My problem with Takeshi is that he wasn't a likeable character in the first half, he was always a mopy Shinji type character despite the fact he was a popular IG1 racer with a hot french GF, a loving family, and good friends/rivals in characters like Liz, Amy, Andre, and Spike. When things go back during s2 Takeshi is pretty much the same mopy Shinji character but now everyone starts berating him for it. Heck I'd say Shinji had a wider range of emotions then Takeshi.
Half the time Takeshi doesn't really give us any reason for why he acts the way he does, it's just "the way he is" which is fine, just write the story around a character like that. It feels like someone wrote the story in one room and came up with the characters in another. I feel a hot blooded "I'm gonna be IG1 champion" character would make a lot more sense in Takeshi's role. Liz could still get mad at him for "not taking it seriously", kid characters could think he's cool and french girl could still fall for him. When things go bad in s2 he'd have a clear personality change with his head in his ass. It'd fit the story a lot better even if it was a bit cliche.