Japanese racing driver
Kiyoto Fujinami
藤波清斗 |
|---|
| Nationality |  Japanese |
|---|
| Born | (1995-04-13) April 13, 1995 (age 28)
Tokyo, Japan |
|---|
|
| Debut season | 2017 |
|---|
| Current team | Kondo Racing |
|---|
| Racing licence |  FIA Silver |
|---|
| Car number | 56 |
|---|
| Engine | Nissan |
|---|
| Former teams | JLOC
Team Mach |
|---|
| Starts | 34 |
|---|
| Championships | 2 |
|---|
| Wins | 5 |
|---|
| Podiums | 8 |
|---|
| Best finish | 1st in 2020 and 2022 |
|---|
| Finished last season | 1st |
|---|
|
2020
2019
2018
2017
2012-2013 | Super Formula Lights
Formula Regional Asian Championship
Japanese Formula Three
Super Taikyu Series
Formula Challenge Japan |
|---|
Kiyoto Fujinami (藤波清斗 - Fujinami Kiyoto; born April 13, 1995) is a Japanese professional racing driver, best known for winning the Super GT GT300 Class championships in 2020 and 2022 with Kondo Racing. He currently races in the Super Taikyu Series for Nissan GT3 customer team GTNET Motor Sports.
Career
Following success in karting, headlined by the 2010 CIK-FIA Asia Pacific KF2 Championship, Fujinami entered the Formula Challenge Japan in 2012 as a member of the Nissan Driver Development Programme (NDDP). He scored 2 points in his first season on the way to 13th in the championship. Returning for 2013, he scored 5 pole positions and 3 podiums over the 12 races, ending with 29 points and 6th in the championship.
Fujinami transitioned to sports car racing in 2014, racing in the ST-3 class of the Super Taikyu Series with Techno First Racing Team. He scored his first class win at Autopolis aboard the #34 Nissan Fairlady Z34. In 2015, Fujinami moved up to the ST-X (GT3) class with Team Mach, and won at Okayama in the #5 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3. The entry was acquired by GTNET Motor Sports in 2016 where Fujinami continued to race in the ST-X class.
He helped lead GTNET Motor Sports to consecutive ST-X championships in 2018 and 2019, with overall victories in the Fuji Super TEC 24 Hours in each of these seasons. Fujinami added a third Fuji 24 Hours win in 2021.
For 2018, Fujinami returned to single-seaters with B-Max Racing in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship, but over seven races scored no points finishes.[1] He fared better in the 2019 F3 Asian Championship, with 14 points in three races for the team.[2][3]
Super GT (2017-2022)
Fujinami made his Super GT debut in 2017 with Team Mach, driving the #5 Toyota 86 MC (MC86). That season, he earned three points in seven races, and finished 22nd in the standings with a best finish of eighth at Autopolis. He did not receive a full season contract for 2018, but returned to Team Mach as a third driver at the Fuji GT 500 Mile Race.
Fujinami earned another part-time contract in 2019, this time driving for JLOC in their #87 Lamborghini Huracan GT3. At the Fuji GT 500 Mile Race, Fujinami, Andre Couto, and Tsubasa Takahashi took the GT300 class win - ending a five-year winless drought for JLOC.[4][5]
In 2020, Fujinami moved to Kondo Racing on a full-time basis and won the Super GT GT300 class championship alongside Joao Paulo de Oliveira in their #56 Nissan GT-R. Fujinami and Oliveira won two races at Twin Ring Motegi and Fuji Speedway, securing a further podium and finishing with 71 points.[6] In 2021, Fujinami and Oliveira fell short of a repeat championship, despite winning at Okayama and two further podiums at Sugo and Motegi.[7][8][9] They finished second in the standings to the Subaru R&D Sport team of Takuto Iguchi and Hideki Yamauchi.
Fujinami continued racing with Oliveira and Kondo Racing in 2022.[10] For the second straight season, the pair won the opening round at Okayama and led the championship at the half way point of the season.[11] In the final round at Motegi, Fujinami and Oliveira won their second title in three years, despite losing a wheel during Oliveira's final stint. They won the championship after championship rival Riki Okusa's teammate Ryuichiro Tomita conceded fifth place on the last lap.[12]
2022-23 off-season controversy
After two championships in three seasons, Fujinami tested a Nissan Z GT500 at Fuji Speedway in December 2022.[13] Fujinami then joined Kondo Racing for a private manufacturers test in their GT500 car on 24 January at Suzuka Circuit, with the expectation that he would be named as a GT500 driver for the upcoming season.[14] But when Nissan announced its 2023 driver line-ups, Fujinami was omitted from the list of drivers.[15]
It later emerged that Fujinami, who owned a privateer team called KF Motorsports that competed in the FCR Vita Series, had physically attacked a member of his team.[16] On 17 February, the same day that Nissan confirmed Teppei Natori as his replacement at the Kondo Racing GT300 team,[17] Fujinami apologised for the incident through his social media accounts. Fujinami signed a reserve driver contract with Nissan for the 2023 season, and was retained at GTNET Motor Sports in the Super Taikyu Series.[18]
FIA Silver