# Yuji Kunimoto

Yuji Kunimoto (国本雄資, Kunimoto Yūji, born 12 September 1990) is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing who is currently competing in Super GT for Racing Project Bandoh and in Super Formula for Team Impul. He is the champion of the 2016 Super Formula Championship and the 2010 Japanese Formula 3 Championship.
He is the younger brother of 2008 Macau Grand Prix winner Keisuke Kunimoto.

## Early Career highlights

* 2008 Formula Challenge Japan, Series Champion; Formula BMW, Macau GP Support race, 5th position
* 2007 Formula Toyota, 10th Overall; Formula Challenge Japan, 4th Overall
* 2006 All Japan Kart Championship, FA Class, 8th Overall
* 2005 All Japan Kart Championship, ICA Class, 3rd Overall
* 2004 All Japan Kart Championship, ICA Class, 7th Overall; F-ARTA Arta Challenge Series
* 2003 All Japan Kart Championship, ICA Class; F-ARTA Arta Challenge Series
* 2002 All Japan Junior Kart Championship, 4th Overall
* 2001 All Japan Junior Kart Championship, 12th Overall

## Career

From 2009, 2010 Kunimoto competed in Japanese Formula 3 Championship with TOM'S where he clinched third place, and as a champion the next year.

### Super GT

Kunimoto made his debut in the series' GT300 Class with apr on 2009 with Takuto Iguchi. the next 2 seasons he paired with Morio Nitta. The latter pair clinch 1 win and 4 podium during 2 season in 2010 & 2011.
Kunimoto then step up to GT500 with Kraft in 2012 with Andrea Caldarelli new to the series, as the pair clinch 1 podiun in the season. Kunimoto then moves to Team LeMans partnering Kazuya Oshima for three seasons. Both pair only won once from 2013, and five podiums. For 2016, Kunimoto moves to WedsSport Bandoh alongside Yuhi Sekiguchi. He won only once on that season. After that he is the main driver for Bandoh for four seasons, with Kenta Yamashita, Sho Tsuboi, Ritomo Miyata, and Sena Sakaguchi as his teammate. Kunimoto wins again with Sakaguchi in 2-23 at Suzuka Circuit. For 2024, he stays with the same team and teammate.

### Super Formula

Kunimoto made his debut in Formula Nippon in 2011 with Cerumo・INGING as a single car entry. Kunimoto then won the series title in 2016 with his maiden two wins and four podiums, as he beats Andre Lotterer by three points. After that he did not win another title, and race till now. After eight seasons with Cerumo INGING, he moves to Kondo Racing in 2019, then KCMG. For 2024, Kunimoto moves to Team Impul with Theo Pourchaire.

### Le Mans 24

Kunimoto made a wildcard debut with Toyota Gazoo Racing for 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans. He paired with Jose Maria Lopez, and Nicolas Lapierre. The car only completed 160 laps, and did not finish the race.

## Racing record
### Career summary

| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
| 2008 | Formula Challenge Japan | TDP Scholarship | 16 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 15 | 272 | 1st |
| 2009 | Japanese Formula 3 Championship | Petronas Team TOM'S | 16 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 97 | 3rd |
| 2009 | Super GT - GT300 | apr | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 10th |
| 2010 | Japanese Formula 3 Championship | Petronas Team TOM'S | 16 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 139 | 1st |
| 2010 | Super GT - GT300 | apr | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 47 | 5th |
| 2011 | Super GT - GT300 | apr | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 38 | 7th |
| 2011 | Formula Nippon | Project μ//cerumo・INGING | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.5 | 10th |
| 2012 | Super GT - GT500 | Lexus Team KeePer Kraft | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 28 | 13th |
| 2012 | Formula Nippon | Project μ//cerumo・INGING | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13th |
| 2013 | Super GT - GT500 | Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 52 | 5th |
| 2013 | Super Formula | P.mu/cerumo・INGING | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10th |
| 2014 | Super GT - GT500 | Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 44 | 7th |
| 2014 | Super Formula | P.mu/cerumo・INGING | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19.5 | 7th |
| 2015 | Super GT - GT500 | Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 9th |
| 2015 | Super Formula | P.mu/cerumo・INGING | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.5 | 9th |
| 2016 | Super GT - GT500 | Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 58 | 4th |
| 2016 | Super Formula | P.mu/cerumo・INGING | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 33 | 1st |
| 2017 | Super GT - GT500 | Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 14th |
| 2017 | Super Formula | P.mu/cerumo・INGING | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 8th |
| 2017 | 24 Hours of Le Mans | Toyota Gazoo Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | DNF |
| 2018 | Super GT - GT500 | Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 11th |
| 2018 | Super Formula | JMS P.mu/cerumo・INGING | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.5 | 8th |
| 2019 | Super GT - GT500 | Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 27.5 | 11th |
| 2019 | Super Formula | Kondo Racing | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 17th |
| 2020 | Super GT - GT500 | TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 17th |
| 2020 | Super Formula | carrozzeria KCMG | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 9th |
| 2021 | Super GT - GT500 | TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 36 | 11th |
| 2021 | Super Formula | carrozzeria KCMG | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18th |
| 2021 | Super Taikyu - ST-4 | Hayashi Telempu SHADE Racing | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 130‡ | 1st‡ |
| 2022 | Super GT - GT500 | TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 28.5 | 11th |
| 2022 | Super Formula | KCMG | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 16th |
| 2022 | Super Taikyu - ST-4 | SHADE Racing | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 142‡ | 2nd‡ |
| 2023 | Super GT - GT500 | TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 12th |
| 2023 | Super Formula | Kids com Team KCMG | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 17th |
| 2023 | Super Taikyu - ST-4 | SHADE Racing | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 56‡ | 7th‡ |
| 2024 | Super Formula | Itochu Enex Team Impul | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13th |
| 2024 | Super GT - GT500 | TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 15th |
| 2024 | Super Taikyu - ST-4 | SHADE Racing | | | | | | | |
| 2025 | Super GT - GT500 | TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh | | | | | | | |
| 2025 | Super Taikyu - ST-Z | SHADE Racing | | | | | | | |
‡ Team standings

