Rookie Racing

Last updated
Flag of Japan.svg Rookie Racing
ROOKIERacing logo.png
Founded2017
Base Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture
Team principal(s) Akio Toyoda
Current series
Current drivers
Teams'
Championships
2023 Super Taikyu Series
Website www.rookie-racing.co.jp

Rookie Racing Co., Ltd. (stylized as ROOKIE Racing) is a Japanese racing team that competes in Super Formula, Super GT & Super Taikyu. Rookie Racing is a sister team of Toyota Gazoo Racing and based close to Fuji Speedway.

Contents


History

ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra at 2022 Takanoko no Hotel Suzuka GT 300km No.14 ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra at 2022 Takanoko no Hotel Suzuka GT 300km (28).jpg
ENEOS X PRIME GR Supra at 2022 Takanoko no Hotel Suzuka GT 300km

In 2017, Tatsuya Kataoka launched a private team "T's Concept" for the purpose of training young and gentleman drivers. T's Concept participated in the Super Taikyu ST-4 class with two Toyota 86's sponsored by Ogura Clutch. Drivers such as Ogura Clutch's President Yasuhiro Ogura and Miki Koyama competed with T's Concept on the team's inaugural season on Super Taikyu. T's Concept continued to field two cars for the 2018 season and signed Masahiro Sasaki to compete alongside Ogura in the #29 team while Tohjiro Azuma and Daisuke Matsunaga competed in the #28 team. [1] One of the T's Concept cars was later rebranded into "ROOKIE Racing" in 2019 with Daisuke Toyota, son of Toyota president Akio, and former GT500 champion Akira Iida joining the team as Rookie's lead drivers in the 2019 Super Taikyu season. [2]

In 2020, Akio Toyoda purchased the team in its entirety and entered both Super Formula and Super GT after Team LeMans left from both series at the end of the 2019 season. [3] [4] While the team had previously entered rookie drivers that was part of the Toyota Young Driver Programme, Rookie's name was taken from Akio's pet dog "Rookie". In the team's first year on Super GT, Rookie's entry was run as part of Team Cerumo. Kazuya Oshima drove in both the Super Formula and Super GT championship with Sho Tsuboi acting as Oshima's teammate in Super GT. In 2021, Rookie took full charge of the team from Cerumo. Oshima stayed with the team, competing in both series and was paired up with Kenta Yamashita for 2021 Super GT season. [5] For 2022, the team set up a new factory base close to Fuji Speedway. [6]

Complete Super GT results

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

YearCarTyresClassNo.Drivers12345678PosPoints
2020 Toyota GR Supra GT500 B GT50014 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuya Oshima
Flag of Japan.svg Sho Tsuboi
FUJ
3
FUJ
3
SUZ
9
MOT
4
FUJ
2
SUZ
12
MOT
12
FUJ
Ret
7th47
2021 Toyota GR Supra GT500 B GT50014 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuya Oshima
Flag of Japan.svg Kenta Yamashita
OKA
1
FUJ
2
MOT
13
SUZ
12
SUG
12†
AUT
11
MOT
6
FUJ
3
5th52
2022 Toyota GR Supra GT500 B GT50014 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuya Oshima
Flag of Japan.svg Kenta Yamashita
OKA
1
FUJ
7‡
SUZ
8
FUJ
7
SUZ
14
SUG
11
AUT
4
MOT
3
5th49
2023 Toyota GR Supra GT500 B GT50014 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuya Oshima
Flag of Japan.svg Kenta Yamashita
OKA
4
FUJ
4
SUZ
6
FUJ
11
SUZ
3
SUG
6
AUT
8
MOT
6
7th45
2024 Toyota GR Supra GT500 B GT50014 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuya Oshima
Flag of Japan.svg Nirei Fukuzumi
OKA
NC
FUJ
8
SUZ
2
FUJ
SUZ
SUG
AUT
MOT
6th*19*

Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
* Season still in progress.

Related Research Articles

Kondo Racing is an automobile racing team founded, owned and directed by Masahiko Kondo. The operating body is MK Company Co., Ltd. MK is an abbreviation for Masahiko Kondo. The team competes in Super Formula as well as in Super GT in both the GT500 and GT300 classes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuji Kunimoto</span> Japanese racing driver

Yuji Kunimoto is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing who is currently competing in Super GT for Racing Project Bandoh and in Super Formula for Team Impul. He is the champion of the 2016 Super Formula Championship and the 2010 Japanese Formula 3 Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazuya Oshima</span> Japanese racing driver

Kazuya Oshima is a Japanese racing driver, currently racing in the Super GT Series and the Super Formula Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing and ROOKIE Racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryō Hirakawa</span> Japanese racing driver

Ryō Hirakawa is a Japanese racing driver who is currently competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He was Super GT GT500 champion in 2017, and finished runner-up in Super Formula in 2020. He has competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the Hypercar class since 2022, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in his debut season and the championship title in 2022 and 2023 alongside co-drivers Sébastien Buemi and Brendon Hartley. Hirakawa is also signed to McLaren's Driver Development Programme as a reserve driver for the 2024 Formula One season.

