Ukyo Sasahara
Ukyo Sasahara during 2015's ADAC GT Masters race weekend at Hockenheim
NationalityJapan Japanese
Born (1996-04-24) 24 April 1996
Numata, Gunma, Japan
Super GT career
Debut season2020
Current teamTGR Team Deloitte TOM'S
Car number37
Former teamsTeam Mugen
Starts32
Wins0
Podiums2
Poles1
Fastest laps0
Best finish14th in 2022
Super Formula career
Debut season2020
Current teamVantelin Team TOM'S
Car number36
Former teamsTeam Mugen, Docomo Team Dandelion Racing
Starts22
Wins1
Podiums3
Poles1
Fastest laps0
Best finish6th in 2022
Previous series
2019
2019–20
2018–19
2017
2016
2014–15
2014
2013, 15
2013		Porsche Carrera Cup Japan
F3 Asian Championship
Japanese Formula 3
F4 Japanese Championship
FIA European F3
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Italian F4 Championship
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
Formula Renault 2.0 Alps
Championship titles
2019
2019
2019		Porsche Carrera Cup Japan
FIA Motorsport Games GT Cup
F3 Asian Championship

Ukyō Sasahara (笹原 右京, Sasahara Ukyō, born 24 April 1996) is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing who is currently competing in Super GT and Super Formula for TOM'S. He was previously a factory driver for Honda, and has achieved successes in a wide variety of motorsport disciplines.

Career

Karting

Sasahara began karting aged seven in 2003. He won numerous domestic titles, including becoming JAF All Japan Championship Junior Champion in 2009.[1] In the same year, he beat Matt Parry to win the Rotax Max Challenge Junior Grand Final,[2] a title he went on to win for a second time in 2011.[3] He went on to enjoy further success in the category, winning the Rotax Max Euro Challenge Junior title in 2011,[1] and the Central Eastern European Rotax Max Challenge Senior title in 2012, his final year in karting.[1]

European racing career

Sasahara graduated to single-seaters in 2013, racing in the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps championship for Vincenzo Sospiri's Euronova Racing team.[4] He finished in the points on seven occasions, taking a best race result of sixth at Misano to finish 13th in the championship.[5] During the season, he also took part in the Spa-Francorchamps and Barcelona rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season with Euronova Racing as a guest driver.

For 2014, Sasahara continued with Euronova Racing, switching to the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC championship.[6] He took a single podium position, finishing second to Louis Delétraz in the opening race of the season at Monza, and finished in the points in all the remaining races except one to finish sixth in the championship.[7]

In 2015, Sasahara joined the ART Junior Team to contest both the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 NEC championships.[8] After failing to score points in the opening round of the Eurocup at Motorland Aragón, Sasahara took his first race victory in the following round at Spa-Francorchamps, becoming only the second Japanese driver to win a Eurocup race after Kamui Kobayashi in the 2005 season.[9]

In the NEC championship, Sasahara won the opening race of the season at Monza ahead of Manor MP Motorsport's Ignazio D'Agosto.[10]

In June 2014, Sasahara took part in the opening round of the Italian F4 Championship at Adria International Raceway for Euronova Racing, replacing Italian driver Andrea Fontana who missed the event due to illness.[11] After finishing fifth in the opening race, he won the reversed-grid second race ahead of the Prema Powerteam entry of eventual series champion Lance Stroll.[12]

In 2016, initially Sasahara did not have a full time seat. He competed for 2 rounds at Spa-Francorchamps & Imola with Threebond T-Sport.[13]

Japanese F4 and Japanese F3

Sasahara returns to Japan, where he competed in F4 Japanese Championship in 2017 with Honda backing. He competed with Honda Formula Dream Project, alongside Yuki Tsunoda & Toshiki Oyu as his teammates. He managed to get runners up place beating his teammates, but lose out to the eventual champion Ritomo Miyata. Sasahara made his step up to the Japanese Formula 3 Championship with ThreeBond Racing.[14] He only managed to claim third in the championship standings, with couple of podiums to his name. He lose out to the TOM'S pairing of Sho Tsuboi who is the champion, and the runners up Ritomo Miyata.

