Asada Kito

**Asada Kito** (born 11 October 1993) is a Japanese professional racing driver currently competing in the Champ Car World Series for Obsidian Racing Team. He is best known for his tenure in the GP1 Championship, where he is a two time Driver's Champion, having won back to back titles in 2020 and 2021.

## Champ Car career

### 2021

Kito made his racing debut in the United States for the 2021 Indianapolis 500, driving for Obsidian Racing Team, and pulling off double duty by competing in both the GP1 Championship, and the Champ Car World Series. Kito's appearance in the race would also pit him against his long-standing GP1 rival, Anastasius von Sonnen, who was also pulling off double duty for the second straight year.

For the 108th Indianapolis 500, Kito would have a stable run of things. He would wind up 15th in the first day of time trials, while his teammate, Isabel Espinoza, would secure her spot in the Firestone Fast 6, before qualifying 5th. Kito, on the second and final day of time trials, would do even better, qualifying 9th with a four lap average of 38.5498. His efforts would make him the second highest qualified Indy 500 rookie, with Lucien Lachapelle outqualifying him by one position, just over one-hundredth faster across four laps.

Kito's first Indianapolis 500 would end just 9 laps from the finish, when his engine expired, leaving him with a 17th place finish, but Kito left the race with a positive attitude, congratulating the race winner, Hazel Lacasse, on her historic performance in the race before flying back to Japan to continue his GP1 Championship pursuit.

Kito's next Champ Car race came at the Pepsi 500 in Pocono. Kito would struggle a bit more at the 'Tricky Triangle', only qualifying 20th, while his teammate, Espinoza, qualified in 12th. Similarly to Indianapolis, Kito would not be permitted to see the full race distance, with a suspension failure ending his day on lap 27, due to hitting a piece of debris. It would leave Kito with a 28th place finish, still higher than his main rival in von Sonnen.

Kito would encounter qualifying races for the first time in his career for the Intel 500 in Fontana. Due to initial time trials, he would slot into the first qualifying duel, directly competing against von Sonnen, and beating him in that duel, finishing fifteenth, while von Sonnen finished sixteenth. The results of the duels determined the starting grid, with Kito starting 29th, one row ahead of von Sonnen. He would turn it into his first Champ Car race finish, ending the race in 14th, one lap off of the race winner, Artyom Kozlov. The race would cap off a year, where Kito became a two time GP1 Driver's Champion, before seeing him move stateside for 2022.

### 2022

Kito was announced as a full time driver for Obsidian Racing Team during the 2021 season, with Kito initially set to drive the #87 for the year. After the team announced the return of Zoe Sharp for the Triple Crown, Kito offered the car number to Sharp, as it was the number Sharp won the 2010 Indycar World Championship, and the 2011 Indianapolis 500 in. Kito later stated that with the importance of the number in Champ Car, between Sharp, and the late Henna Venalainen, he felt the number should have never been his to use, preferring to use either the #86, or the #99, which he debuted in Champ Car with.

## Personal Life

Kito is known as a reserved personality. Kito lives a straight-edge lifestyle, abstaining from alcohol and other substances, and frequently declines to spray champagne during podium celebrations, instead giving the unopened bottle to members of his team after the race celebrations. Kito is also pescatarian, living a largely vegetarian diet, aside from seafood, which is prominent in Japanese cuisine.