Kaoru Hoshino
Kaoru Hoshino ( Japanese 星野 薫 , Hoshino Kaoru ; born September 21, 1947 ) is a former Japanese racing driver .
Career
Kaoru Hoshino competed almost exclusively in sports car and GT races in his long racing career . He drove his first races in the Japanese sports car scene in the late 1970s. One of the first notable races in 1979 can be found in popular publications; Hoshino started with his two teammates and compatriots Masakazu Nakamura and Kouichirou Shimizu in the 500-mile race of Fuji , a race of the Japanese Fuji Long Distance Series, and achieved 14th place in the final classification.
This was followed by engagements in the Japanese sports car championship and, thanks to his annual starts in the 1000 km race in Suzuka , various appearances in the sports car world championship . In 1982 he became a works driver at Toyota and popularized in Japan with third place overall in the 1985 Japanese Touring Car Championship.
He practically came to racing events outside of Japan: the 24-hour races at Le Mans and Spa were exceptions . At Le Mans he competed four times for the Toyota team between 1985 and 1989. In 1985 and 1988 he was twelfth overall. At the other two starts he was canceled prematurely due to a technical defect or an accident. In Spa the best result was a twelfth place in 1991 .
He reached the peak of his career late, after almost 20 years of active racing. In 1995 he won the overall classification of class 2 of the Japanese GT championship . After the 1999 season, he only competed three times in the Suzuka 1000 km race and finally retired in 2004.
statistics
Le Mans results
| year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 |
 Tom's Team Toyota
|
Toyota 85C-L |
Masanori Sekiya
|
Satoru Nakajima
|
Rank 12 | |
| 1987 |
Toyota Team Tom's
|
Toyota 87C-L |
Masanori Sekiya
|
 Tiff Needell
|
failure | Cylinder overheated |
| 1988 |
Toyota Team Tom's
|
Toyota 88C |
Masanori Sekiya
|
Geoff Lees
|
Rank 12 | |
| 1989 |
Toyota Team Tom's
|
Toyota 88C |
 Didier Artzet
|
Keiichi Suzuki
|
failure | accident |
Web links
- Kaoru Hoshino in the Driver Database (English)
- Nihon Jidōsha Renmei ("Japanese Automobile Federation ", English Japan Automobile Federation , JAF) Motorsports, domestic racing driver database : statistics (Japanese)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hoshino, Kaoru |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 星野 薫 (Japanese) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese racing car driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 21, 1947 |