F3 Asia and Porsche Carera Cup Japan

Unfortunately for Sasahara, he dropped by Honda for the 2019 season with no drive in Japanese F3 or even Super GT. With that Sasahara competed in Porsche Carrera Cup Japan. He competed as well in F3 Asian Championship with Hitech Grand Prix that season. Sasahara eventually won both of the series. He makes a return in the 2019–20 F3 Asian Championship as a guest with the same team.

Super GT and Super Formula

Sasahara made his debut in Super GT GT500 for Honda's Team Mugen, partnered alongside Hideki Mutoh.[15] Sasahara took his maiden podium at Motegi. Alongside that, Sasahara made his Super Formula too with Team Mugen, replacing Juri Vips where initially to compete in this series, but due to COVID-19 border restriction in Japan prevents Vips to entering Japan, and compete for the entire season.[16][17][18] Sasahara continues to compete at Super GT, Team Mugen retained him, with new teammate Toshiki Oyu.[19] Both pairs claimed their maiden pole in GT500 at Sportsland SUGO. Initially Sasahara not compete in Super Formula for 2021, but he competed for the first 2 rounds as he replaces Tadasuke Makino at Dandelion Racing after Makino suffered meningitis.[20] Sasahara claimed his maiden podium in the series on the second round. Sasahara returns to Team Mugen for 2022 season of Super Formula, and continue to race with Mugen in Super GT.[21][22][23] Sasahara made his maiden win in Super Formula, as he won at Fuji, and finished 6th in the standings.

For 2023, Sasahara leaves Honda, and moves to Toyota. Sasahara competed with Deloitte Team TOM'S, alongside Giuliano Alesi.[24] Sasahara competed in Super Formula as well, after replaces his Super GT Teammate Alesi in the Vantelin Team TOM'S for the last four rounds.[25]

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2013 Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Euronova Racing 14 0 0 0 0 32 13th
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 4 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
2014 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Euronova Racing 15 0 0 1 1 191 6th
Italian F4 Championship Euronova Racing by Fortec 3 1 0 0 1 25 17th
2015 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 ART Junior Team 17 1 1 0 4 116 7th
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 16 2 1 1 8 296 3rd
2016 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Threebond with T-Sport 6 0 0 0 0 0 26th
2017 F4 Japanese Championship Honda Formula Dream Project 14 3 1 3 10 224 2nd
2018 Japanese Formula 3 Championship ThreeBond Racing 19 0 0 1 9 65 3rd
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
2019 F3 Asian Championship Hitech Grand Prix 15 8 7 7 13 301 1st
Japanese Formula 3 Championship B-Max Racing with Motopark 3 0 0 0 0 3 12th
FIA Motorsport Games GT Cup Team Japan 1 1 0 0 1 N/A 1st
Porsche Carrera Cup Japan Porsche Japan 10 6 6 4 9 176 1st
2019–20 F3 Asian Championship Hitech Grand Prix 15 3 4 1 6 N/A NC†
2020 Super GT Team Mugen 8 0 0 0 1 25 15th
Super Formula 7 0 0 0 0 5 18th
2021 Super GT Team Red Bull Mugen 8 0 1 0 0 20 16th
Super Formula Docomo Team Dandelion Racing 2 0 0 0 1 18 12th
2022 Super Formula Team Mugen 10 2 1 0 2 57 6th
Super GT Team Red Bull Mugen 8 0 0 0 1 16.5 14th
2023 Super GT TGR Team Deloitte TOM'S 8 0 0 0 0 15 15th
Super Formula Vantelin Team TOM’S 3 0 0 0 0 0 22nd
2024 Super GT TGR Team Deloitte TOM'S
Super Formula Vantelin Team TOM’S

† As Sasahara was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

(key)

Year Entrant Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points
2016 Threebond with T-Sport Threebond LEC
1		 LEC
2		 LEC
3		 HUN
1		 HUN
2		 HUN
3		 PAU
1		 PAU
2		 PAU
3		 RBR
1		 RBR
2		 RBR
3		 NOR
1		 NOR
2		 NOR
3		 ZAN
1		 ZAN
2		 ZAN
3		 SPA
1
13		 SPA
2
Ret		 SPA
3
19		 NÜR
1		 NÜR
2		 NÜR
3		 IMO
1
Ret		 IMO
2
13		 IMO
3
Ret		 HOC
1		 HOC
2		 HOC
3		 26th 0

