Hiroki Otsu (大津弘樹, Ōtsu Hiroki, born 25 May 1994) is a Japanese racing driver who is currently competing in Super GT with ARTA, and in Super Formula for TCS Nakajima Racing as a substitute driver for Naoki Yamamoto.[1][2]
| Hiroki Otsu | |
|---|---|
 Otsu at Mobility Resort Motegi in 2024 | |
| Nationality |  Japanese |
| Born | 25 May 1994 Kasukabe, Saitama, Japan |
| Super GT career | |
| Debut season | 2020 |
| Current team | ARTA |
| Racing licence |  FIA Gold |
| Car number | 16 |
| Former teams | Nakajima Racing |
| Starts | 32 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 3 |
| Poles | 4 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| Best finish | 4th in 2023 |
| Super Formula Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2020 |
| Current team | TCS Nakajima Racing |
| Car number | 6 |
| Former teams | Team Mugen, TGM Grand Prix, Docomo Team Dandelion |
| Starts | 21 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Poles | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| Best finish | 6th in 2021 |
| Previous series | |
| 2018,19 2016,17,19 2015 | Super GT GT300 Japanese Formula 3 Championship F4 Japanese Championship |
Career
editEarly career
editOtsu started his motorsport career in karting in 2007, in which he remained active until 2010. In 2013, he switched to formula racing to participate in the Suzuka Circuit Racing School Formula, which is only intended to train drivers. In 2014, he competed in the JAP Japanese Formula 4 Championship and finished fifth in the FC class. In 2015, he made the move to the new Japanese Formula 4 Championship, where he raced as a Honda protégé for the Honda Formula Dream Project team. He took five podiums and finished third in the final standings with 108 points, behind Sho Tsuboi and Tadasuke Makino.
Japanese Formula 3
editIn 2016, Otsu made the move to the Japanese Formula 3 Championship, racing for the HFDP Racing team. He achieved five points finishes, with fifth place on the Okayama International Circuit as the best result. As a result, he finished tenth in the final standings with 6 points. In 2017, he made the move to the TODA Racing team within the class.[3] During the season, he was on the podium six times before winning the season finale at the Sportsland SUGO. With 79 points, he finished fifth in the final standings behind Mitsunori Takaboshi, Sho Tsuboi, Álex Palou and Ritomo Miyata.
In 2019, Otsu returned to the series race with the ThreeBond Racing team.[4] He took three podium finishes at Autopolis, Fuji Speedway and Twin Ring Motegi, finishing sixth in the standings with 36 points.
Super GT
editIn 2018, Otsu made his Super GT debut, sharing a Honda NSX GT3 with Ryo Michigami in the GT300 class for the Modulo Drago Corse team that Michigami owned. They achieved a podium finish at Autopolis and were fourteenth in the championship with 24 points.
In 2019, He took a podium place at Fuji with Michigami and finished seventeenth in the championship with 19 points.
In 2020, Otsu made the move to the GT500 class in Super GT, sharing a Honda NSX-GT GT500 with Takuya Izawa for the Modulo Nakajima Racing team. They achieved two pole positions at the Suzuka International Racing Course and Motegi, but were only on the podium at Motegi. With 31 points, the duo finished twelfth in the final standings.
For 2023, Otsu joined ARTA after the team expanded to two cars, he paired with Nirei Fukuzumi.[5] Both pairs won a race, and 3 podiums as they ended up fourth place. Otsu stays with the team, but he paired with Ren Sato.[6]
Super Formula
editAt the end of the year, he made his debut in the Super Formula season finale with the TCS Nakajima Racing team at Fuji, replacing Tadasuke Makino who suffered from meningitis and needed rest.[7] He finished thirteenth in the race.
In 2021 Otsu made his full-time debut in Super Formula with Team Mugen together with Team Goh under the Red Bull colours.[8] He went on to get his first pole position in the series and win the race in the sixth round of the season at Motegi.[9]
For 2022, Otsu moves to Dandelion Racing, but was underwhelming from his previous season. He ended up in ninth place with one podium. Otsu did not have a full time seat for 2023. But he comes up as replacement for drivers that not available due to illness, and injuries. He replaces Tomoki Nojiri, Toshiki Oyu, and Naoki Yamamoto at Mugen, TGM Grand Prix, and Nakajima Racing respectively.[10][11][12]
Racing record
editCareer summary
edit‡ Team standings.
