Kamui Kobayashi

Kamui Kobayashi Formula One World Championship career Nationality Japanese Entries 1 Championships 0 Wins 0 Podiums 0 Career points 0 Pole positions 0 Fastest laps 0 First entry 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Last entry 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Kamui Kobayashi Nationality Japanese GP2 Series career Debut season 2008 Current team DAMS Car number 17 Starts 40 Wins 1 Poles 0 Fastest laps 3 Best finish 16th in 2008, 2009 Previous series 2008, 2008–09 2006–07 2006– 2005 2004–05 2004 2004 2004 GP2 Asia Series Formula Three Euroseries Formula One testing Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 Italia FR2000 Germany Asian Formula Renault FR2000 Netherlands Championship titles 2008–09 2005 2005 GP2 Asia Series Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Formula Renault 2.0 Italia

Kamui Kobayashi (full Kanji: 小林可夢偉) (born September 13, 1986 in Amagasaki, Hyogo) is a Japanese driver currently competing in the GP2 Series championship. Kobayashi is also a test driver for the Toyota Formula One team.

Racing career

Early career

Kamui Kobayashi began his career in motorsport in 1996 when he was nine years old - the Japanese driver finished third in his first season of karting in the SL Takarazuka Tournament Cadet Class. The following seven years, Kobayashi took four karting titles, winning the Toyota SL All Japan Tournament Cadet Class series twice.

In 2004, the Japanese driver signed up for Toyota's Driver Academy and soon began his career in open wheel racing. Kobayashi's next step was Formula Renault, entering the Asian, German, Italian and Dutch championships. The Japanese driver took two races victories in the Italian championship. Kobayashi continued his campaign in the Formula Renault class, entering the Italian and European championships and with six wins in both championships, the Japanese won both titles.

In 2006, Kobayashi entered the Formula Three Euroseries with ASM Formule 3 alongside Paul di Resta, Giedo van der Garde and Sebastian Vettel. He took three podium positions in his debut season, coming eighth in the Drivers' Championship and first in the Rookie's Championship. Kobayashi also entered the Macau Grand Prix and the Masters of Formula 3, both of which are annual Formula Three events. Kobayashi started the latter in 10th place and finished the race a place lower in 11th while at the Macau Grand Prix, the Japanese started the race in pole position, however he finished the race in 19th place.

At the beginning of 2007, Kobayashi, along with Kohei Hirate, was named as one of the Toyota Formula One team's test drivers. The Japanese stayed in the F3 Euroseries for the upcoming season and had an impressive start to the season, taking two podiums in the first four rounds, and at the tenth round in Magny-Cours for the Formula One French Grand Prix Formula Three support race Kobayashi took his first race victory in Formula Three. Kobayashi finished fourth in the Drivers' Championship.

GP2

Kobayashi driving for DAMS at the Nürburgring round of the 2009 GP2 Series season.

Following a successful GP2 Asia Series campaign in early 2008, Kobayashi won his first GP2 Series race in only the second race of the season. After a strong start from pole in the sprint race at the Circuit de Catalunya, Kamui took the chequered flag in first place. This was after a controversial piece of defensive driving from the Japanese driver's former F3 Euroseries team-mate Romain Grosjean after a safety car period. At the end of the pit straight, Kamui attempted a pass on Grosjean. However, the Frenchman moved more than once to defend his position, forcing Kobayashi into evasive action. This resulted in a drive through penalty for the Frenchman, handing the win to Kobayashi. However, he only finished in the points on one further occasion, restricting him to sixteenth in the championship.

Another successful GP2 Asia campaign followed over the winter months of 2008 and 2009, with Kobayashi winning two races en route to the championship, with a round to spare. Kobayashi could not repeat his form in the main series, finishing sixteenth again.

Formula One

Kobayashi deputising for Timo Glock during practice for the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix.

