Reece Ushijima (born 13 January 2003) is a

Japanese-American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asia ...

racing driver who is currently racing in the 2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship with Jay Howard Driver Development. He previously competed in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship for

Van Amersfoort Racing Van Amersfoort Racing is an auto racing team based in the Netherlands. In 2022 the team competes in the Formula 2 Championship, the Formula 3 Championship, the Formula Regional European Championship, Euroformula Open Championship, Italian F4 Cha ...

Career

Karting

Ushijima made his international competitive karting debut in 2017 in the SKUSA SuperNationals for Phil Giebler Racing, competing against the likes of

Jak Crawford Carlton Jackston "Jak" Crawford (born 2 May 2005) is an American racing driver who most recently competed in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Prema Racing. He is a member of the Red Bull Junior Team and finished as runner-up in the 2020 ...

and

Zane Maloney Zane Maloney (born 2 October 2003) is a Barbadian racing driver. He was the 2019 British F4 champion and finished as runner-up in the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Championship, racing for Trident. In December 2022, it was announced he was joining the Red ...

. He then raced in X30 Senior category in IAME Asia, IAME Euroseries, Benelux, Asian Karting Championship, and Super One and British Karting Championships in the UK, racing for Piers Sexton Racing. In 2019, he finished 2nd in the Asian Karting Championship and 3rd in IAME Asia Final.

Formula Ford

In November 2019, at the age of 16, Ushijima transitioned from karts to cars. On the weekend following his racing licence acquisition he qualified on

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

, finishing P3 and P2 in the races and taking fastest lap at the BRSCC Formula Ford Winter Series in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, UK.

MRF Challenge Formula 2000

In the 2019–20 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship held during the winter in Dubai, Sakhir and Chennai, Ushijima logged two fastest laps and finished 7th in the standings. His best finish was 4th place at the final round in

Madras Motor Race Track The Madras International Circuit (MIC, previously known as Madras Motor Race Track and Irungattukottai Race Track) is a permanent motor racing circuit located in Irungattukottai, Chennai, India. It was built in the late 1980s and was inaugurat ...

, Chennai.

BRDC Formula 3 Championship

2020

For the 2020 season Ushijima signed with

Hitech Grand Prix Hitech Grand Prix (formerly known as Hitech Racing) is a British motor racing team. It was founded in 2002 by Dennis Rushen and David Hayle. The team started racing in the British Formula 3 Championship in 2003. The team also competed in the So ...

to race in the

BRDC British Formula 3 Championship The GB3 Championship is a single seater motorsport series based in the United Kingdom. The championship is the UK's premier single-seater category, and is aimed at young racing drivers moving up from FIA Formula 4 championships or Karting. H ...

. The American started off strongly, scoring his maiden podium in the second round, with second at

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...

. His next podium came at the next round, held at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

, however this would be the final podium of his season. Ushijima finished eleventh in the standings, nine places behind teammate

Kush Maini Kush Maini (born 22 September 2000) is an Indian racing driver currently competing in the 2023 Formula 2 Championship for Campos Racing. He has previously competed in Formula 4, the Formula Renault Eurocup, the FIA World Endurance Champions ...

2021

For the 2021 season, Ushijima remained with Hitech, this time alongside Sebastián Álvarez and

Bart Horsten Bartholomew Horsten (born 14 March 2002 in Sydney) is an Australian-Irish racing driver. He last competed in the 2021 BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, driving for Hitech GP. Career Australian Formula Ford Series In 2018 Horsten made his s ...

. His first podium came at the opening round of the season, with third in race two at

. In the second round at

Silverstone Circuit Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Towcester, Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 ...

, Ushijima earned double pole, his first pole position in the series, followed up by his maiden wins in races 1 and 2. He would go on to score three more podiums and a further pole on his way to 4th in the final standings.

F3 Asian Championship

In the winter of 2021 Ushijima competed in the

F3 Asian Championship The Formula Regional Asian Championship is an FIA-certified regional Formula 3 racing series, which started in 2018. On 26 January 2018 it was confirmed that pan-Asian promoter Top Speed would organise the championship. Despite using Formula Reg ...

with

Hitech GP Hitech Grand Prix (formerly known as Hitech Racing) is a British motor racing team. It was founded in 2002 by Dennis Rushen and David Hayle. The team started racing in the British Formula 3 Championship in 2003. The team also competed in the So ...

. He scored 45 points, and with a best race finish of fifth, ended up twelfth in the championship.

FIA Formula 3 Championship

Ushijima partook in post-season testing with

and was confirmed to drive for the team during the 2022 season, partnering

Franco Colapinto Franco Alejandro Colapinto (born 27 May 2003) is an Argentine-Italian racing driver who is due to compete in FIA Formula 3 for MP Motorsport. He is the 2019 F4 Spanish champion and a race winner in the European Le Mans Series. He is a member of ...

and

Rafael Villagómez Rafael Villagómez Jr. (born 10 November 2001) is a Mexican race car driver who is currently competing in the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship for Van Amersfoort Racing. He won the Richard Mille Young Talent Academy competition in 2019. Career ...

. At the end of the season, Ushijima partook in the post-season test with

USF Pro 2000 Championship

For his 2023 campaign, Ushijima left Formula 3 and signed to compete in the USF Pro 2000 Championship with Jay Howard Driver Development.

Personal life

Ushijima's mother is American; his father, who grew up in the United States, is Japanese. Though Ushijima was born in California, he moved to Japan at a young age and began his karting career there.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

Complete BRDC British F3 Championship 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)

Complete F3 Asian Championship results

(

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

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

American open-wheel racing results

USF Pro 2000 Championship

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

References

External links

*
Driver Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ushijima, Reece 2003 births Living people American racing drivers Japanese racing drivers American people of Japanese descent BRDC British Formula 3 Championship drivers F3 Asian Championship drivers FIA Formula 3 Championship drivers Van Amersfoort Racing drivers Hitech Grand Prix drivers MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship drivers