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 List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

currently racing in

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing, 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 ...

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 fu ...

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 producti ...

'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 Fo ...

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 he ...

, finishing seventh in 2000 and third in 2001. He then moved back to Asia to compete in ''Asian Formula 2000'' and

Formula Dream Formula Dream was an open wheel racing series based in Japan. The series was replaced by Formula Challenge Japan in 2006. Champions See also *Formula Nippon *Formula Challenge Japan Formula Challenge Japan was an open wheel racing series base ...

, 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 "F ...

(ARTA) announced that Mutoh had been signed to drive their new entry in the Indy Pro Series in a car prepared by Panther Racing, 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 St ...

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 sponsor (commercial), sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American American open-wheel car racing, open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United S ...

IndyCar Series debut with Panther Racing at

Chicagoland Speedway Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval Oval track racing, 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 als ...

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 India ...

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, finishing second to Dan Wheldon, setting a new mark for best IndyCar finish by a Japanese driver, surpassing the 3rd place of Tora Takagi at

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 2 ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

. 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. He finished 18th in the final point standings.

2011

Mutoh has been announced as an Aguri Suzuki

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/ AFS Racing.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)

Complete Super GT results

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

American open–wheel racing results

( key) (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