Kenta Yamashita

Kenta Yamashita
Kenta Yamashita
	Yamashita at the podium of the 2024 Super Formula Motegi round
Nationality	Japanese
Born	3 August 1995 (age 29); Chiba, Japan
Super GT career
Debut season	2015
Current team	TGR Team au TOM'S
Racing licence	FIA Platinum
Car number	14
Former teams	Racing Project Bandoh, Team LeMans, SARD, TGR Team KeePer TOM'S, ROOKIE Racing
Starts	52
Wins	7
Podiums	16
Poles	6
Fastest laps	2
Best finish	1st in 2019, 2024
Super Formula career
Debut season	2017
Current team	Kondo Racing
Car number	3
Starts	61
Wins	1
Podiums	7
Poles	2
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	5th in 2019
Previous series
2019-20; 2015-17; 2014–16; 2013; 2012	FIA WEC - LMP2; Super GT - GT300; Japanese Formula 3 Championship; Formula Challenge Japan; Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ
Championship titles
2019, 2024; 2016; 2013; 2012	Super GT; Japanese Formula 3 Championship; Formula Challenge Japan; Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ

Kenta Yamashita (山下健太, Yamashita Kenta, born 3 August 1995) 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.

Career

Karting

Yamashita competed in karts before graduating to single-seater cars in 2012.^{[citation needed]}

Formula Super FJ and Formula Challenge Japan

Yamashita began his racing car career in the 2012 Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ, which he won in his first season. In all four starts, he took the pole, fastest lap, and race win.^[1] In 2013, he progressed to the Formula Challenge Japan series, which was a racing category intended for drivers between entry level and Formula 3. He scored 7 podiums and in 12 races, including 4 wins, and took the championship title.^[2]

All-Japan Formula Three

In 2014, Yamashita graduated to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship with the Petronas Team TOM'S. He finished runner-up in the championship to the more experienced Nobuharu Matsushita.^[3]

In 2015, Yamashita continued to race in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship with TOM'S, he managed to clinch runners up, just lose out to Nick Cassidy the eventual champion. 2016, Yamashita won the title in the final round, pips out Jann Mardenborough to the title.

Super GT

In 2015, Yamashita made his debut in GT300 class with Porsche Team KTR alongside Alexandre Imperatori. Then he made one off appearance the next season with Tsuchiya Engineering. Then he stayed with the team for full time. That season he won his first race alongside Takamitsu Matsui.

Yamashita made one off appearance with Racing Project Bandoh in Fuji Speedway.^[4] Then for 2018 he steps up to GT500 with Bandoh, as he replaces Yuhi Sekiguchi.^[5] Yamashita then transferred to Lexus Team Wako's LeMans, replacing Felix Rosenqvist, who left Super GT to compete in the IndyCar Series.^[6] He then with Kazuya Oshima won the title at the final race of the season. That would be Team LeMans final title as the team discontinued their campaign in GT500. For 2020, Yamashita initially did not listed to compete in Super GT as he was focused to do WEC. But because of the pandemic happened, he did couple of races in that year. He covered up for Heikki Kovalainen at Team SARD for Round 1 because Kovalalinen unable to enter Japan. Then Yamashita do 2 rounds to replaces Nick Cassidy, as Cassidy began preparations for his debut in the 2021 FIA Formula E World Championship.

Yamashita then returns to the series full time in 2021 with new Rookie Racing with his former champion pair Oshima.^[7] During his time with the team he won 2 races, and couple of podiums. For 2024, he moves to 2023 champion team Team au TOM'S to pair with Sho Tsuboi as he replaces Ritomo Miyata.^[8]

Super Formula

Yamashita made his Super Formula debut in 2017 with Kondo Racing alongside his 2015 title rival Cassidy.^[4] Yamashita stayed with the same team for over seven years, and he managed only to win once.

