniguchi replacing Miyagawa, sponsored Mitsuyama in Formula Nippon and
Lewis Hamilton in GP2 among other drivers. Direxiv's intent to enter Formula One was announced at an event at
Suzuka Circuit; Alesi announced the team's plans to enter Formula One as part of a technical tie-up with McLaren, essentially acting as their B-team, while using McLaren's old factories. It was speculated that Direxiv would be provided an engine from
Mercedes High Performance Powertrains and a McLaren-designed chassis; the team would have likely given Hamilton and either
Pedro de la Rosa or
Gary Paffett a Formula One seat, with Alesi as team principal and Haga in some sort of advisory role. Direxiv and DPR would apply for a grid slot in 2008 in March 2006, facing other prospective entries such as
Carlin,
Eddie Jordan,
Paul Stoddart and
Racing Engineering; in April 2006, the
FIA announced that the final grid slot had been given to
Prodrive F1. A specific reason for Direxiv's rejection was never given. In August 2006, Direxiv announced their withdrawal from all forms of motorsport with the exception of Super GT; it was also revealed that Direxiv's parent company was Akiyama Holdings, an investment company who had ties to the
Super Aguri F1 Team. A few days later, Direxiv announced their withdrawal from Super GT due to loss of funding from Akiyama Holdings, despite the team leading the championship at the time; the
Suzuka 1000km was their last race in the series. The team would be taken over wholly by R&D Sport, with
Toshio Suzuki appointed as team manager for that car, while EMS Management took over management of the team in Formula Nippon. Mitsuyama and Taniguchi saw out the season with R&D Sport, finishing 3rd in the championship. Direxiv was dissolved in April 2007. Prodrive would withdraw their entry into Formula One in 2008 citing legal situations leading the team to have little time to set up before the start of the season. Hamilton would enter Formula One in 2007 with a seat at McLaren and win the Formula One World Championship in
2008, de la Rosa remained a McLaren test driver and returned to Formula One in
2010 with
Sauber while Paffett was released from his test driver contract in October 2006 before being re-signed; although he was linked to the Prodrive outfit the team's withdrawal ended any speculation of a drive and there were no further realistic opportunities for him to re-enter Formula One. Haga moved to Avanzza Bomex to act as team manager in 2007 and moved to MOLA in 2008 for their successful championship campaign. She would then focus on her other business ventures before returning to team management in 2021 with Yogibo
Drago Corse. ==GP2 sponsorships==