Kotaro Sakurai (桜井孝太郎, Sakurai Kōtarō, born 29 June 1994 in Tokyo) is a Japanese racing driver. Sakurai raced under Filipino license in Formula BMW Pacific and in the GP3 Series.

Kotaro Sakurai
NationalityJapanese
Born (1994-06-29) 29 June 1994 (age 30)
Tokyo, Japan
Previous series
2012
2011
2011
2010
GP3 Series
British F3 Rookie Class
Toyota Racing Series
Formula BMW Pacific
Championship titles
2011British F3 Rookie Class

Career

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Karting

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Sakurai began his racing career in karting at the age of nine and raced in Japan and Australia.[1]

Formula BMW Pacific

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In 2010, Sakurai graduated to single–seaters into the Formula BMW Pacific series in Asia, joining Eurasia Motorsport and racing under a Filipino racing licence. He scored a podium in the second race of the opening round at Sepang and achieved seven more point-scoring finishes on his way to eighth in the championship.[2][3]

Toyota Racing Series

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Sakurai participated in the Toyota Racing Series in early 2011 with M2 Competition, finishing fourteenth in the championship, the lowest-placed of the International Trophy drivers to contest the series.[4]

Formula Three

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In 2011, Sakurai decided to race in Europe, taking part in the rebranded Rookie Class of the British Formula 3 Championship with Hitech Racing.[5] Bart Hylkema was his only class rival in the first half of the championship, before he graduated to the International Class, allowing Sakurai to take the championship title.[6] During the season he also appeared in the Brands Hatch round of the European F3 Open Championship.[7]

GP3 Series

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Sakurai raced in the GP3 Series in 2012 with Status Grand Prix.[8]

Racing record

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Career summary

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Season Series Team Races Wins Poles FLaps Podiums Points Position
2010 Formula BMW Pacific Eurasia Motorsport 15 0 2 0 3 68 8th
2011 British Formula 3 International Series - Rookie Hitech Racing 28 15 10 18 23 378 1st
Toyota Racing Series M2 Competition 12 0 0 0 0 325 14th
European F3 Open Championship Team West-Tec 2 0 0 0 0 0 22nd
2012 GP3 Series Status Grand Prix 6 0 0 0 0 0 24th
Auto GP World Series Euronova Racing 2 0 0 0 0 6 19th
2013-14 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship MRF Racing 3 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2019 F4 Japanese Championship Zap Speed 12 0 0 0 0 12 14th

Complete GP3 Series results

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(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 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points
2012 Status Grand Prix CAT
FEA

18
CAT
SPR

12
MON
FEA

13
MON
SPR

20
VAL
FEA
VAL
SPR
SIL
FEA

15
SIL
SPR

13
HOC
FEA
HOC
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
SPA
FEA
SPA
SPR
MNZ
FEA
MNZ
SPR
24th 0

References

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  1. ^ "Profile". kotaro-racing.net. Kotaro Sakurai. Archived from the original on 19 November 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  2. ^ "2010 Championship Standing (FBMW)". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  3. ^ "Formula BMW Pacific 2010". Driver Database. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  4. ^ "Toyota Racing Series New Zealand 2011". Driver Database. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  5. ^ "A diamond season in prospect for British Formula 3". Racecar. Racecar New Media Services Ltd. 9 March 2011. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2011. Finally – for the moment, as teams are still putting deals together with other hopefuls – are 21-year-old Dutch driver Bart Hylkema, who will be T-Sport's third driver and 16-year-old Japanese Hitech driver Kotaro Sakurai, who joins him in the Rookie class.
  6. ^ Carter, Nick (24 September 2011). "Sakurai clinches Rookie class title". British Formula 3 Championship. Stéphane Ratel Organisation. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  7. ^ "Brands Hatch: Free Practice 1 Results" (PDF). European F3 Open Championship. GT Sport. 22 July 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  8. ^ "Kotaro Sakurai joins Status GP for 2012 GP3 Series season". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. 5 April 2012. Archived from the original on 17 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by
Menasheh Idafar
British F3 National Class
British Formula 3
Rookie Champion

2011
Succeeded by