Car Guy Racing is an auto racing team based in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, established by Takeshi Kimura in 2016. The team currently competes in the European Le Mans Series under collaboration with Kessel Racing, fielding the No. 9 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo in the GT300 class and the No. 57 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo in the LMGTE class respectively.[1][2] Car Guy is also scheduled to compete in GT World Challenge Asia with a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo in the GT3 class.[3]

Japan Car Guy Racing
Founded2016
Team principal(s)Takeshi Kimura
Current seriesSuper GT
GT World Challenge Asia
European Le Mans Series
Asian Le Mans Series
24 Hours of Le Mans
Former seriesFIA World Endurance Championship
Super Taikyu
Current driversJapan Takeshi Kimura
Japan Kei Cozzolino
Japan Naoki Yokomizo
Denmark Mikkel Jensen
Denmark Frederik Schandorff
Teams'
Championships
Asian Le Mans Series:
1 (2018–19)

The team qualified for the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans race[4] in the GTE Am category using a Ferrari 488.

History

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Car Guy Racing first entered into motorsport in 2016 when the team entered a Lamborghini Huracán GT3 driven by team owner Takeshi Kimura, Manabu Orido and Malaysian driver Afiq Yazid in the fifth round of that year's Super Taikyu championship, achieving a third place finish on the team's debut.[5] Car Guy later moved to the Super Car Race championship the following year with Car Guy acting as one of the series' primary partners for the season.[6] The team also competed as a wildcard in the Blancpain GT Asia round at Fuji Speedway that year, securing an overall victory with drivers Naoki Yokomizo and Kei Cozzolino.[7]

In 2018, the team first entered into the Super GT championship, where they became one of the first teams to compete with the new Honda NSX GT3 in the GT300 class with Kimura and Cozzolino acting as the team's primary drivers.[7] The team finished 26th out of 29 entrants in the team standings with a best finish of 15th in the opening round at Okayama.[8] Later that year, the team competed in the Asian Le Mans Series with a Ferrari 488 GT3 in the GT class with Kimura, Cozzolino, and British driver James Calado driving for the team. Car Guy went on to dominate the GT class that year, scoring a total of 101 points after winning all four races and gaining an additional point for pole position at their home circuit Fuji Speedway.[9][10][11]

In 2023, Car Guy have switched to a new Ferrari 296 GT3 for GT World Challenge Asia, but will continue to campaign various versions of the Ferrari 488 with confirmed entry[12] to Asian Le Mans Series and a "likely" entry[12] to European Le Mans Series.

Results

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The Car Guy Racing Ferrari 488 in the final race of the Asian Le Mans Series at Sepang

Asian Le Mans Series results

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Year Series Entrant Race Car Drivers Group Pos.
2018 Asian Le Mans   Car Guy Racing 1. Shanghai Ferrari 488   Kei Cozzolino
  Takeshi Kimura
  James Calado
GT 1st
  Car Guy Racing 2. Fuji Ferrari 488   Kei Cozzolino
  Takeshi Kimura
  James Calado
GT 1st
2019 Asian Le Mans   Car Guy Racing 3. Buriram Ferrari 488   Kei Cozzolino
  Takeshi Kimura
  James Calado
GT 1st
  Car Guy Racing 4. Sepang Ferrari 488   Kei Cozzolino
  Takeshi Kimura
  James Calado
GT 1st

Complete Super GT results

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

Year Entrant Car Class No. Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pos. Points
2018 Car Guy Racing Honda NSX GT3 GT300 777   Takeshi Kimura
  Kei Cozzolino
  Naoki Yokomizo
OKA
15
FUJ
26
SUZ
21
CHA FUJ
17
SUG AUT
Ret
MOT
23
26th 11
2021 Pacific - Car Guy Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo GT300 9   Takeshi Kimura
  Kei Cozzolino
  Naoki Yokomizo
OKA
23
FUJ
25
MOT
6
SUZ
4
SUG
15
AUT
9
MOT
19
FUJ
13
16th 35
2022 Pacific hololive Car Guy Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo GT300 9   Takeshi Kimura
  Kei Cozzolino
  Naoki Yokomizo
OKA
4
FUJ
23

SUZ
17

FUJ
12
SUZ
11
SUG
Ret
AUT
13
MOT
15
19th 26.5
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References

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  1. ^ "Pacific CarGuy Racing Announces 2022 Super GT Participation". www.dailysportscar.com. 2022-02-28. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  2. ^ Lloyd, Daniel (5 April 2022). "Jensen, Schandorff Complete Kessel Carguy Lineup". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  3. ^ "D'Station, ABSSA and CarGuy first to confirm Japan Cup entries". gt-world-challenge-europe.com. SRO Motorsports Group. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  4. ^ David | (2019-02-24). "Le Mans entry list starts to take shape". WEC-Magazin. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  5. ^ "スーパー耐久 2016 岡山 レース結果". CarGuy (in Japanese). 2016-10-22. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  6. ^ "When Tokyo's Supercar Owners Get Bored They Invite Everyone To See Them Race". jalopnik.com. Jalopnik. 22 September 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  7. ^ a b "CarGuy Racing Enters Super GT With Honda NSX GT3 – dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  8. ^ "Results | SUPER GT OFFICIAL WEBSITE". supergt.net. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  9. ^ "Victory and title for Car Guy - CGT - English". Competizioni GT. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  10. ^ "Asian Le Mans Series Champions Crowned in Malaysia | Asian Le Mans Series". Archived from the original on 2019-04-21. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  11. ^ "2018/2019 Team Standings | Asian Le Mans Series". Archived from the original on 2019-09-07. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  12. ^ a b "Car Guy's 2023 Plans Confirmed | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2022-11-28.