On November 16, 2007 it was confirmed that Kobayashi would replace the departing Franck Montagny as the Toyota F1 team's third driver. He has been employed as the team's test and reserve driver during the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

At the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix, Kobayashi competed in the first two free practice sessions in place of Timo Glock, who was unwell. Glock recovered in time to take part in the third free practice session and qualifying, but was injured after crashing in the latter session and had to miss the race. Toyota asked the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for permission to run Kobayashi in the race, but this was refused as the regulations state that a driver must run in at least one session on Saturday in order to be eligible to start the race.

Kobayashi did, however, make his Formula One debut at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix, following a complication to Glock's injury that was initially not detected. He qualified 11th in a chaotic qualifying session that lasted for over two and half hours and was red-flagged twice due to accidents caused by torrential rain. He later finished the race in respectable 9th place, with world champion Jenson Button referring to him as 'absolutely crazy'. He is also tipped to remain in the car for the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which will be the final race of the 2009 season.

Statistics

Motor racing record

Season	Series	Team Name	Races	Poles	Wins	Points	Final Placing
2003	Formula Toyota	?	10	4	2	120	2nd
2004	German Formula Renault	Prema Powerteam	2	0	0	16	31st
	Italian Formula Renault	Prema Powerteam	17	3	2	134	7th
2005	Italian Formula Renault	Prema Powerteam	15	4	6	312	1st
	Formula Renault Eurocup	Prema Powerteam	16	4	6	157	1st
2006	Formula Three Euroseries	ASM Formule 3	19	0	0	34	8th
2007	Formula Three Euroseries	ASM Formule 3	20	1	1	59	4th
2008	GP2 Asia Series	DAMS	10	0	2	22	6th
	GP2 Series		20	0	1	10	16th
	Formula One	Toyota	Test driver
2008-09	GP2 Asia Series	DAMS	11	2	2	56	1st
2009	GP2 Series	DAMS	20	0	0	13	16th
	Formula One	Toyota	1	0	0	0	20th

Complete GP2 Series 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	19	20	DC	Points
2008	DAMS	ESP FEA 8	ESP SPR 1	TUR FEA Ret	TUR SPR 9	MON FEA Ret	MON SPR 18	FRA FEA Ret	FRA SPR 9	GBR FEA Ret	GBR SPR 7	GER FEA Ret	GER SPR 18	HUN FEA 11	HUN SPR 8	EUR FEA Ret	EUR SPR 6	BEL FEA 9	BEL SPR 14	ITA FEA Ret	ITA SPR 13	16th	10
2009	DAMS	ESP FEA 8	ESP SPR 5	MON FEA Ret	MON SPR 12	TUR FEA Ret	TUR SPR NC	GBR FEA Ret	GBR SPR 17	GER FEA 9	GER SPR 3	HUN FEA 13	HUN SPR 8	VAL FEA 8	VAL SPR 11	BEL FEA 7	BEL SPR 11	ITA FEA 17	ITA SPR 17	ALG FEA 6	ALG SPR 19	16th	13

Complete GP2 Asia Series 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	DC	Points
2008	DAMS	UAE FEA 13	UAE SPR Ret	IND FEA Ret	IND SPR 15	MAL FEA 5	MAL SPR 1	BHR FEA 3	BHR SPR 1	UAE FEA 20	UAE SPR 14			6th	22
2008-09	DAMS	CHN FEA 2	CHN SPR Ret	UAE FEA 1	UAE SPR C	BHR FEA 1	BHR SPR 6	QAT FEA 4	QAT SPR 18	MAL FEA 2	MAL SPR 7	BHR FEA 4	BHR SPR 5	1st	56

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	WDC	Points
2009	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota TF109	Toyota RVX-09 2.4 V8	AUS	MAL	CHN	BHR	ESP	MON	TUR	GBR	GER	HUN	EUR	BEL	ITA	SIN	JPN PO	BRA 9	ABU	20th*	0*

* Season in progress.

External links

• Kamui Kobayashi official Website