Cerumo Co., Ltd. (stylized as CERUMO) is a Japanese racing team headquartered in Oyama,

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

. The competed in

Super Formula The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) an ...

together with INGING Motorsport, and participated in

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...

GT500 Class. In January 2016, former

Bridgestone is a Japanese multinational tire manufacturer founded in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi (1889–1976) in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of , meaning 'stone bridge' in Japan ...

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...

engineer Hirohide Hamashima joined the team and became general manager in both the Super GT and Super Formula categories. At the shareholders' meeting in February 2019, founder Masayuki Sato resigned as president, and Hamashima also resigned as general manager. In his place, Haruhisa Urabe will become president and chairman, and

Hiroaki Ishiura is a Japanese racing driver. He currently drives in the Super GT series for Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Zent Cerumo. Born in Tokyo, Ishiura won the Super GT300 championship, in the APR MR-S with Kazuya Oshima is a Japanese racing driver, c ...

will become a director. After that

Yuji Tachikawa Yuji Tachikawa (立川祐路, ''Tachikawa Yūji'', born July 5, 1975 in Kanagawa, Japan), is a Japanese racing driver. He was Super GT series champion in 2001, 2005 and 2013. Racing record Complete JGTC/Super GT results (key) (Races in bold ...

picked as the director.

History

The founder, Masayuki Sato, is a famous engineer known as "Bate-san" in the domestic racing world. As Tadashi Sakai's chief mechanic, he was in charge of machines such as the Fuji GC, and in 1981 he took over Sakai Engineering and established Cerumo. The company name is derived from the Italian word for steady. While operating as a maintenance garage, then formed the team in 1991. Since then, he has competed in SUPER GT (formerly All Japan GT Championship JGTC) and Formula Nippon then the current Super Formula.

Super Formula

At the end of 2007, Haruhisa Urabe, the owner of INGING, became the new owner, and the integration of INGING and the factory is underway. The team has run with

Roberto Streit Roberto Streit (born 17 November 1983, in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian racing driver. Career Formula Renault Streit debuted in 2001 in Formula Chevrolet Brazil. His first season was a very successful one, with Streit dominating the championsh ...

Takuto Iguchi is a Japanese racing driver. He has competed in such series as Super GT and the All-Japan Formula Three Championship. Racing career Takuto Iguchi began his motorsports career in 2000 with kart racing in his hometown of Fukuoka. Iguchi raced ...

. In 2011 Project mu joined the team as the main sponsor for the team. Their success was during the

Dallara SF14 The Dallara SF14 is a Open-wheel car, single-seater open-wheel chassis made by Italian manufacturer Dallara for the Super Formula series in Japan. It was introduced for the 2014 Super Formula season, 2014 season and used until the 2018 Super Formu ...

era where

and Yuji Kunimoto won the drivers title from 2015 to 2017, with Ishiura won in 2015 & 2017 and Kunimoto in 2016. The team also won constructor champion in 2016 & 2017.

Sho Tsuboi is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing. He currently competes in the GT500 class of the Super GT Series for TGR Team au TOM's, where he is the 2021 series champion. He also competes in the Super Formula Championship for P.mu Cerumo ...

replaces Kunimoto in 2019. And he clinched third place in 2020 in which the highest position he achieved in the series to date. Hiroaki Ishiura stepped down from racing in Super Formula, and he worked with Tachikawa. His replacement was

Sena Sakaguchi Sena Sakaguchi (born 9 July 1999) is a Japanese racing driver who currently competes in the Super Formula Championship and Super GT. Career Sakaguchi began his senior competition career in 2015, competing for Sutekina Racing Team in the final ...

. For 2023, INGING acquired a new title sponsor in finance advisory firm Vertex Partners, with the team now named Vertex Partners Cerumo・INGING. Toshiki Oyu joined Toyota and drive for INGING, replacing Sho Tsuboi who moves to TOM'S.

Super GT GT500

Cerumo has competed in the All Japan GT Championship (JGTC) since 1995 and in SUPER GT since 2005, winning the Driver's Championship three times in 2001, 2005, and 2013 which Yuji Tachikawa won it all, with Hironori Takeuchi, Toranosuke Takagi, and

Kohei Hirate is a Japanese race car driver. Hirate has won the Super GT series twice. Career Hirate began Kart racing, karting in 1999 when he was 13. After winning the All Japan Junior Kart Championship, coming third and fifth in the All Japan Kart Champio ...

each won respectively. Cerumo participating in SUPER GT under the entrant name "TGR Team ZENT Cerumo" from 2020, but already with sponsorship from the pachinko and amusement chain ZENT since 2009. The director was Takeuchi in 2008 and 2009, Takagi from 2010 to 2017, Hirohide Hamashima in 2018, and Tachikawa has been appointed general director since 2019. In 2021, Junichi Murata will remain the general manager of Tachikawa and become the team manager. Kotaro Tanaka will lead the team in 2022, and Junichi Murata will lead the team again from 2023. Tachikawa retired from the series after the 2023 season and he returns to the team as team director. Tachikawa's replacement at Cerumo will be Toshiki Oyu who moves from Honda. Cerumo's long time sponsor ZENT will not be the main sponsor and KeePer will replace it.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://cerumo.co.jp/ in Japanese Japanese auto racing teams Super Formula teams Super GT teams Auto racing teams established in 1991 Toyota in motorsport