Kenta Yamashita is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing who is currently competing in Super GT for ROOKIE Racing and in Super Formula for Kondō Racing. He won the GT500-class Super GT championship title in 2019, driving alongside Kazuya Oshima, and previously won the 2016 All-Japan Formula 3 Championship and the 2013 Formula Challenge Japan titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Team LeMans</span> Automobile parts manufacturer and racing team

Le Mans Ltd., headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo is an automobile parts manufacturer founded in 1967. The original company name was Le Mans Chamber of Commerce. The company is mainly engaged in the development and sales of motorsport parts and the import and sale of race cars overseas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Super GT Series</span>

The 2018 Autobacs Super GT Series was the twenty-sixth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the fourteenth season the series has competed under the Super GT name. It was the thirty-sixth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The season began on April 8 and ended on November 11, after 8 races.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Super GT Series</span>

The 2019 Super GT Series was a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It was the twenty-seventh season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the fifteenth season the series has competed under the Super GT name. It was the thirty-seventh overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The season began on April 14 and ended on November 24, after 8 championship races & 2 non-championship races.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sho Tsuboi</span> Japanese racing driver

Sho Tsuboi is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing and TOM'S Racing, who currently competes in the Super GT Series GT500 class and Super Formula Championship.

The 2020 Super GT Series was motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It was the twenty-eighth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the sixteenth season the series to compete under the Super GT name. It was the thirty-eighth overall season of a JAF national sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship.

The 2021 Super GT Series was a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It was the twenty-ninth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era, and the seventeenth season under the Super GT name. It was the thirty-ninth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship, dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ritomo Miyata</span> Japanese racing driver (born 1999)

Ritomo Miyata is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing who is currently competing in the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship for Rodin Motorsport and the 2024 European Le Mans Series for Cool Racing. He is the reigning champion of the Super GT and Super Formula championships, having won both titles in 2023 with TOM'S, and previously won the 2020 Super Formula Lights championship, as well as back-to-back titles in the FIA F4 Japanese Championship.

Sena Sakaguchi is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing who is currently competing in Super GT for Racing Project Bandoh and in Super Formula for Cerumo・INGING. He is the champion of the 2020 Formula Regional Japanese Championship.

Kiyoto Fujinami is a Japanese professional racing driver who currently competes in Super GT for Team Mach. He is a two-time champion in the series, having won the GT300 class title with Kondō Racing in 2020 and 2022.

The 2022 Super GT Series was a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars, sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It was the thirtieth season of the JAF Super GT Championship which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship era, and the eighteenth season under the Super GT name. It was also the fortieth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Endurance/Sports Prototype Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Super GT Series</span> Sports car racing season in Japan

The 2023 Super GT Series was a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars, sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and ran by the GT Association (GTA). It was the thirty-first season of the JAF Super GT Championship, which included the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship era, and the nineteenth season under the Super GT name. It was also the forty-first overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Endurance/Sports Prototype Championship.

Koki Saga is a Japanese racing driver.

The 2024 Super GT Series is a motor racing championship based in Japan for grand touring cars. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and run by the GT Association (GTA). It is the thirty-second season of the JAF Super GT Championship, which includes the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship era, and the twentieth season under the Super GT name. It is also the forty-second overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Endurance/Sports Prototype Championship.

Riki Okusa is a Japanese racing driver. He currently competes in the GT500 class in Super GT for Nakajima Racing for the 2024 season and previously in the GT300 class in for GAINER, partnered with Hironobu Yasuda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerumo</span> Japanese racing team

Cerumo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese racing team headquartered in Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture. The competed in Super Formula together with INGING Motorsport, and participated in Super GT GT500 Class. In January 2016, former Bridgestone Scuderia Ferrari engineer Hirohide Hamashima joined the team and became general manager in both the Super GT and Super Formula categories. At the shareholders' meeting in February 2019, founder Masayuki Sato resigned as president, and Hamashima also resigned as general manager. In his place, Haruhisa Urabe will become president and chairman, and Hiroaki Ishiura will become a director. After that Yuji Tachikawa picked as the director.

References

  1. R.J. O'Connell (31 March 2018). "Super Taikyu Season Preview". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  2. R.J. O'Connell (21 March 2019). "2019 Super Taikyu Series Suzuka Preview". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  3. "Toyota Team Cerumo Adds Second GT500 Car For 2020 Super GT Series". dailysportscar.com. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  4. "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Announces 2020 Driver Line-Up". superformula.net. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  5. "Toyota's 'new' Super GT team facing same old problems". motorsport.com. Mar 21, 2021. Retrieved Mar 21, 2021.
  6. "Is Rookie Racing mega-factory an ominous sign for its rivals?". motorsport.com. Mar 31, 2022. Retrieved Mar 31, 2022.