Koki Saga

Koki Saga
Koki Saga
Nationality	Japanese
Born	25 April 1983 (age 41); Aichi, Japan
Super GT career
Debut season	2006
Current team	apr
Car number	31
Former teams	Toyota Team Cerumo, Toyota Team SARD
Starts	116
Wins	6
Podiums	18
Poles	6
Fastest laps	3
Best finish	2nd in 2016
Previous series
2005–2010; 2011–2014	Japanese Formula 3 Championship; Super Formula Championship

Koki Saga (嵯峨宏紀, Saga Kōki, born 25 April 1983)^[1] is a Japanese racing driver.

Racing career

The son of Koei Saga, a senior official at Toyota Gazoo Racing,^[2] Saga began kart racing in 1999. In his early career, Saga raced single seaters, such as Formula Toyota and the Japanese Formula 3 Championship. He competed in the Macau Grand Prix in 2008 and 2009 and has competed in Super Taikyu.^[1] He competed in Super Formula for four years with no success.^{[citation needed]}

Saga began competing in Super GT in 2006; due to his ties to Toyota, he has only driven Toyota or Lexus vehicles in his Super GT career. Saga first competed with Toyota Team Cerumo, contributing to the team's first pole position and victory; he was then called up as a third driver for Lexus Team SARD for the Suzuka 1000 km. Saga has been with apr since 2010.^{[citation needed]}

Since the 2018 Super GT Series, Saga has been noted for his antics in pre-race driver introduction segments, consisting of elaborate comedic skits involving costumes, the team's race queens and sometimes other drivers, often performed in a deadpan style.^[3]^[4]

Racing record

Complete Japanese Formula 3 results

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

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2005	Le Beausset Motorsports	Dallara F305	Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 I4	MOT1 11	MOT2 10	SUZ1 12	SUZ2 10	SUG1 Ret	SUG2 11	FUJ1 11	FUJ2 13	OKA1 14	OKA2 12	SUZ1 9	SUZ2 8	MIN1 10	MIN2 6	FUJ1 10	FUJ2 9	MIN1 Ret	MIN2 13	MOT1 15	MOT2 8	13th	20
2006	Autosport with Le Beausset	Dallara F306		FUJ1 9	FUJ2 Ret	SUZ1 14	SUZ2 Ret	MOT1 9	MOT2 10	OKA1 9	OKA2 10	SUZ1 11	SUZ2 9	AUT1 11	AUT2 9	FUJ1 8	FUJ2 10	SUG1 10	SUG2 8	MOT1 7	MOT2 2			11th	39
2007	DENSO Team Le Beausset	Dallara F306		FUJ1 9	FUJ2 10	SUZ1 8	SUZ2 10	MOT1 11	MOT2 10	OKA1 9	OKA2 9	SUZ1 12	SUZ2 10	AUT1 10	AUT2 10	AUT3 8	FUJ1 10	FUJ2 10	SEN1 7	SEN2 9	SEN3 8	MOT1 8	MOT2 Ret	11th	32
2008		Dallara F308	Toyota 1AZ-FE 2.0 I4	FUJ1 6	FUJ2 6	AUT1 4	AUT2 7	SUZ1 4	SUZ2 5	MOT1 9	MOT2 3	OKA1 5	OKA2 6	SUZ1 8	SUZ2 Ret	MOT1 7	MOT2 9	FUJ1 11	FUJ2 9	SUG1 9	SUG2 4			7th	99
2009				FUJ1 5	FUJ2 5	OKA1 11	OKA2 14	SUZ1 Ret	SUZ2 6	FUJ1 4	FUJ2 5	SUZ1 4	SUZ2 3	MOT1 6	MOT2 6	AUT1 3	AUT2 4	SUG1 6	SUG2 12					6th	30
2010				SUZ1 2	SUZ2 2	MOT1 4	MOT2 7	FUJ1 5	FUJ2 5	FUJ1 5	FUJ2 5	MOT1 4	MOT2 6	OKA1 4	OKA2 5	SUG1 15	SUG2 2	AUT1 1	AUT2 1					4th	68

Complete Super Formula results

Year	Team	1	2		3	4	5	6	7		DC
2011	Tochigi Le Beausset Motorsports	SUZ 12	AUT Ret		FUJ 14	MOT 16	SUZ C	SUG 13	MOT1 13	MOT2 Ret	NC
2012		SUZ 13	MOT 14		AUT Ret	FUJ 14	MOT Ret	SUG 15	SUZ1 16	SUZ2 13	NC
2013		SUZ 17	AUT 11		FUJ Ret	MOT 16	INJ C	SUG 9	SUZ1 14	SUZ2 14	NC
2014		SUZ Ret	FUJ1 11	FUJ2 13	FUJ Ret	MOT 17	AUT 11	SUG Ret	SUZ1 Ret	SUZ2 19	NC

