Tomonobu Fujii (藤井 誠暢, Fujii Tomonobu, born 17 December 1980, in Tokyo) is a Japanese racing driver.[1]

Tomonobu Fujii
Nationality Japanese
Born (1980-12-17) 17 December 1980 (age 44)
Tokyo
Racing licence FIA Gold
Championship titles
2006

2007
2007

2011
2012
All Japan Endurance Championship, LMP2 Class
SuperTaikyu, ST1 Class
All Japan Endurance Championship, LMGT1 Class
SuperTaikyu, ST-X Class
SuperGT Jaf Grand Prix, GT300 Class

Racing Kart / Formula race

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Tomonobu Fujii entered the second-hand Racing Kart in 1994 and made his debut in local races when he was 13 years old. He won the championship right away and continued to display his talent in local races. He continued to achieve many victories won the Series Championships twice. He stepped up to Formula races soon after, that but was forced to suspend his participation in the races due to lack of funds. Fujii went to seek sponsors in this one year of interval. He then participated in Japan Formula 4 in 2002 where he won two victories in a year and obtained Second Series as well as MVP. Fujii received a scholarship and participated in Formula Dream by HONDA for two years from 2003. He accumulated more experience, eventually winning the 4th Series Championship in 2004.

Super GT

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Fujii made his debut in Super GT, which is the top category in Japan, in 2005. Once he started to race with a Nissan 350Z, he reached the podium four times and won the 4th position in 2006. He won his first championship in the opening race of Super GT in 2007 and competed for the Series Championship. He then received a contract with NISMO as a factory driver in 2008, although he continued to race with a Nissan 350Z in Super GT till 2008. He obtained 5th place in 2007 and 2008. From 2010 to 2013, he contracted with Hankook Tire as a factory driver and raced with a Porsche GT3R (RSR) during that 4 years. He reached 3rd Series in 2011 and 2nd Series in 2012. He has been racing with an Audi R8 LMS Ultra since 2014.[citation needed]

Super GT / JAF Grand Prix Fuji Sprint Cup

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Fujii obtained 3rd place with a Porsche GT3R in 2010, 2nd place in 2011, and he won the championship in 2012 in the JAF Grand Prix Fuji Sprint Cup held at Fuji Speedway.

Endurance race

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Fujii has been participating in the Super Taikyu race along with the Super GT in Japan for many years. He raced with Nissan a 350Z from 2006 to 2009 and won the Series Championship in 2007. He won the victory as a development driver of a Nissan 370Z NISMO RC in 2010. He won three victories with an Audi R8 LMS in 2011 and won the Series Championship for the GT3 Class. He raced with a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 from 2012 to 2014. Fujii also joined the All Japan Endurance Championship held in Japan in both 2006 and 2007. He won the Series Championship in the LMP2 class in 2006 and in the LMGT1 class with a Ferrari 550 GT1 in 2007.

Fujii also has experience in overseas races, mainly participating in craft racing in Hong Kong with an Aston Martin Vantage GT3. He has participated in the Asian Lemans, Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race, and the Dubai 24Hrs race. He achieved 3rd place in Dubai 24Hrs in 2013. He has also placed 53rd in the Rolex 24 AT Daytona 2015, driving with Flying Lizard Motorsports.

