, professionally known as , is a Japanese racing driver, motoring journalist, and driving instructor. He is the son of former
Nissan works racing driver and
Yamaha Yamaha may refer to:
* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below).
** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...
factory motorcycle racer,
Yoshikazu Sunako.
Sunako competed in the
Super Taikyu Series
Super Taikyu (スーパー耐久, ''Super Endurance''), formerly known as the Super N1 Taikyu Series prior to 2005 and N1 Endurance Series prior to 1995, and currently named the Eneos Super Taikyu Series Powered by Hankook for sponsorship reasons, ...
(formerly the N1 Endurance Series, and Super N1 Endurance Series) from 1990 to 2008. He won the Class 1 championship in 1996 driving a
Nissan Skyline GT-R.
He suffered a broken leg and minor burns in an accident at
Fuji Speedway during the All-Japan Fuji GT Race on 3 May, 1998, when his car spun off during the formation laps in torrential rain, and was then struck by the
Ferrari F355
The Ferrari F355 (Type F129) is a sports car manufactured by Italian car manufacturer Ferrari produced from May 1994 until 1999. The car is a heavily revised Ferrari 348 with notable exterior and performance changes. The F355 was succeeded by th ...
of
Tetsuya Ota
is a racing driver from Maebashi in the Gunma Prefecture, Japan. He survived a fiery multi-car pileup he was involved in during a JGTC race at Fuji Speedway on May 3, 1998, caused by a safety car which was driven at twice the recommended speed ...
which also lost control and burst into flames. Sunako recovered from his injuries and continued to race in the
All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship /
Super GT Series
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 ...
until 2006.
He retired in 2008, but came back to racing in 2018 to compete in the
GT World Challenge Asia series in a
BMW Team Studie M4 GT4. Sunako and
Takayuki Kinoshita
is a Japanese racing car driver, author, and automotive journalist. Kinoshita is affiliated with Toyota Motorsport's GAZOO Racing arm, with whom he scored SP8 class wins in the 2010, 2012, and 2014 24 Hours Nürburgring driving the Lexus LFA. He ...
steered BMW Team Studie to the GT4 teams' championship in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
, and Sunako won the GT4 overall drivers' championship in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
.
In 2012, Sunako established Tokyo Virtual Circuit, a simulator facility based in the
Minato ward of Tokyo.
Complete JGTC/Super GT Results
References
1964 births
Living people
Japanese racing drivers
{{Japan-autoracing-bio-stub
Super GT drivers
Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers