is a Japanese factory racing driver, currently competing in the Autobacs Super GT Series as a factory driver for

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

. He is a graduate of the Nissan Driver Development Program (NDDP), and a past champion of the Bathurst 12 Hour race, and the

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by Stéphane Ratel Org ...

Career

Early career

Chiyo began racing cars in 2007, competing in the

Formula Challenge Japan Formula Challenge Japan was an open wheel racing series based in Japan. The first season was in 2006 and carried on from the defunct Formula Dream series. It is promoted as a young driver development project jointly by Honda, Toyota and Nissan a ...

(FCJ) series after earning a scholarship from the NDDP. He finished third in the 2008 FCJ series, before moving into the National Class of the

All-Japan Formula Three Championship was a national motor racing championship that takes place in Japan. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater Formula Three chassis. As a result of Formula 3 naming regulations by the FIA, on 13 August 2019, series pro ...

in 2009. Chiyo won the National Class title in 2011 with NDDP Racing, winning five races to defeat Honda prospect

Tomoki Nojiri is a Japanese racing driver for the Honda Motor Company. He currently drives in the GT500 class of the Autobacs Super GT Series, and the Super Formula Championship, where he is the 2021 and 2022 series champion. Racing career Early career ...

on a tie breaker. Chiyo returned to All-Japan F3 in 2013, competing in the main class with the B-Max Racing Team. He finished third in the championship, with two victories. Chiyo took part in the

2013 Macau Grand Prix The 2013 Macau Grand Prix (formally the 60th Star River-Windsor Arch Macau Grand Prix) was a motor race for Formula Three cars that was held on the streets of Macau on 17 November 2013. Unlike other races, such as the Masters of Formula 3, the ...

, finishing in 15th place. In 2015, Chiyo made a one off return to F3 at

Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and nati ...

. In 2016, Chiyo returned to F3 to contest the full season with B-Max Racing. He won one race, and finished sixth in the championship, after missing four races over two rounds due to a back injury.

Super GT (2012-present)

After winning the All-Japan F3 National Class title in 2011, Chiyo stepped up to the Autobacs Super GT Series, racing a Nissan GT-R GT3 in the GT300 class for NDDP Racing. He took his first victory at Sportsland SUGO with

Yuhi Sekiguchi is a Japanese racing driver. 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 Carenex Team Impul. Career For ...

, and went on to finish the season in fourth place. With NDDP prospect Daiki Sasaki moving up to GT300, Chiyo moved to pro-am team Dijon Racing for the 2013 season. He finished 28th in the standings after taking just one points-scoring finish. After missing the 2014 season due to his new commitments in Europe, Chiyo returned to Super GT in 2015, this time with Gainer in their new Nissan GT-R alongside

André Couto André Couto (; born 14 December 1976) is a MacaneseSatoshi Motoyama Satoshi Motoyama (本山哲 - Motoyama Satoshi; born March 4, 1971) is a Japanese professional racing driver and team manager. He is best known for racing in the Super GT Series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGT ...

at MOLA. Chiyo and Motoyama finished third at

Okayama International Circuit Okayama International Circuit (岡山国際サーキット), formerly known as TI Circuit Aida (TIサーキット英田) before 2005, is a private motorsport race track in Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. TI was the abbreviation of "Tanak ...

in their first race together. Chiyo suffered a spinal injury after a crash in the summer race at Fuji, which forced him to miss over a month of competition including the Suzuka 1000km. He finished the season twelfth in the standings in 2016, and again in 2017, where Chiyo nearly took his first premier class victory at Sugo after a last-lap battle between Motoyama 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 ...

. Chiyo and Motoyama remained team mates in 2018, as MOLA were replaced in GT500 by the new NDDP Racing with B-Max team. They finished 17th in the championship that season. After the season, Chiyo was assigned to drive in the

Intercontinental GT Challenge The Intercontinental GT Challenge is a sports car racing series developed by the SRO Group in 2016. It consists of international endurance races for grand tourer racing cars complying with the FIA's GT3 regulations. Format The series is aimed ...

for Nissan and

KC Motorgroup KC Motorgroup Ltd, known as KCMG, is an auto racing team based in Hong Kong. Founded by former racing driver Paul Ip in 2007, KCMG has participated in a variety of championships across the world in touring car, sports car, and open-wheel racing ...

(KCMG), resulting in his second sabbatical from Super GT. At the sixth round of the season in Autopolis, Chiyo was called on as a last-minute replacement for James Rossiter at Calsonic Team Impul, after Rossiter was diagnosed with acute tinnitus. Chiyo returned to full-time GT500 competition in 2020, returning to NDDP Racing with B-Max alongside Hirate. They ranked 13th in the championship in 2020, and both drivers were retained for 2021.

International GT racing

Chiyo began racing in the

Blancpain Endurance Series The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports Gr ...

(now the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup) in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, driving a

Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 The Nissan GT-R (Japanese: 日産・GT-R, ''Nissan GT-R''), is a high-performance sports car and grand tourer produced by Nissan, unveiled in 2007. It is the successor to the Skyline GT-R, a high performance variant of the Nissan Skyline. Alt ...

for RJN Motorsport. He scored a podium finish at

Circuit Paul Ricard The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has ho ...

. Along with

Alex Buncombe Alex Buncombe (born 28 August 1981 in Taunton, England) is a British racing driver, recently left RJN Motorsport after the Blancpain Endurance Series. He is a part of the Nismo Global Driver Exchange, working with Nissan and RJN Motorsport to p ...

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 The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

, taking the title by three points over the Bentley M-Sport entry of

Steven Kane Steven Kane (born 5 June 1980) is a British racing driver who currently competes in the Blancpain Endurance Series and Avon Tyres British GT Championship for M-Sport Bentley driving a Bentley Continental GT3. Career Kane, who was born in Ne ...

, Andy Meyrick and Guy Smith. 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 SRO Motorsports Group (formerly the Stéphane Ratel Organisation) is an international sporting organisation best known for promoting and running a variety of racing events and series, including the Total 24 Hours of Spa, Intercontinental GT Challe ...

, 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 The Nismo Global Driver Exchange (also known as the Nismo Global Athlete Program) was an initiative from Nissan and Nismo to share driving experience from various motor racing categories around the world. The program was launched in February 2013 ...

, driving a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 with Buncombe and Reip. Chiyo was involved in a crash in the early stages of the race, ending the team's chances after 58 laps. Chiyo returned to the race in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, this time paired with Reip and Florian Strauss. The trio won the race after Chiyo took the lead with two laps remaining. In the 2016 race, Chiyo finished a close second driving with Kelly and Strauss. In 2017, Chiyo participated in the Blancpain Endurance Series with

and Lucas Ordonez with RJN who retired the

GT Academy GT Academy (also known as Nissan PlayStation GT Academy and NISMO PlayStation GT Academy as part of the Nissan partnership) was a television programme run by Nissan and Sony Interactive Entertainment, which provided an alternative route into re ...

program to run a new program with Motul forming " Motul Team RJN

. Chiyo, Buncombe and Ordóñez withdrew the first race after Bentley Team M-Sport's driver Guy Smith caused a severe multi-car pileup accident which involved Chiyo. The team went on to finish twenty-third in the championship talley. Chiyo returned to the sport in 2019, driving for

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

after RJN Motorsport withdrew the Nissan marque. He was teamed with

Tsugio Matsuda is a Japanese professional racing driver. He has won the Formula Nippon series twice, in 2007 and 2008. He has also competed in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship. Matsuda has also become a regular participant in the Super GT series which ...

and

Josh Burdon Josh Burdon (born 5 September 1992) is an Australian professional racing driver and 2016 Asian Formula Renault Series champion.He is currently driving for Hong Kong-based KC Motorgroup in the Intercontinental GT Challenge, Nürburgring Langstr ...

. Chiyo was set to debut the 2020 Bathurst 12 Hour with Burdon and Matsuda but withdrew the race after he crashed in the first practice which caused major damage to the

Super Formula (2018)

Chiyo competed for one season in the Japanese Super Formula Championship, driving for B-Max Racing Team in 2018. His best finish was tenth place at the season-ending JAF Grand Prix Suzuka.

Racing record

Career summary

^* Season still in progress. ‡ Team standings.

Complete Super GT results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) * Season still in progress.

Complete Intercontinental GT Challenge results

^* Season still in progress.

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chiyo, Katsumasa Living people 1987 births Sportspeople from Tokyo Japanese racing drivers Formula Challenge Japan drivers Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers Super GT drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Super Formula drivers 24H Series drivers Nismo drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Kelly Racing drivers KCMG drivers B-Max Racing drivers