Racing Record

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Super GT 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 8 9 DC Pts
2005 MOLA Nissan 350Z GT300 OKA
15
FUJ
10
SEP
17
SUG
17
MOT
15
FUJ
Ret
AUT
9
SUZ
15
18th 3
2006 ENDLESS SPORTS Nissan 350Z GT300 SUZ
16
OKA
4
FUJ
13
SEP
18
SUG
2
SUZ
16
MOT
2
AUT
11
FUJ
3
4th 62
2007 ENDLESS SPORTS Nissan 350Z GT300 SUZ
1
OKA
7
FUJ
4
SEP
6
SUG
12
SUZ
5
MOT
23
AUT
3
FUJ
5
5th 59
2008 TEAM DAISHIN Nissan 350Z GT300 SUZ
4
OKA
6
FUJ
5
SEP
10
SUG
2
SUZ
6
MOT
11
AUT
1
FUJ
7
5th 62
2009 TEAM DAISHIN Ferrari F430GT GT300 OKA
12
SUZ
6
FUJ
2
SEP
DNS
SUG
4
SUZ
8
FUJ
1
AUT
18
MOT
1
4th 71
2010 HANKOOK KTR Porsche 911 GT3RSR GT300 SUZ
OKA
FUJ
Ret
SEP
SUG
FUJ
C
MOT
NC 0
A speed Aston Martin Vantage GT2 SUZ
Ret
2011 HANKOOK KTR Porsche 911 GT3R GT300 OKA
14
FUJ
1
SEP
9
SUG
5
SUZ
2
FUJ
11
AUT
17
MOT
2
3rd 58
2012 HANKOOK KTR Porsche 911 GT3R GT300 OKA
5
FUJ
Ret
SEP
1
SUG
4
SUZ
6
FUJ
1
AUT
3
MOT
7
2nd 75
2013 HANKOOK KTR Porsche 911 GT3R GT300 OKA
8
FUJ
16
SEP
Ret
SUG
17
SUZ
10
FUJ
15
FUJ AUT
5
MOT
11
19th 11
2014 Audi Team Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS ultra GT300 OKA
8
FUJ
14
AUT
18
SUG
3
FUJ
23
SUZ
Ret
BUR
Ret
MOT
4
14th 22
2015 Audi Team Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS ultra GT300 OKA
3
FUJ
Ret
CHA
19
FUJ
20
SUZ
5
SUG
13
AUT
5
MOT
8
13th 28
2016 Audi Team Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS ultra GT300 OKA
7
FUJ
7
SUG
Ret
FUJ
2
SUZ
6
CHA
24
MOT
1
MOT
4
3rd 57
2017 D'station Racing Porsche 911 GT3 GT300 OKA
9
FUJ
3
AUT
7
SUG
15
FUJ
8
SUZ
10
CHA
3
MOT
9
7th 35
2018 D'station Racing Porsche 911 GT3 GT300 OKA
2
FUJ
6
SUZ
11
CHA
8
FUJ
7
SUG
12
AUT
8
MOT
7
9th 35
2019 D'station Racing AMR Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 GT300 OKA
Ret
FUJ
27
SUZ
Ret
CHA
19
FUJ
11
AUT
18
SUG
24
MOT
17
NC 0
2020 Pacific - D'station Racing AMR Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 GT300 FUJ
10
FUJ
19
SUZ
10
MOT
18
FUJ
24
SUZ
24
MOT
25
FUJ
5
21st 8

24 Hours of Dubai results

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

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class ClassPos.
2013   Craft Racing AMR   Frank Yu
  Darryl O'Young
  Darren Turner
  Stefan Mücke
Aston Martin Vantage GT3 A6-Pro 3rd
2014   Craft Racing AMR   Stefan Mücke
  Darren Turner
  Darryl O'Young
Aston Martin Vantage GT3 A6-Pro DNF

24 Hours of Daytona results

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

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class ClassPos.
2015   Flying Lizard Motorsports   Markus Winkelhock
  Robert Thorne
  Satoshi Hoshino
Audi R8 LMS GTD 10th

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2021   D'station Racing   Andrew Watson
  Satoshi Hoshino
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GTE
Am
333 33rd 6th
2022   D'station Racing   Charlie Fagg
  Satoshi Hoshino
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GTE
Am
112 DNF DNF
2023   D'station Racing   Satoshi Hoshino
  Casper Stevenson
Aston Martin Vantage AMR GTE
Am
163 DNF DNF

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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

Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rank Pts
2023 D'Station Racing LMGTE Am Aston Martin Vantage AMR Aston Martin 4.0 L Turbo V8 SEB
10
PRT
NC
SPA
10
LMS
Ret
MNZ
Ret
FUJ
10
BHR
2
14th 31

* Season still in progress.

References

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  1. ^ Speedsport Magazine. "Tomonobu Fujii: Racedriver biography – career and success". speedsport-magazine.com. Retrieved 15 May 2015.