FIA World Endurance Championship

Yamashita made his international racing debut in the 2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship, driving in the LMP2 class for Danish team High Class Racing alongside Anders Fjordbach and amateur driver Mark Patterson.^[9] Yamashita would impress in qualifying sessions throughout the season, outmatching more experienced opponents on a regular basis, but the team would ultimately achieve little success in races and ended the season as the last-placed LMP2 team. Yamashita reached the Hyperpole session in qualifying for the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans before the team was forced to retire with a gearbox problem.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	FLaps	Podiums	Points	Position
2012	Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ		4	4	4	4	4	64	1st
2013	Formula Challenge Japan	FTRS FCJ	12	4	2	3	7	65	1st
2014	Japanese Formula 3 Championship	Petronas Team TOM's	15	2	1	1	12	90	2nd
2014	Macau Grand Prix	Petronas Team TOM's	1	0	0	0	0	0	9th
2015	Japanese Formula 3 Championship	Petronas Team TOM's	17	5	5	5	13	113	2nd
	Macau Grand Prix	Petronas Team TOM's	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	15th
	Super GT - GT300	Porsche Team KTR	8	0	0	0	0	6	20th
2016	Japanese Formula 3 Championship	Team TOM's	17	7	7	4	10	113	1st
	Super GT - GT300	VivaC Team Tsuchiya	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Macau Grand Prix	ThreeBond with T-Sport	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	4th
2017	Super GT - GT300	VivaC Team Tsuchiya	7	1	3	1	2	48	5th
	Super GT - GT500	Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh	1	0	0	0	0	1	20th
	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	7	0	1	0	0	6.5	11th
	Super Taikyu - ST-3	Le Beausset Motorsports	4	2	2	1	4	95‡	2nd‡
	Macau Grand Prix	B-Max Racing Team	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2018	Super GT - GT500	Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh	8	0	0	0	2	32	11th
	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	6	0	0	0	1	11.5	9th
	Super Taikyu - ST-3	Le Beausset Motorsports	6	1	1	0	5	129‡	2nd‡
2019	Super GT - GT500	Lexus Team LeMans Wako's	8	2	1	0	4	85	1st
	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	7	1	0	0	2	21	5th
	Super Taikyu - ST-3	Le Beausset Motorsports	4	2	1	1	2	92‡	4th‡
2019-20	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2	High Class Racing	7	0	0	0	0	47	13th
2020	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	6	0	0	0	1	34	7th
	Super GT - GT500	TGR Team SARD	1	0	0	0	0	27	14th
	Super GT - GT500	TGR Team KeePer Tom's	2	0	1	1	1	27	14th
	24 Hours of Le Mans	High Class Racing	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2021	Super GT - GT500	TGR ENEOS ROOKIE	8	1	1	1	3	52	5th
	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	7	0	0	0	0	8	14th
	Super Taikyu - ST-Q	ROOKIE Racing
2022	Super GT - GT500	TGR ENEOS ROOKIE	8	1	1	0	2	49	5th
	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	10	0	0	0	0	19	15th
	Super Taikyu - ST-4	TOM'S Spirit	6	5	5	3	6	177.5‡	1st‡
2023	Super GT - GT500	TGR ENEOS ROOKIE	8	0	0	0	1	45	7th
	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	9	0	0	0	1	32	8th
	Super Taikyu - ST-Q	ORC ROOKIE Racing
2024	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	9	0	1	0	2	48.5	7th
	Super GT - GT500	TGR Team au TOM'S	8	3	2	0	3	97	1st
	Super Taikyu - ST-Q	GR Team Spirit

^* Season still in progress.

‡ Team standings.

Complete Japanese Formula 3 Championship results

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

Year	Team	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	DC	Pts
2014	Petronas Team TOM'S	Toyota	SUZ 1 1	SUZ 2 3	MOT 1 2	MOT 2 2	MOT 3 2	OKA 1 5	OKA 2 1	FUJ 1 2	FUJ 2 2	MOT 1 3	MOT 2 6	SUG 1 6	SUG 2 2	FUJ 1 3	FUJ 2 2			2nd	90
2015	Petronas Team TOM'S	Toyota	SUZ 1 Ret	SUZ 2 3	MOT 1 2	MOT 2 1	MOT 3 1	OKA 1 8	OKA 2 1	FUJ 1 1	FUJ 2 3	OKA 1 2	OKA 2 2	FUJ 1 5	FUJ 2 1	MOT 1 3	MOT 2 2	SUG 1 4	SUG 2 3	2nd	113
2016	Zent Team TOM'S	Toyota	SUZ 1 1	SUZ 2 1	FUJ 1 5	FUJ 2 2	OKA 1 1	OKA 2 6	SUZ 1 Ret	SUZ 2 2	FUJ 1 6	FUJ 2 4	MOT 1 5	MOT 2 2	OKA 1 1	OKA 2 5	SUG 1 1	SUG 2 1	SUG 3 1	1st	113

Complete Super GT results

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

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
2015	Porsche Team KTR	Porsche 911 GT3	GT300	OKA 14	FUJ 12	CHA 8	FUJ Ret	SUZ 18	SUG 17	AUT 8	MOT 14	20th	6
2016	VivaC Team Tsuchiya	Toyota 86 MC		OKA	FUJ	SUG	FUJ	SUZ 22	CHA	MOT	MOT	NC	0
2017	VivaC Team Tsuchiya	Toyota 86 MC		OKA 4		AUT 1	SUG 3	FUJ 29	SUZ 18	CHA 15	MOT 5	5th	48
2017	Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh	Lexus LC 500	GT500		FUJ 10							20th	1
2018	Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh			OKA 9	FUJ 12	SUZ 13	CHA 3	FUJ 10	SUG Ret	AUT 3	MOT 5	11th	32
2019	Lexus Team LeMans Wako's			OKA 13	FUJ 8	SUZ 3	CHA 1	FUJ 1	AUT 6	SUG 6	MOT 2	1st	85
2020	TGR Team SARD	Toyota GR Supra GT500		FUJ 5	FUJ	SUZ	MOT	FUJ	SUZ			14th	27
2020	TGR Team KeePer Tom's									MOT 6	FUJ 2	14th	27
2021	TGR ENEOS ROOKIE Racing			OKA 1	FUJ 2	MOT 13	SUZ 12	SUG 12†	AUT 11	MOT 6	FUJ 3	5th	52
2022				OKA 1	FUJ 7‡	SUZ 8	FUJ 7	SUZ 14	SUG 11	AUT 4	MOT 3	5th	49
2023				OKA 4	FUJ 4	SUZ 6	FUJ 11	SUZ 3	SUG 6	AUT 8	MOT 6	7th	45
2024	TGR Team au TOM'S			OKA 1	FUJ 4	SUZ 5	FUJ 7	SUG 4	AUT 7	MOT 1	SUZ 1	1st	97

