is a Japanese race car driver from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

currently racing 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 ...

Career

History

He began

karting Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

at age 12 in 1996 and quickly moved through the ranks, becoming a part of

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

's Formula Dream Project. He moved to Europe in 1998 to compete in ''Formula Vauxhall''. He then moved on to the

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

European Championship and competed in the

Formula Ford Festival The Formula Ford Festival is an annual meeting of Ford-powered single-seat racing cars which is held at the end of the British racing season, at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in the county of Kent, in Southern England. The events are hel ...

, finishing seventh in 2000 and third in 2001. He then moved back to Asia to compete in ''Asian Formula 2000'' and Formula Dream, where he finished second in his rookie season. He won the Formula Dream championship in his second year in 2003. Mutoh then moved to Japan Formula 3, finishing 9th and third in his two seasons there. In 2006, he drove in

Formula Nippon 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) and ...

and

500–class.

2007

In 2007,

Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) is a joint racing project formed between former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki and Autobacs Seven Co. in 1997. The team's original name was "ARTA F1 Project," but due to trademark claims based on the usage of the word "F1 ...

(ARTA) announced that Mutoh had been signed to drive their new entry in the

Indy Pro Series Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program ...

in a car prepared by

Panther Racing Panther Racing was an American open wheel auto racing team. It was one of the oldest continually operating teams in the IndyCar Series. Four years in a row (2008–2011), the team finished second at the Indianapolis 500. Formation The team was ...

, who had last competed in IPS in 2003, winning the championship with driver Mark Taylor. Mutoh captured his first win in Liberty Challenge Race 1 at the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...

road course Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

weekend. On September 9, Mutoh made his

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

IndyCar Series debut with

Chicagoland Speedway Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the IndyC ...

in the

Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 The Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 was an IndyCar Series race held at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, United States. In 2001, American open wheel racing debuted at the circuit with an IndyCar Series event. From 2006 to 2008, the ...

in the one-off entry #60 car, sponsored by the Formula Dream Project. Mutoh finished 8th and clocked the fastest lap of the race. On October 31, 2007 it was announced Mutoh would replace 2007 IndyCar Series champion

Dario Franchitti George Dario Marino Franchitti, MBE (born 19 May 1973) is a British former racing driver and current motorsport commentator from Scotland. He is a four time IndyCar Series champion ( 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011), a three-time winner of the Indiana ...

at Andretti Green Racing in the team's full-time #27 IndyCar for

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2008

Mutoh made his debut for Andretti Green Racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March and in May was the highest qualifying rookie for the 2008 Indianapolis 500. He finished 7th in the race, the second best finishing position for a Japanese driver in the history of the race. Mutoh scored his best finish of his IndyCar Series career in June at the

Iowa Speedway Iowa Speedway is a 7/8-mile (1.4 km) paved oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa, United States, approximately east of Des Moines. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered RV viewing area along the backstretch ...

, finishing second to

Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series season, 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indiana ...

, setting a new mark for best IndyCar finish by a Japanese driver, surpassing the 3rd place of

Tora Takagi Toranosuke "Tora" Takagi (高木虎之介; born 12 February 1974) is a Japanese former racing driver. Early career Takagi was heavily influenced by his father, a touring car driver. In the early 1980s he began racing karts, competing in his f ...

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24° ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. He failed to finish higher than 6th in the remainder of the season, but beat transitional driver Justin Wilson to the Rookie of the Year title and 10th place overall in the series.

2010

Mutoh participated in the 2010 IndyCar Series season with

Newman/Haas Racing Newman/Haas Racing was an auto racing team that competed in the CART and the IndyCar Series from 1983 to 2011. The team operations were based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Newman/Haas Racing was formed as a partnership between actor, automotive enth ...

. He finished 18th in the final point standings.

2011

Mutoh has been announced as an

Aguri Suzuki Aguri may refer to: *Aguri (caste), Bengali Hindu agricultural caste in India *Aguri Igarashi (born 1975), female manga artist from Japan * Aguri Suzuki (born 1960), former racing driver from Japan **Aguri Suzuki F-1 Super Driving, Formula One si ...

driver in the

series in Japan for 2011, alongside Takashi Kobayashi. On September 1, Mutoh confirmed he would be part of the 2011 Indy Japan: The Final race at Motegi to drive No. 17 for

Sam Schmidt Motorsports The IndyCar Series operation of McLaren (competing as Arrow McLaren due to sponsorship) is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former IndyCar driver Sam Schmidt in 2001 as Sam Schmidt Motorsports. After a series of partnerships and name ...

AFS Racing AFS Racing is a professional racing team participating in the IndyCar Series and previously the Firestone Indy Lights series. It is owned by Gary Peterson, the founder of Automatic Fire Sprinklers for which it is named, and is based in Huntington ...

.Hideki Mutoh To Drive No. 17 AFS/SSM Entry at Motegi
/ref> Mutoh finished 19th on the lead lap.

Motorsports career results

Complete Formula Nippon/Super Formula 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 ...

)

Complete Super GT results

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

American open–wheel racing results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Indy Lights

IndyCar Series

: ''¹ Run on same day.'' : ''² Non-points race.'' : ** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes. : *** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.

Indianapolis 500

References

Mutoh moving quickly as Indy 500 rookie

External links

Hideki Mutoh official website

Hideki Mutoh official Twitter

IndyCar Driver Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutoh, Hideki 1982 births Japanese racing drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Indy Lights drivers IndyCar Series drivers Formula Nippon drivers Super GT drivers Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers Sportspeople from Tokyo Living people Formula Ford drivers Super Formula drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers Japanese IndyCar Series drivers Nakajima Racing drivers Dandelion Racing drivers Mugen Motorsports drivers Arrow McLaren SP drivers Andretti Autosport drivers Newman/Haas Racing drivers AFS Racing drivers Team Kunimitsu drivers Team Aguri drivers Panther Racing drivers