### Complete Super GT results

| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Pts |
| 2009 | apr | Toyota Corolla Axio | GT300 | OKA 5 | SUZ 9 | FUJ 8 | SEP 16 | SUG 8 | SUZ 4 | FUJ 12 | AUT 7 | MOT 5 | 10th | 32 |
| 2010 | apr | Toyota Corolla Axio | GT300 | SUZ 8 | OKA 9 | FUJ 1 | SEP 3 | SUG Ret | SUZ 3 | FUJ C | MOT 17 | | 5th | 47 |
| 2011 | apr | Toyota Corolla Axio | GT300 | OKA 6 | FUJ 7 | SEP 6 | SUG 2 | SUZ 7 | FUJ 14 | AUT 8 | MOT 9 | | 7th | 38 |
| 2012 | Lexus Team KeePer Kraft | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | OKA Ret | FUJ 12 | SEP 10 | SUG 6 | SUZ 2 | FUJ 7 | AUT 13 | MOT Ret | | 13th | 28 |
| 2013 | Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS | Lexus SC430 | GT500 | OKA 7 | FUJ 3 | SEP 7 | SUG 6 | SUZ Ret | FUJ 4 | AUT 11 | MOT 1 | | 5th | 52 |
| 2014 | Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS | Lexus RC F | GT500 | OKA 2 | FUJ 3 | AUT 9 | SUG 5 | FUJ 13 | SUZ 5 | BUR 9 | MOT 11 | | 7th | 44 |
| 2015 | Lexus Team LeMans ENEOS | Lexus RC F | GT500 | OKA 9 | FUJ 9 | CHA 2 | FUJ 13 | SUZ Ret | SUG 4 | AUT 8 | MOT 9 | | 9th | 32 |
| 2016 | Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOH | Lexus RC F | GT500 | OKA 9 | FUJ 8 | SUG 5 | FUJ 10 | SUZ 5 | CHA 1 | MOT 5 | MOT 3 | | 4th | 58 |
| 2017 | Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOH | Lexus LC 500 | GT500 | OKA 6 | FUJ | AUT 8 | SUG 12 | FUJ 7 | SUZ 4 | CHA 12 | MOT 15 | | 14th | 22 |
| 2018 | Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOH | Lexus LC 500 | GT500 | OKA 9 | FUJ 12 | SUZ 13 | CHA 3 | FUJ 10 | SUG Ret | AUT 3 | MOT 5 | | 11th | 32 |
| 2019 | Lexus Team WedsSport BANDOH | Lexus LC 500 | GT500 | OKA 6‡ | FUJ 13 | SUZ 7 | CHA 3 | FUJ 9 | SUG 8 | AUT 13 | MOT 7 | | 11th | 27.5 |
| 2020 | TGR Team WedsSport BANDOH | Toyota GR Supra GT500 | GT500 | FUJ 9 | FUJ 15 | SUZ 10 | MOT Ret | FUJ 7 | SUZ 9 | MOT 11 | FUJ 10 | | 17th | 10 |
| 2021 | TGR Team WedsSport BANDOH | Toyota GR Supra GT500 | GT500 | OKA 12 | FUJ 7 | MOT 2 | SUZ 13 | SUG Ret | AUT 13 | MOT 2 | FUJ 13 | | 11th | 36 |
| 2022 | TGR Team WedsSport BANDOH | Toyota GR Supra GT500 | GT500 | OKA 13 | FUJ 6 | SUZ 5 | FUJ 9 | SUZ 7 | SUG 15 | AUT 5 | MOT 7 | | 11th | 28.5 |
| 2023 | TGR Team WedsSport BANDOH | Toyota GR Supra GT500 | GT500 | OKA 9 | FUJ 12 | SUZ 1 | FUJ 12 | SUZ 9 | SUG 8 | AUT 13 | MOT 8 | | 12th | 30 |
| 2024 | TGR Team WedsSport BANDOH | Toyota GR Supra GT500 | GT500 | OKA 13 | FUJ 10 | SUZ 12 | FUJ 9 | SUZ 8$^3$ | SUG Ret | AUT 12 | MOT 14 | | 15th | 6 |
| 2025 | TGR Team WedsSport BANDOH | Toyota GR Supra GT500 | GT500 | OKA | FUJ | SEP | FUJ | SUZ | SUG | AUT | MOT | | | |