* Season still in progress.
Complete Super GT results
edit| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Modulo Drago Corse | Honda NSX GT3 | GT300 | OKA Ret |
FUJ 8 |
SUZ 26 |
CHA 9 |
FUJ DNS |
SUG 4 |
AUT 3 |
MOT 14 |
14th | 24 |
| 2019 | Honda NSX GT3 Evo | GT300 | OKA 9† |
FUJ 26 |
SUZ 7 |
CHA 10 |
FUJ 3 |
AUT 11 |
SUG 13 |
MOT 29 |
17th | 19 | |
| 2020 | Modulo Nakajima Racing | Honda NSX-GT | GT500 | FUJ 13 |
FUJ 13 |
SUZ 4 |
MOT 10 |
FUJ 13 |
SUZ 6 |
MOT 2 |
FUJ 11 |
12th | 31 |
| 2021 | GT500 | OKA 13 |
FUJ 10 |
MOT Ret |
SUZ Ret |
SUG 8 |
AUT 12 |
MOT 13 |
FUJ 12 |
18th | 5 | ||
| 2022 | GT500 | OKA 15 |
FUJ 11 |
SUZ 11 |
FUJ 11 |
SUZ 12 |
SUG 7 |
AUT 13 |
MOT 12 |
15th | 4 | ||
| 2023 | ARTA | GT500 | OKA 11 |
FUJ 10 |
SUZ 7 |
FUJ 3 |
SUZ 1 |
SUG 12 |
AUT 2 |
MOT 12 |
4th | 53 | |
| 2024 | Honda Civic Type R-GT GT500 | GT500 | OKA 9 |
FUJ 15 |
SUZ 32 |
FUJ 11 |
SUZ |
SUG |
AUT |
MOT |
12th* | 15* |
* Season still in progress.
Complete Super Formula results
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | TCS Nakajima Racing | MOT | OKA | SUG | AUT | SUZ | SUZ | FUJ 13 |
25th | 0 | |||
| 2021 | Red Bull Mugen Team Goh | FUJ 16 |
SUZ 5 |
AUT 6 |
SUG 10 |
MOT 10 |
MOT 1 |
SUZ 5 |
6th | 38.5 | |||
| 2022 | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | FUJ 16 |
FUJ 7 |
SUZ 8 |
AUT 9 |
SUG 5 |
FUJ 15 |
MOT 10 |
MOT 13 |
SUZ 13 |
SUZ 2 |
9th | 33 |
| 2023 | Team Mugen | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | AUT 14 |
SUG | 24th | 0 | |||||
| TGM Grand Prix | FUJ 21† |
MOT | |||||||||||
| TCS Nakajima Racing | SUZ 17 |
SUZ WD |
|||||||||||
| 2024 | TGM Grand Prix | SUZ | AUT | SUG | FUJ 14 |
MOT |
FUJ |
FUJ |
SUZ |
SUZ |
22nd* | 0* |
* Season still in progress.
References
edit- ^ "Hiroki Otsu". honda.racing. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ^ "Hiroki Otsu". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
- ^ "Honda 2017 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
- ^ "大津選手が全日本F3に復帰。" (in Japanese). 4 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ "Honda 2023 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Racing. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ O’Connell, RJ (12 December 2023). "Honda Announces 2024 GT500 Drivers". dailysportscar.com. Dailysportscar. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ Wood, Ida (14 December 2020). "Makino misses Super Formula finale due to illness, Otsu replaces him". formulascout.com. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
- ^ Klein, Jamie (19 February 2021). "Otsu completes Mugen Super Formula line-up". motorsport.com. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
- ^ Thukral, Rachit (17 October 2021). "Nojiri seals title, Otsu wins race". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
- ^ "Tomoki Nojiri to miss Autopolis Super Formula race". www.motorsport.com. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- ^ "Oyu to skip Fuji Super Formula round after breaking collarbone". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ "Yamamoto to miss remaining Super Formula, SUPER GT races after Sugo crash". motorsport.com. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
External links
edit- Hiroki Otsu career summary at DriverDB.com