Wikipedia

Hiroki Otsu

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
NationalityJapan Japanese
Born (1994-05-25) 25 May 1994 (age 30)
Kasukabe, Saitama, Japan
Super GT career
Debut season2020
Current teamARTA
Racing licence FIA Gold
Car number16
Former teamsNakajima Racing
Starts32
Wins1
Podiums3
Poles4
Fastest laps2
Best finish4th in 2023
Super Formula Championship career
Debut season2020
Current teamTCS Nakajima Racing
Car number6
Former teamsTeam Mugen, TGM Grand Prix, Docomo Team Dandelion
Starts21
Wins1
Podiums1
Poles1
Fastest laps1
Best finish6th in 2021
Previous series
2018,19
2016,17,19
2015		Super GT GT300
Japanese Formula 3 Championship
F4 Japanese Championship

Career

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Early career

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Otsu 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

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In 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

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In 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

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At 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

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Career summary

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Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2015 F4 Japanese Championship Honda Formula Dream Project 14 0 1 0 5 108 3rd
2016 Japanese Formula 3 Championship Honda Formula Dream Project 17 0 0 0 0 16 10th
2017 Japanese Formula 3 Championship TODA Racing 20 1 2 0 7 64 5th
2018 Super GT - GT300 Drago Corse 8 0 0 0 1 24 14th
Super Taikyu - ST-TCR Modulo Racing with Dome 6 3 0 0 6 156‡ 1st‡
2019 Japanese Formula 3 Championship Threebond Racing 20 0 0 0 3 36 6th
Super GT - GT300 Drago Corse 8 0 0 0 1 19 17th
Intercontinental GT Challenge Modulo Drago Corse 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Super Taikyu - ST-TCR Modulo Racing with Dome 6 2 1 2 2 88‡ 2nd‡
2020 Super GT - GT500 Modulo Nakajima Racing 8 0 2 0 1 31 12th
Super Formula TCS Nakajima Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 25th
Super Taikyu - ST-TCR Racer Dome Racing 2 0 0 0 1 77.5‡ 4th‡
2021 Super GT - GT500 Modulo Nakajima Racing 8 0 1 0 0 5 18th
Super Formula Red Bull Mugen Team Goh 7 1 1 1 1 38.5 6th
2022 Super GT - GT500 Modulo Nakajima Racing 8 0 0 0 0 4 15th
Super Formula Docomo Team Dandelion Racing 10 0 0 0 1 33 9th
2023 Super GT - GT500 ARTA 8 1 1 0 3 53 4th
Super Formula Team Mugen 1 0 0 0 0 0 24th
TGM Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0
TCS Nakajima Racing 1 0 0 0 0
Super Taikyu - ST-Q Team HRC 6 2 1 1 4 N/A NC‡
2024 Super GT - GT500 ARTA 8 0 0 0 1 35 12th
Super Formula TGM Grand Prix 6 0 0 0 0 0 22nd
Super Taikyu - ST-Q Team HRC 6 0 0 0 3 0 NC
2025 Super GT - GT500 ARTA

‡ Team standings.
* Season still in progress.

Complete F4 Japanese Championship results

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

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Pts
2015 Honda Formula Dream Project OKA
1
9 		OKA
2
3 		FUJ1
1
4 		FUJ1
2
11 		FUJ2
1
2 		FUJ2
2
4 		SUZ
1
4 		SUZ
2
17 		SUG
1
5 		SUG
2
7 		AUT
1
2 		AUT
2
2 		MOT
1
3 		MOT
2
24 		3rd 108