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 Points
2020 Team Mugen Honda NSX-GT GT500 FUJ
12		 FUJ
10		 SUZ
Ret		 MOT
3		 FUJ
6		 SUZ
13		 MOT
4		 FUJ
12		 15th 25
2021 Team Red Bull Mugen Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA
11		 FUJ
11		 MOT
4		 SUZ
9		 SUG
9		 AUT
Ret		 MOT
5		 FUJ
10		 16th 20
2022 Team Red Bull Mugen Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA
12		 FUJ
10‡		 SUZ
13		 FUJ
13		 SUZ
6		 SUG
3		 AUT
12		 MOT
11		 14th 16.5
2023 TGR Team Deloitte TOM'S Toyota GR Supra GT500 GT500 OKA
13		 FUJ
6		 SUZ
11		 FUJ
8		 SUZ
11		 SUG
10		 AUT
7		 MOT
9		 15th 15

‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete Super Formula 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 DC Points
2020 Team Mugen MOT
11		 OKA
13		 SUG
Ret		 AUT
14		 SUZ
Ret		 SUZ
11		 FUJ
7		 18th 5
2021 Docomo Team Dandelion Racing FUJ
5		 SUZ
3		 AUT SUG MOT MOT SUZ 12th 18
2022 Team Mugen FUJ
191		 FUJ
103		 SUZ
14		 AUT
7		 SUG
10		 FUJ
1		 MOT
7		 MOT
8		 SUZ
1		 SUZ
17		 6th 57
2023 Vantelin Team TOM’S FUJ FUJ SUZ AUT SUG FUJ
19		 MOT
12		 SUZ
22		 SUZ
WD		 22nd 0

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Profile". gogoukyo.com. Ukyo Sasahara. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals – Junior 2009 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals – Junior 2011 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "Sasahara completes Euronova Formula Renault line up" (PDF). euronova-racing.com. Euronova Racing. 19 February 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "Formula Renault 2.0 Alps 2013 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  6. ↑ Khorounzhiy, Valentin (2 April 2014). "Euronova sign Sasahara and Dalewski for Formula Renault NEC season". paddockscout.com. Paddock Scout. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "Formula Renault 2.0 NEC 2014 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  8. ↑ Khorounzhiy, Valentin (21 March 2015). "Sasahara signs with ART Junior Team". paddockscout.com. Paddock Scout. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Maiden win for Sasahara at Spa". World Series by Renault. Renault Sport. 30 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Sasahara wins thrilling opening race of the season". necup.com. Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  11. ↑ Allen, Peter (6 June 2014). "Sasahara steps in for Fontana at Italian F4 opener". paddockscout.com. Paddock Scout. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  12. ↑ Banerjee, Aditya (8 June 2014). "Sasahara claims close victory in race 2 at Adria". paddockscout.com. Paddock Scout. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  13. ↑ Simmons, Marcus (13 July 2016). "T-Sport back to European Formula 3 with ex-FRenault ace Sasahara". Autosport. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  14. ↑ "Honda 2018 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  15. ↑ "Honda Announces 2020 Super GT Teams & Drivers". dailysportscar.com. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  16. ↑ Wood, Elliot (2020-08-19). "Ukyo Sasahara replaces Vips for Super Formula season opener". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  17. ↑ Wood, Elliot (2020-09-16). "Mugen keeps Sasahara, Mitsunori Takaboshi at B-MAX in Super Formula". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  18. ↑ Wood, Elliot (2020-11-10). "Mugen retains Vips stand-in Sasahara for rest of Super Formula season". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  19. ↑ "Honda Announces 2021 Super GT Teams & Drivers". dailysportscar.com. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  20. ↑ "Kamui Kobayashi among absentees for Super Formula opener". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  21. ↑ "Mugen adds second Super Formula entry, signs Sasahara". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  22. ↑ "New Honda NSX-GT "Type S" Spotted Testing At Motegi". dailysportscar.com. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  23. ↑ "Honda Announces 2022 Super GT Lineups". dailysportscar.com. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  24. ↑ "Toyota signs Sasahara, but Alesi keeps Super Formula drive". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  25. ↑ "Super Formula: TOM'S axes Giuliano Alesi, Sasahara returns". www.motorsport.com. 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
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