| Kohta Kawaai | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Japanese |
| Born | August 7, 1994 Shizuoka, Japan |
| Super GT GT300 career | |
| Debut season | 2020 |
| Current team | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave |
| Car number | 52 |
| Starts | 31 |
| Championships | 1 |
| Wins | 5 |
| Podiums | 10 |
| Poles | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 2 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2023 |
| Previous series | |
| 2022 2016-2019 | Super Formula Lights F4 Japanese Championship |
| Championship titles | |
| 2023 2023 | Super GT GT300 Super Taikyu ST-Z |
Kohta Kawaai (川合 孝汰, Kōta Kawai) (born August 7, 1994) is a Japanese racing driver. He currently competes for Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave in both the Super GT and Super Taikyu racing series.[1]
Kawaai won the 2023 Super GT Championship in the GT300 class and the 2023 Super Taikyu Championship in the ST-Z class.
Racing career
Early Racing Career
In 2016, Kawaai started his formula racing career in F4 Japanese Championship racing with Le Beausset Motorsports. He raced in the same series till 2019 where he claimed 3rd in the standings behind Ren Sato, and Atsushi Miyake.
Super GT
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Kawaii moves up to Super GT - GT300 with Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave, paired up with Hiroki Yoshida.[2] In his debut season, he managed to get a win and podiums which claimed him, and Yoshida to Second in the standings behind to Kondo Racing of Kiyoto Fujinami & João Paulo de Oliveira. Kawaai continue to race with the same team, claimed 9th in the standings and missed 1 race after he tested positive for COVID-19 where he replaced by Taku Bamba.[3][4] in 2022, with the same team Kawaai managed to clinch a win at Autopolis with also another podium, and gets 4th in the standings.[5]
In 2023 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave retained both Kawaai & Hiroki Yoshida and they claimed 2 wins and 4 podiums.[1] Kawaai went on to win the 2023 Super GT Championship in the GT300 class alongside Yoshida.
Super Formula Lights
Kawaai returned to formula racing in 2022, competed in Super Formula Lights for Rn-Sports.[6] He claimed his first pole in the series, and competed only 3 rounds where he claimed 8th in the final standings.
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | FLaps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | F4 Japanese Championship | Le Beausset Motorsports | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 11th |
| 2017 | F4 Japanese Championship | Le Beausset Motorsports | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 8th |
| 2018 | F4 Japanese Championship | Le Beausset Motorsports | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 135 | 4th |
| 2019 | F4 Japanese Championship | Le Beausset Motorsports | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 131 | 3rd |
| 2020 | Super GT - GT300 | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 62 | 2nd |
| Super Taikyu - ST-3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 114‡ | 2nd‡ | ||
| 2021 | Super GT - GT300 | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 9th |
| Super Taikyu - ST-3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 95.5‡ | 4th‡ | ||
| 2022 | Super GT - GT300 | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 48 | 4th |
| Super Taikyu - ST-3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 134‡ | 2nd‡ | ||
| Super Formula Lights | Rn-Sports | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 8th | |
| 2023 | Super GT - GT300 | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 74 | 1st |
| Super Taikyu - ST-Z | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 174‡ | 1st‡ |
‡ Team standings
Complete Super Formula Lights 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 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Rn-Sports | FUJ 1 Ret |
FUJ 2 4 |
FUJ 3 6 |
SUZ 1 |
SUZ 2 |
SUZ 3 |
AUT 1 9 |
AUT 2 Ret |
AUT 3 9 |
SUG 1 Ret |
SUG 2 8 |
SUG 3 Ret |
MOT 1 5 |
MOT 2 6 |
MOT 3 5 |
OKA 1 |
OKA 2 |
OKA 3 |
8th | 10 |
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 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave | Toyota GR Supra GT300 | GT300 | FUJ 1 |
FUJ 6 |
SUZ 12 |
MOT 25 |
FUJ 4 |
SUZ Ret |
MOT 4 |
FUJ 1 |
2nd | 62 |
| 2021 | OKA 3 |
FUJ 27 |
MOT 3 |
SUZ |
SUG 21 |
AUT 3 |
MOT 9 |
FUJ 9 |
9th | 34 | |||
| 2022 | OKA Ret |
FUJ 9 |
SUZ 4 |
FUJ 14 |
SUZ 4 |
SUG 18 |
AUT 1 |
MOT 3 |
4th | 48 | |||
| 2023 | OKA 5 |
FUJ 3 |
SUZ 3 |
FUJ 9 |
SUZ Ret |
SUG 1 |
AUT 1 |
MOT 7 |
1st | 74 |
References
- 1 2 "How SUPER GT's 2023 GT300 field is shaping up". motorsport.com. 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
- ↑ "Toyota GR Supra GT300 In Development – Set For 2020 Launch". dailysportscar.com. 26 December 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- ↑ "Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave Announces 2021 Racing Activities". dailysportscar.com. 17 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ↑ "SUPER GT: Saitama Toyopet's Kohta Kawaai to miss Suzuka race". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
- ↑ "SUPER GT announces 43-car entry list for 2022". motorsport.com. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ↑ "Fuji Speedway | 2022年 SFL シリーズカレンダー | superformula lights en". superformula-lights.com. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
External links
- Kohta Kawaai career summary at DriverDB.com
- http://www.kohtakawaai.com