Kenta Yamashita

Kenta Yamashita
Kenta Yamashita
Nationality	Japanese
Born	3 August 1995 (age 29); Chiba, Japan
Japanese Formula 3 Championship career
Debut season	2014
Current team	Petronas Team TOM'S
Car number	36
Starts	49
Wins	14
Poles	13
Fastest laps	10
Best finish	1st in 2016
Previous series
2014–16; 2013; 2012	Japanese Formula 3 Championship; Formula Challenge Japan; Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ
Championship titles
2016; 2013; 2012	Japanese Formula 3 Championship; Formula Challenge Japan; Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ

Kenta Yamashita (山下健太, Yamashita Kenta) is a Japanese racing driver, known for his successes in single-seater junior categories, including winning the 2013 Formula Challenge Japan and the 2012 Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ. He currently races in the Super Formula Championship, Super GT and FIA World Endurance Championship.

Career

Karting

Yamashita competed in karts before graduating to single-seater cars in 2012.

Formula Super FJ and Formula Challenge Japan

Yamashita began his racing car career in the 2012 Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ, which he won in his first season. In all four starts, he took the pole, fastest lap, and race win.^[1] In 2013, he progressed to the Formula Challenge Japan series, which was a racing category intended for drivers between entry level and Formula 3. He scored 7 podiums and in 12 races, including 4 wins, and took the championship title.^[2]

All-Japan Formula Three

In 2014, Yamashita graduated to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship with the Petronas Team TOM'S. He finished runner-up in the championship to the more experienced Nobuharu Matsushita.^[3]

In 2015, Yamashita continued to race in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship, and currently holds the lead of the championship. In addition, he has raced in the GT300 category of the 2015 Super GT season.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	FLaps	Podiums	Points	Position
2012	Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ	?	4	4	4	4	4	64	1st
2013	Formula Challenge Japan	?	12	4	2	3	7	65	1st
2014	Japanese Formula 3 Championship	Petronas Team TOM's	15	2	1	1	12	90	2nd
2014	Macau Grand Prix	Petronas Team TOM's	1	0	0	0	0	0	9th
2015	Japanese Formula 3 Championship	Petronas Team TOM's	17	5	5	5	13	113	2nd
	Macau Grand Prix	Petronas Team TOM's	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	15th
	Super GT - GT300	Porsche Team KTR	8	0	0	0	0	6	20th
2016	Japanese Formula 3 Championship	Team TOM's	17	7	7	4	10	113	1st
	Super GT - GT300	VivaC Team Tsuchiya	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	Macau Grand Prix	ThreeBond with T-Sport	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	4th
2017	Super GT - GT300	VivaC Team Tsuchiya	7	1	3	1	2	48	5th
	Super GT	Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh	1	0	0	0	0	1	20th
	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	7	0	1	0	0	6.5	11th
	Macau Grand Prix	B-Max Racing Team	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2018	Super GT	Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh	8	0	0	0	2	32	11th
2018	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	6	0	0	0	1	11.5	9th
2019	Super GT	Lexus Team LeMans Wako's	8	2	1	0	4	85	1st
2019	Super Formula	Kondō Racing	7	1	0	0	2	21	5th
2019-20	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMP2	High Class Racing	5	0	0	0	0	41	10th*
2020	Super GT	Toyota Gazoo Racing Team SARD	1	0	0	0	0	6	9th*

^* Season still in progress.

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
2015	Porsche Team KTR	Porsche 911 GT3	GT300	OKA 14	FUJ 12	CHA 8	FUJ Ret	SUZ 18	SUG 17	AUT 8	MOT 14	20th	6
2016	VivaC Team Tsuchiya	Toyota 86 MC	GT300	OKA	FUJ	SUG	FUJ	SUZ 22	CHA	MOT	MOT	NC	0
2017	VivaC Team Tsuchiya	Toyota 86 MC	GT300	OKA 4		AUT 1	SUG 3	FUJ 29	SUZ 18	CHA 15	MOT 5	5th	48
2017	Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh	Lexus LC 500	GT500		FUJ 10							20th	1
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 LeMans Wako's	Lexus LC 500	GT500	OKA 13	FUJ 8	SUZ 3	CHA 1	FUJ 1	AUT 6	SUG 6	MOT 2	1st	85
2020	Toyota Gazoo Racing Team SARD	Toyota GR Supra GT500	GT500	FUJ 5	FUJ	SUZ	MOT	FUJ	SUZ	MOT	FUJ	9th*	6*

^* Season still in progress.

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	DC	Points
2017	Kondō Racing	SUZ 14	OKA 7	OKA 6	FUJ Ret	MOT 6	AUT 13	SUG 11	SUZ C	SUZ C	11th	6.5
2018	Kondō Racing	SUZ 9	AUT C	SUG 8	FUJ 18	MOT 6	OKA 6‡	SUZ 3			9th	11.5
2019	Kondō Racing	SUZ 3	AUT 7	SUG 6	FUJ 17	MOT 13	OKA 1	SUZ 9			5th	21

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

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year	Entrant	Class	Car	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Rank	Points
2019–20	High Class Racing	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	SIL 7	FUJ 4	SHA 6	BHR 7	COA 7	SPA	LMS	10th*	41*

^* Season still in progress.

References

^ "Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ 2012 standings | Driver Database". Driver Database. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
^ "Formula Challenge Japan 2013 standings | Driver Database". Driver Database. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
^ "Japanese Formula 3 Championship 2014 standings | Driver Database". Driver Database. Retrieved 2 September 2015.

External links

Official website
Kenta Yamashita career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Nobuharu Matsushita	Formula Challenge Japan Champion 2013	Succeeded by None (Series ended)
Preceded by Nick Cassidy	Japanese Formula 3 Championship Champion 2016	Succeeded by Mitsunori Takaboshi
Preceded by Jenson Button Naoki Yamamoto	Super GT GT500 Champion 2019 With: Kazuya Oshima	Succeeded by Incumbent

[1] "Motegi Championship Formula Super FJ 2012 standings | Driver Database". Driver Database. Retrieved 2 September 2015.

[2] "Formula Challenge Japan 2013 standings | Driver Database". Driver Database. Retrieved 2 September 2015.

[3] "Japanese Formula 3 Championship 2014 standings | Driver Database". Driver Database. Retrieved 2 September 2015.

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