### Complete Formula Nippon/Super Formula results

(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 |
| 2011 | Project μ/cerumo・INGING | Toyota | SUZ 13 | AUT 11 | FUJ 15 | MOT 12 | SUZ C | SUG 5 | MOT1 4 | MOT2 DSQ | | | 10th | 6.5 |
| 2012 | Project μ/cerumo・INGING | Toyota | SUZ 14 | MOT 9 | AUT 8 | FUJ 8 | MOT 10 | SUG 13 | SUZ1 11 | SUZ2 12 | | | 13th | 2 |
| 2013 | P.mu/cerumo・INGING | Toyota | SUZ 10 | AUT 10 | FUJ 7 | MOT 6 | SUG 4 | SUZ1 Ret | SUZ2 15 | | | | 10th | 10 |
| 2014 | P.mu/cerumo・INGING | Toyota | SUZ 13 | FUJ1 5 | FUJ2 7 | FUJ 3 | MOT 13 | AUT 2 | SUG 9 | SUZ1 4 | SUZ2 Ret | | 7th | 19.5 |
| 2015 | P.mu/cerumo・INGING | Toyota | SUZ 17 | OKA Ret | FUJ 4 | MOT 18 | AUT 8 | SUG 17 | SUZ1 7 | SUZ2 8 | | | 9th | 7.5 |
| 2016 | P.mu/cerumo・INGING | Toyota | SUZ 2 | OKA 6 | FUJ Ret | MOT 4 | OKA1 2 | OKA2 1 | SUG 15 | SUZ1 1 | SUZ2 6 | | 1st | 33 |
| 2017 | P.mu/cerumo・INGING | Toyota | SUZ 3 | OKA1 10 | OKA2 9 | FUJ Ret | MOT 15 | AUT 5 | SUG 4 | SUZ1 C | SUZ2 C | | 8th | 16 |
| 2018 | JMS P.mu/cerumo・INGING | Toyota | SUZ1 13 | AUT C | SUG Ret | FUJ 3 | MOT 15 | OKA 8 | SUZ2 4 | | | | 8th | 11.5 |
| 2019 | Kondō Racing | Toyota | SUZ1 6 | AUT 16 | SUG 6 | FUJ 16 | MOT 10 | OKA 16 | SUZ2 15 | | | | 17th | 5 |
| 2020 | carrozzeria Team KCMG | Toyota | MOT Ret | OKA 7 | SUG 5 | AUT 4 | SUZ1 3 | SUZ2 Ret | FUJ 15 | | | | 9th | 29 |
| 2021 | carrozzeria Team KCMG | Toyota | FUJ 8 | SUZ1 Ret | AUT Ret | SUG 13 | MOT1 11 | MOT2 Ret | SUZ2 15 | | | | 18th | 3 |
| 2022 | KCMG | Toyota | FUJ 13 | FUJ 15 | SUZ 6 | AUT 11 | SUG 9 | FUJ 8 | MOT 15 | MOT 12 | SUZ 20 | SUZ 18 | 16th | 10 |
| 2023 | Kids com KCMG | Toyota | FUJ 12 | FUJ 16 | SUZ 16 | AUT 10 | SUG 9 | FUJ 15 | MOT 10 | SUZ 16 | SUZ 8 | | 17th | 7 |
| 2024 | Itochu Enex Team Impul | Toyota | SUZ1 Ret | AUT 19† | SUG 7 | FUJ 6 | MOT 11 | FUJ 13 | FUJ 15 | SUZ 13 | SUZ 12 | | 13th | 7 |
$^*$ Season still in progress.

### 24 Hours of Le Mans results

| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 2017 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | José María López Nicolas Lapierre | Toyota TS050 Hybrid | LMP1 | 160 | DNF | DNF |