Masataka Yanagida (born 4 June 1979, in
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
) is a Japanese racing driver.
Career
The son of successful racing driver
Haruhito Yanagida, a runner-up in the
Japanese Touring Car Championship
The Japanese Touring Car Championship (abbr: 1985–1993: JTC, 1994–1998: JTCC, officially known as All Japan Touring Car Championship, ) was a former touring car racing series held in Japan. The series was held under various regulations during ...
, Masataka began his career in
karting
Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using 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 full-size motor ...
in 1993. In 1997 he raced in
Formula Renault Campus in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, before stepping up to the main
French Formula Renault Championship in 1998. He moved on to
Formula Dream in 1999, taking five victories in the 2000 season.
In 2001 he began racing in
Japanese F3 and
Japanese GT. He finished seventh in the F3 standings and fourth in the GT300 class in Japanese GT, where he raced with
Yuji Ide
(born 21 January 1975) is a Japanese racing driver. He is the 2005 Formula Nippon runner-up and the 2010 Suzuka 1000km winner. He competed in Formula One with the Super Aguri team in 2006, but was demoted to third driver after four races and ...
. He improved to finish third in GT300 in 2002, before winning the class in 2003. He returned to F3 in 2004, but could only finish 10th. He moved up to the GT500 class of
Super GT
Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of ...
in 2005, finishing fifth in the standings, sharing with
Michael Krumm.
He made his
World Touring Car Championship
The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...
debut at the
2010 FIA WTCC Race of Japan at
Okayama
is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...
for the
Wiechers-Sport team.
Racing record
Career Summary
Complete Japanese Formula 3 results
Complete Formula Nippon results
Complete Super GT results
* Season still in progress
Complete Asian Le Mans Series
References
External links
Official website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yanagida, Masataka
Living people
1979 births
Racing drivers from Tokyo
Japanese racing drivers
French Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers
Super GT drivers
Formula Nippon drivers
World Touring Car Championship drivers
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers
24 Hours of Spa drivers
Asian Le Mans Series drivers
24H Series drivers
Formule Campus Renault Elf drivers
Nismo drivers
Kondō Racing drivers
B-Max Racing drivers