Yūji Kunimoto

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Yūji Kunimoto 2010
Yuji Kunimoto on his way to his fourth victory in the 2010 Japanese Formula 3 Championship

Yūji Kunimoto ( Japanese 国 本 雄 資 , Kunimoto Yūji ; born September 12, 1990 in Yokohama ) is a Japanese ( 3rd generation Zainichi ) automobile racing driver . In 2010 he won the Japanese Formula 3 championship . From 2011 to 2016 he started in the Super Formula (formerly Formula Nippon). There he won the championship in 2016.

He is the younger brother of the racing car driver Keisuke Kunimoto .

Career

Kunimoto began his motorsport career in karting in 2000 , where he was active until 2006. In 2007 he switched to the Japanese Formula Challenge and finished fourth in the overall standings with three wins. A year later, he won half of the races in the Japanese Formula Challenge and won the championship. He also took part as a guest starter in a Pacific Formula BMW race.

In 2009 Kunimoto switched to the Japanese Formula 3 championship and competed for the Petronas Team TOM’S . With four wins he finished third in the drivers' championship behind his teammates Marcus Ericsson and Takuto Iguchi . He also took part in the Super GT for apr and came in tenth in the GT300 classification with Iguchi. In 2010 Kunimoto stayed with TOM'S and won the first ten races in a row. With two race weekends to go, Kunimoto secured the Japanese Formula 3 championship early. He also took part in the Super GT for apr. Together with Iguchi, he won the GT300 classification once and finished the season together with Iguchi in fifth place in the GT300 classification.

In 2011 Kunimoto switched to Project μ / cerumo ・ INGING in Formula Nippon . With a fourth place as the best placement, he ended his first season in tenth place in the drivers' standings. In addition, he and Morio Nitta took part in the GT300 class of the Super GT for apr . The two finished seventh. In 2012 Kunimoto stayed with Project μ / cerumo ・ INGING and reached 13th place overall. Internally he was defeated by Kōhei Hirate with two to eight points. In the Super GT, Kunimoto moved to Lexus Team KeePer Kraft in 2012 in the GT500 class. He formed a driver duo with Andrea Caldarelli . With a second place as the best result, the two finished 13th in the drivers' standings.

In 2013 Kunimoto drove for the μ / cerumo ・ INGING project in the former Formula Nippon, which was renamed Super Formula. He was tenth in the driver standings and was defeated by Hirate internally 10 to 11. He won the non-championship race in Fuji . In the Super GT, he competed with Kazuya Ōshima for the Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS . With one victory, the two finished fifth in the drivers' championship. In 2014 Kunimoto got a new team-mate at P.μ / cerumo ・ INGING with Hiroaki Ishiura . Kunimoto achieved two podium finishes with a second and a third place and was seventh in the championship. With 19.5 to 26 points he was internally defeated Ishiura. In the Super GT, Kunimoto and Ōshima finished overall seventh for Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS.

In 2015 , Kunimoto completed his fifth Super Formula season for P.μ / cerumo ・ INGING and achieved ninth place overall. In the Super GT, Kunimoto and Ōshima stayed with Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS. With a second place as the best result, they finished ninth. In the 2016 Super Formula season , Kunimoto stayed with P.μ / cerumo ・ INGING. He won his first race in Mimasaka and another victory followed in Suzuka . With 33 to 30 points, he won the championship ahead of André Lotterer . In the Super GT, Kunimoto switched to the Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh . Together with Yūhi Sekiguchi he won a race and reached fourth place in the drivers' championship.

statistics

Career stations

  • 2000-2006: karting
  • 2007: Japanese Formula Challenge (4th place)
  • 2008: Japanese Formula Challenge (Champion)
  • 2009: Japanese Formula 3 (3rd place)
  • 2009: Super GT , GT300 (10th place)
  • 2010: Japanese Formula 3 (champions)
  • 2010: Super GT, GT300 (5th place)
  • 2011 : Formula Nippon (10th place)
  • 2011: Super GT, GT300 (7th place)
  • 2012 : Formula Nippon (13th place)
  • 2012: Super GT (13th place)
  • 2013 : Super Formula (10th place)
  • 2013: Super GT (5th place)
  • 2014 : Super Formula (7th place)
  • 2014: Super GT (7th place)
  • 2015 : Super Formula (9th place)
  • 2015: Super GT (9th place)
  • 2016 : Super Formula (champion)
  • 2016: Super GT (4th place)

Individual results in the Nippon / Super Formula formula

year team engine 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 11 Points rank
2011 Project μ / cerumo ・ INGING Toyota JapanJapan SU1 JapanJapan AUT JapanJapan FU1 JapanJapan MO1 JapanJapan SU2 JapanJapan SUG JapanJapan MO2 JapanJapan FU2     6.5 10.
13 11 15th 12 C. 5 4th DNF DNF    
2012 Project μ / cerumo ・ INGING Toyota JapanJapan SU1 JapanJapan MO1 JapanJapan AUT JapanJapan FU1 JapanJapan MO2 JapanJapan SUG JapanJapan SU2 JapanJapan FU2     2 13.
14th 9 8th 8th 10 13 11 12 4th    
2013 Project μ / cerumo ・ INGING Toyota JapanJapan SU1 JapanJapan AUT JapanJapan FU1 JapanJapan MOT Korea SouthSouth Korea INJ JapanJapan SUG JapanJapan SU2 JapanJapan FU2     10 10.
10 10 7th 6th C. 4th DNF 15th 1    
2014 P.μ / cerumo ・ INGING Toyota JapanJapan SU1 JapanJapan FUJ JapanJapan MOT JapanJapan AUT JapanJapan SUG JapanJapan SU2     19.5 7th
13 5 7th 3 13 2 9 4th DNF    
2015 P.μ / cerumo ・ INGING Toyota JapanJapan SU1 JapanJapan OKA JapanJapan FUJ JapanJapan MOT JapanJapan AUT JapanJapan SUG JapanJapan SU2       7.5 9.
17th DNF 4th 18th 8th 17th 7th 8th      
2016 P.μ / cerumo ・ INGING Toyota JapanJapan SU1 JapanJapan OK1 JapanJapan FUJ JapanJapan MOT JapanJapan OK2 JapanJapan SUG JapanJapan SU2     33 1.
2 6th DNF 4th 2 1 15th 1 6th    
Remarks
  1. ↑ a b c No points were awarded for the Fuji Sprint Cup.

Le Mans results

year team vehicle Teammate Teammate placement Failure reason
2017 JapanJapan Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS050 Hybrid ArgentinaArgentina José María López FranceFrance Nicolas Lapierre failure accident

Web links

Commons : Yūji Kunimoto  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Kunimoto, Yūji
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 国 本 雄 資 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese automobile racer
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1990
PLACE OF BIRTH Yokohama , Japan