Complete Japanese Formula 3 Championship results

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(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 18 19 20 DC Pts
2016 Honda Formula Dream Project Mugen Honda SUZ
1
 SUZ
2
 FUJ
1
 FUJ
2
 OKA
1
 OKA
2
 SUZ
1
 SUZ
2
 FUJ
1
 FUJ
2
 MOT
1
 MOT
2
 OKA
1
 OKA
2
 SUG
1
 SUG
2
 SUG
3
 10th 6
2017 Toda Racing Toda OKA
1
 OKA
2
 OKA
3
 SUZ
1
 SUZ
2
 FUJ
1
 FUJ
2
 OKA
1
 OKA
2
 SUZ
1
 SUZ
2
 FUJ
1
 FUJ
2
 MOT
1
 MOT
2
 MOT
3
 AUT
1
 AUT
2
 SUG
1
 SUG
2
 5th 64
2019 ThreeBond Racing Tomei SUZ
1
6 		SUZ
2
7 		AUT
1
5 		AUT
2
5 		AUT
3
3 		OKA
1
9 		OKA
2
Ret 		OKA
3
9 		SUG
1
4 		SUG
2
6 		FUJ
1
2 		FUJ
2
4 		SUG
1
9 		SUG
2
10 		SUG
3
8 		MOT
1
4 		MOT
2
8 		MOT
3
3 		OKA
1
4 		OKA
2
6 		6th 36

Complete Super GT results

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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 Modulo Drago Corse 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 Modulo Nakajima Racing Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA
13 		FUJ
10 		MOT
Ret 		SUZ
Ret 		SUG
8 		AUT
12 		MOT
13 		FUJ
12 		18th 5
2022 Modulo Nakajima Racing Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA
15 		FUJ
11 		SUZ
11 		FUJ
11 		SUZ
12 		SUG
7 		AUT
13 		MOT
12 		15th 4
2023 ARTA Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA
11 		FUJ
10 		SUZ
7 		FUJ
3 		SUZ
1 		SUG
12 		AUT
2 		MOT
12 		4th 53
2024 ARTA Honda Civic Type R-GT GT500 GT500 OKA
9 		FUJ
15 		SUZ
32 		FUJ
11 		SUZ
10 		SUG
6 		AUT
4 		MOT
5 		12th 35
2025 ARTA Honda Civic Type R-GT GT500 GT500 OKA
 FUJ
 SEP
 FUJ
 SUZ
 SUG
 AUT
 MOT

* Season still in progress.

Complete Super Formula results

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(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 DC Points
2020 TCS Nakajima Racing Honda MOT OKA SUG AUT SUZ SUZ FUJ
13 		25th 0
2021 Red Bull Mugen Team Goh Honda FUJ
16 		SUZ
5 		AUT
6 		SUG
10 		MOT
10 		MOT
1 		SUZ
5 		6th 38.5
2022 Docomo Team Dandelion Racing Honda 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 Honda FUJ FUJ SUZ AUT
14 		SUG 24th 0
TGM Grand Prix Honda FUJ
21† 		MOT
TCS Nakajima Racing Honda SUZ
17 		SUZ
WD
2024 TGM Grand Prix Honda SUZ AUT SUG FUJ
14 		MOT
15 		FUJ
19 		FUJ
13 		SUZ
Ret 		SUZ
Ret 		22nd 0

* Season still in progress.

References

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  1. ^ "Hiroki Otsu". honda.racing. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Hiroki Otsu". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Honda 2017 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  4. ^ "大津選手が全日本F3に復帰。" (in Japanese). 4 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Honda 2023 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Racing. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  6. ^ O’Connell, RJ (12 December 2023). "Honda Announces 2024 GT500 Drivers". dailysportscar.com. Dailysportscar. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  7. ^ Wood, Ida (14 December 2020). "Makino misses Super Formula finale due to illness, Otsu replaces him". formulascout.com. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  8. ^ Klein, Jamie (19 February 2021). "Otsu completes Mugen Super Formula line-up". motorsport.com. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  9. ^ Thukral, Rachit (17 October 2021). "Nojiri seals title, Otsu wins race". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Tomoki Nojiri to miss Autopolis Super Formula race". www.motorsport.com. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Oyu to skip Fuji Super Formula round after breaking collarbone". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Yamamoto to miss remaining Super Formula, SUPER GT races after Sugo crash". motorsport.com. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
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