^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete Super Formula results

(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
2017	Kondō Racing	SUZ 14	OKA 7	OKA 6	FUJ Ret	MOT 6	AUT 13	SUG 11	SUZ C	SUZ C		11th	6.5
2018		SUZ 9	AUT C	SUG 8	FUJ 18	MOT 6	OKA 6‡	SUZ 3				9th	11.5
2019		SUZ 3	AUT 7	SUG 6	FUJ 17	MOT 13	OKA 1	SUZ 9				5th	21
2020		MOT 2	OKA	SUG 6	AUT 5	SUZ 9	SUZ 6	FUJ 10				7th	34
2021		FUJ 12	SUZ 12	AUT 11	SUG 14	MOT 15	MOT 8	SUZ 6				14th	8
2022		FUJ 11	FUJ 4	SUZ 16	AUT 12	SUG Ret	FUJ 7	MOT 6	MOT Ret	SUZ 14	SUZ 13	15th	19
2023		FUJ Ret	FUJ 3	SUZ 5	AUT 4	SUG 8	FUJ 17	MOT 9	SUZ 11	SUZ 9		8th	32
2024		SUZ 2	AUT 7	SUG 6‡	FUJ 13	MOT 2	FUJ 10	FUJ 8	SUZ 8	SUZ 9		7th	48.5

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year	Entrant	Class	Car	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2019–20	High Class Racing	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	SIL 7	FUJ 4	SHA 6	BHR 7	COA 7	SPA 7	LMS Ret	BHR	13th	47

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2020	High Class Racing	Anders Fjordbach Mark Patterson	Oreca 07	LMP2	88	DNF	DNF

References

^ "Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ 2012 standings | Driver Database". Driver Database. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
^ "Formula Challenge Japan 2013 standings | Driver Database". Driver Database. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
^ "Japanese Formula 3 Championship 2014 standings | Driver Database". Driver Database. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Toyota GAZOO Racing Outlines 2017 Motorsports Activities". Toyota Motor Corporation. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
^ "Toyota Gazoo Racing Announces Super GT Programmes For 2018". dailysportscar.com. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
^ "Toyota Gazoo Racing Announces 2019 Super GT Programmes". dailysportscar.com. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
^ "Toyota reveals 2021 Super GT drivers, GT500 grid complete". dailysportscar.com. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
^ "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Presents its 2024 motorsport team setups in Japan". Toyota Gazoo Racing. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
^ Lloyd, Daniel (17 July 2019). "Super GT Points Leader Yamashita's Debut Confirmed". sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 17 July 2019.

External links

Official website
Kenta Yamashita career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Nobuharu Matsushita	Formula Challenge Japan Champion 2013	Succeeded by None (Series ended)
Preceded by Nick Cassidy	Japanese Formula 3 Championship Champion 2016	Succeeded by Mitsunori Takaboshi
Preceded by Jenson Button Naoki Yamamoto	Super GT GT500 Champion 2019 With: Kazuya Oshima	Succeeded by Naoki Yamamoto Tadasuke Makino
Preceded by Sho Tsuboi Ritomo Miyata	Super GT GT500 Champion 2024 With: Sho Tsuboi	Succeeded by Incumbent

[1] "Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ 2012 standings | Driver Database". Driver Database. Retrieved 2 September 2015.

[2] "Formula Challenge Japan 2013 standings | Driver Database". Driver Database. Retrieved 2 September 2015.

[3] "Japanese Formula 3 Championship 2014 standings | Driver Database". Driver Database. Retrieved 2 September 2015.

[Toyota-4] "Toyota GAZOO Racing Outlines 2017 Motorsports Activities". Toyota Motor Corporation. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.

[Toyota18-5] "Toyota Gazoo Racing Announces Super GT Programmes For 2018". dailysportscar.com. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.

[Lexus19-6] "Toyota Gazoo Racing Announces 2019 Super GT Programmes". dailysportscar.com. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.

[Toyota2021-7] "Toyota reveals 2021 Super GT drivers, GT500 grid complete". dailysportscar.com. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.

[TGR2024-8] "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Presents its 2024 motorsport team setups in Japan". Toyota Gazoo Racing. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.

[YamashitaWEC-9] Lloyd, Daniel (17 July 2019). "Super GT Points Leader Yamashita's Debut Confirmed". sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 17 July 2019.

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