Katsumasa Chiyo

Katsumasa Chiyo
Nationality	Japanese
Born	9 December 1986 (1986-12-09) (age 29) Tokyo, Japan

Katsumasa Chiyo (born 9 December 1986 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese racing driver, currently driving for RJN Motorsport in the Blancpain Endurance Series and for Gainer in the Super GT series. He is a part of Nissan's GT Academy program.

Career

Open-wheel racing

Chiyo began racing cars in 2007, competing in the Formula Challenge Japan series. He finished third in the 2008 series before moving into the National Class of the All-Japan Formula Three Championship in 2009. Chiyo won the National Class in 2011 and moved on to GT racing. However, he returned to the championship in 2013, finishing third in the outright class and winning two races.^[1] Chiyo took part in the 2013 Macau Grand Prix, finishing in 15th place.^[2]

GT racing

The Nissan GT-R of Chiyo, Couto and Tomita which won the GT300 class at the 2015 1000 km Suzuka.

The race-winning Nissan GT-R of Chiyo, Reip and Strauss at the 2015 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour.

Following his National Class win in the 2011 All-Japan Formula Three Championship, Chiyo switched to the Super GT series, racing a Nissan GT-R in the GT300 class for NDDP Racing. He took victory at Sportsland SUGO with Yuhi Sekiguchi and went on to finish the season in fourth place.^[3][4] Chiyo moved to Dijon Racing for the 2013 series and finished 28th in the standings after taking just one points-scoring finish.^[1] He didn't race in the series in 2014, but returned in 2015, driving for Gainer in the GT300 class. He won at Fuji with teammate André Couto and at Suzuka with Couto and Ryuichiro Tomita.^[5][6] Chiyo will step up to the GT500 class in 2016, driving the S Road MOLA Nissan GT-R alongside Satoshi Motoyama.

Chiyo began racing in the Blancpain Endurance Series in 2014, driving a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 for RJN Motorsport. He scored a podium finish at Circuit Paul Ricard. Along with Alex Buncombe and Wolfgang Reip, Chiyo won the 2015 series. The trio won the 1000 km Paul Ricard and finished third in the final race of the series at the Nürburgring, taking the title by three points over the Bentley M-Sport entry of Steven Kane, Andy Meyrick and Guy Smith.^[7] In doing so, Chiyo became the first Japanese driver to win a championship in a top-level sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, and the first to win a major sports car racing championship of any kind outside of Asia.

Chiyo competed in the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour as part of the Nismo Global Driver Exchange, driving a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 with Buncombe, Reip and V8 Supercar driver Rick Kelly. Chiyo was involved in a crash in the early stages of the race, ending the team's chances after 58 laps.^[8] Chiyo returned to the race in 2015, this time paired with Reip and Florian Strauss. The trio won the race after Chiyo took the lead with two laps remaining.^[9] In the 2016 race, Chiyo finished a close second driving with Kelly and Strauss.^[10]

Racing record

Career summary

^* Season still in progress.

Complete Super GT results

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

* Season still in progress.

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2015	NISMO Athlete Global Team	Wolfgang Reip Florian Strauss	Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3	AA	269	1	1
2016	NISMO Athlete Global Team	Rick Kelly Florian Strauss	Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3	AP	297	2	2

References

External links

• Official website