Kaoru Hoshino (21 September 1947 – 21 November 2022)[1] was a Japanese racing driver.[2] He was active in the Toyota works team TOM'S from its inception, driving the Toyota Corolla and Toyota Starlet. He was mainly active in touring car racing, and also competed in the All Japan Touring Car Championship with the Toyota Supra and Toyota Corolla Levin. He continued to compete in the Super Taikyus and the All Japan GT Championship, and in 1995, in the GT2 class of the All Japan GT Championship, he teamed up with Yoshimi Ishibashi to win the series championship with a Nissan Skyline.[3]

Kaoru was best known for being involved in Tetsuya Ota's accident when he was rear-ended by Tomohiko Sunako's Porsche, his tire came off and he was stuck in the pit lane when Ota hit Sunako Kaoru had just touched the wall a little bit. The tire came off and also damaged his car's rear end due to the touch with Sunako.

Hoshino died on 25 November 2022, at the age of 75.[1]

Racing record

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Complete JGTC results

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

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 DC Pts
1995 Yoshimi Ishibashi Nissan Skyline GT2 SUZ
1
FSW
1
SEN
2
FSW
3
SUG
3
MIN
Ret
1st 79
1996 Porsche 911RS GT300 SUZ
5
FSW
5
SEN
5
FSW
5
SUG
Ret
MIN 8th 32
1997 Sigma Tech Racing Team Porsche 911 GT2 GT300 SUZ FSW
6
SEN
7
FSW
6
MIN
2
SUG
1
5th 51
1998 GT300 SUZ
Ret
FSW
C
SEN
9
FSW
4
TRM MIN SUG
16
21st 12
1999 TEAM GAIKOKUYA GT300 SUZ FSW
6
SUG MIN FSW TAI
10
TRM 22nd 7

24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1985   Tom's Team   Satoru Nakajima
  Masanori Sekiya
Tom's 85C-L-Toyota C1 330 12th 12th
1987   Toyota Team Tom's   Tiff Needell
  Masanori Sekiya
Toyota 87C-L C1 39 DNF DNF
1988   Toyota Team Tom's   Geoff Lees
  Masanori Sekiya
Toyota 88C C1 351 12th 12th
1989   Toyota Team Tom's   Keiichi Suzuki
  Didier Artzet
Toyota 88C C1 20 DNF DNF

References

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  1. ^ a b O'Connell, RJ (26 November 2022). "Kaoru Hoshino: 1947-2022". dailysportscar.com. dailysportcar. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Profile". driverdb.com. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 11 November 2019.