Kakunoshin Ohta

is a Japanese racing driver for Honda Motor Company who currently competes in Super GT for Astemo Real Racing and in Super Formula for docomo Team Dandelion Racing.

Career

Early career

Ohta made his single-seater racing debut in 2018, racing at a single round of the F4 Japanese Championship with . The following season, he made his full-time debut in the 2019 championship with backing from the Honda Formula Dream Project, claiming 2 wins but finishing 6th in the standings. That year, Ohta also made a guest appearance in the French F4 championship alongside Honda stablemate Ren Satō, where he finished in the top ten in the three races he competed in and secured one podium. He would also make an appearance in Japan Formula 4 at the end of the year, winning the "All-Japan Deciding Race" over the likes of Satō, Atsushi Miyake, and Riki Ōkusa.

In 2020, Ohta returned to the F4 Japanese Championship, albeit having lost his manufacturer backing. He regained support from Honda and rejoined the Honda Formula Dream project for 2021 to contest his third season in the championship, eventually finishing fifth in the standings.

Ohta stepped up to Super Formula Lights for the 2022 season, driving for Toda Racing. Belying his past record, he impressed immediately, claiming four wins and twelve podiums to finish second in the championship, behind only the returning Kazuto Kotaka.

Super GT

GT300

Ohta began his Super GT career in GT300 with Team UpGarage, paired with veteran driver Takashi Kobayashi. Ohta claimed his maiden podium on debut at the first round in Okayama, and would go on to finish on the podium once more to end the season eighth in the standings.

GT500

For the 2023 season, Ohta was promoted to the GT500 class, driving for Modulo Nakajima Racing alongside series veteran Takuya Izawa. After promising season, Ohta moves to Real Racing as he replaces Nobuharu Matsushita, and race along with Koudai Tsukakoshi.

Super Formula

2023

Following his performance in Super Formula Lights, Ohta was promoted to a top-level drive in the Super Formula Championship for 2023, racing for docomo Dandelion Racing alongside Tadasuke Makino and in place of Hiroki Ōtsu. Ohta struggled during the first half of the season but proved to be a revalation following the summer break, qualifying in the top ten for the first time at the fifth round at Sportsland SUGO and proceeding to qualify in the top four in each of the season's four remaining rounds. He claimed his first podium in the championship in a shortened penultimate round at Suzuka, and followed it up by fending off the challenge of heavily favored championship contender Liam Lawson and eventual series champion Ritomo Miyata to claim his first race victory in the season finale.

2024

Ohta returned to Dandelion in 2024. He began the year by finishing fourth at Suzuka, where he qualified second before dropping multiple places owing to a poor start. Fifth at Autopolis preceded a non-score at SUGO, as Ohta went off at the final corner during a restart in wet conditions. He failed to start the next race at Fuji before experiencing a strong run at Motegi, qualifying second and progressing to the lead thanks to an undercut strategy. However, he was chased down by teammate Makino in the closing stages and lost the victory on the penultimate lap, as a throttle issue caused him to spin out of the race. Ohta had another strong qualifying session in Fuji, as he started from second, but dropped to ninth by the flag due to degrading tyres in the final laps. He finished the second race of the weekend in fourth. At the final event in Suzuka, Ohta qualified on pole for race 1 before cruising to a dominant victory. Starting from second the following day, he took the lead at turn one and later defended against Sho Tsuboi right after the pit stop phase to clinch his second successive victory. He ended the year fourth in the standings.

2025

Ohta continue to stay with Dandelion Racing for 2025 season.

Endurance racing

Ohta was given a chance to test the Acura ARX-06 in the IMSA Sanctioned Test at Daytona International Speedway in November 2024.

On December 11, 2024, it was announced that he would be driving 3 races during the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship in the 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06, alongside Renger van Der Zande and Nick Yelloly, for the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen and the Battle of the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Alex Palou for the Rolex 24 exclusively.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Career summary

† As he was a guest driver, Ohta was ineligible to score points.

^* Season still in progress.
‡ Team standings.

Complete F4 Japanese Championship results

Complete Formula Regional Japanese Championship Results

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

Complete Super Formula Lights results

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

Complete Super GT results

Complete Super Formula results

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

^* Season still in progress.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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

^* Season still in progress.

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohta, Kakunoshin
1999 births
Living people
Japanese racing drivers
Super GT drivers
French F4 Championship drivers
Formula Regional Japanese Championship drivers
Sportspeople from Kyoto
Japanese F4 Championship drivers
Super Formula drivers
21st-century Japanese sportsmen
Dandelion Racing drivers
Super Formula Lights drivers
Ritsumeikan University alumni
Craft-Bamboo Racing drivers
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
Meyer Shank Racing drivers