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Year	Team	Car	Qualifying	Quali Race	Main race
2008	Le Beausset Motorsports	Dallara F308	DNQ	13th	Ret
2009	Le Beausset Motorsports	Dallara F309	24th	18th	14th

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	9	DC	Points
2006	Toyota Team Cerumo	Toyota Celica	GT300	SUZ 11	OKA 12	FUJ 12	SEP	SUG 11	SUZ 1	MOT Ret	AUT 13	FUJ 21	13th	31
2008	Toyota Team SARD	Lexus SC 430 GT500	GT500	SUZ	OKA	FUJ	SEP	SUG	SUZ 15	MOT	AUT	FUJ	NC	0
2010	apr	Toyota Corolla Axio apr GT	GT300	SUZ Ret	OKA 5	FUJ 9	SEP 8	SUG 3	SUZ Ret	FUJ C	MOT 19		10th	22
2011		Toyota Corolla Axio apr GT	GT300	OKA 12	FUJ 4	SEP 11	SUG Ret	SUZ 13	FUJ 13	AUT 7	MOT 11		16th	12
2012		Toyota Prius apr GT	GT300	OKA Ret	FUJ 6	SEP Ret	SUG 8	SUZ Ret	FUJ 2	AUT 8	MOT Ret		10th	26
2013			GT300	OKA Ret	FUJ 1	SEP Ret	SUG 22	SUZ 15	FUJ 2	FUJ	AUT 15	MOT 20	8th	35
2014			GT300	OKA Ret	FUJ 6	AUT Ret	SUG Ret	FUJ 6	SUZ 2	CHA 17	MOT 2		8th	43
2015			GT300	OKA 1	FUJ 4	CHA 9	FUJ 9	SUZ 10	SUG 2	AUT 13	MOT 1		3rd	69
2016			GT300	OKA 12	FUJ 20	SUG 1	FUJ 25	SUZ 2	CHA 5	MOT 24	MOT 2		2nd	60
2017			GT300	OKA 10	FUJ 12	AUT Ret	SUG 6	FUJ 3	SUZ Ret	CHA 11	MOT 12		15th	17
2018			GT300	OKA Ret	FUJ 2	SUZ 9	CHA 2	FUJ 3	SUG 25	AUT 10	MOT 2		3rd	61
2019		Toyota GR Sport Prius PHV apr GT	GT300	OKA 12	FUJ 19	SUZ 11	CHA 18	FUJ 18	AUT 14	SUG 23	MOT 20		NC	0
2020			GT300	FUJ 27	FUJ 14	SUZ 7	MOT 15	FUJ 5	SUZ 18	MOT 27	FUJ 10		18th	12
2021			GT300	OKA 19	FUJ 28	SUZ 24	MOT 18	SUG 13	AUT 1	MOT 22	FUJ 14		13th	21
2022			GT300	OKA 22	FUJ 22	SUZ 23	FUJ 11	SUZ 26	SUG 17	AUT 15	MOT Ret		NC	0
2023		Lexus LC 500h GT	GT300	OKA 16	FUJ 8	SUZ 13	FUJ 5	SUZ 6	SUG 11	AUT 3	MOT		13th	25

* Season still in progress.

References

^ ^a ^b "2023 嵯峨宏紀". Super GT (in Japanese). Retrieved 29 June 2023.
^ "Koei Saga: interview with Toyota Gazoo Racing chief". Toyota UK Magazine. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
^ O'Connell, R.J. (5 January 2023). "2022 Goodbyes: Toyota Prius GT by apr". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
^ "【動画】スーパーGT新名物？こだわり抜いた31号車プリウスのドライバーズ・アピアランス". Autosport web (in Japanese). 10 May 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

External links

Koki Saga career summary at DriverDB.com

[koki-1] "2023 嵯峨宏紀". Super GT (in Japanese). Retrieved 29 June 2023.

[koei-2] "Koei Saga: interview with Toyota Gazoo Racing chief". Toyota UK Magazine. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

[sketch-3] O'Connell, R.J. (5 January 2023). "2022 Goodbyes: Toyota Prius GT by apr". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

[4] "【動画】スーパーGT新名物？こだわり抜いた31号車プリウスのドライバーズ・アピアランス". Autosport web (in Japanese). 10 May 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]