is a Japanese racing driver who currently competes in

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 ...

for ARTA and in

Super Formula The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series held primarily in Japan. It is considered to be the pinnacle of single-seater racing in Japan or Asia as a whole, making it one of the top motorsport series in the region. The s ...

for

PONOS In Greek mythology, Ponos or Ponus () is the personification of toil and stress. According to Hesiod's '' Theogony'', "painful" Ponos was the son of Eris (Strife), with no father mentioned. Like all of the children of Eris given by Hesiod, Ponos ...

Nakajima Racing Nakajima Planning Co., Ltd, racing as Nakajima Racing, is a Super Formula and Super GT team organized and founded by Satoru Nakajima in 1983. The team has fielded four championship winners in the Formula Nippon racing series: Tom Coronel, Toranos ...

. He is a factory driver for

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

, and a former member of the

Red Bull Junior Team The Red Bull Junior Team is a driver development programme operated by Austrian conglomerate company Red Bull GmbH to identify and develop talent in open-wheel racing. Members of the Junior Team are financed and sponsored by Red Bull in kart ...

and

Honda Formula Dream Project Honda has been competing in a variety of racing series through the years, including Formula One, IndyCar Series, IndyCar, touring car racing, sports car racing and Grand Prix motorcycle racing, MotoGP. Currently they are involved in Formula One, ...

. He is not related to two-time

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

winner

Takuma Sato is a Japanese racing driver, who competes part-time in the IndyCar Series for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Sato competed in Formula One from to . In American open-wheel racing, Sato is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 2017 a ...

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

racer

Marino Sato is a Japanese people, Japanese Motorsport, racing driver who currently competes for United Autosports in the FIA World Endurance Championship and in the European Le Mans Series. He is the 2019 Euroformula Open Championship, 2019 Euroformula Ope ...

Career

Formula 4

Sato made his single-seater debut with

in the 2018 FIA F4 Japanese Championship. He finished seventh in the championship with 58 points in his first season. In

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, Sato dominated the Japanese F4 circuit en route to his first racing championship. He won 11 out of the season's 14 races, including eight wins in a row to end the season, and finished on the podium in all but one race. Sato clinched the 2019 championship in the penultimate race meeting at Sportsland Sugo, and won the championship by 164 points. He took part in the 2019 French F4 Championship round at

Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is a motor racing circuit located in central France, near the towns of Magny-Cours and Nevers, some from Paris and from Lyon. It staged the Formula One French Grand Prix from 1991 (succeeding Circuit Paul Ricard ...

as a guest driver. In

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, Sato, along with

Ayumu Iwasa is a Japanese racing driver who currently competes in the Super Formula Championship for Mugen Motorsports, Team Mugen. He previously competed with DAMS in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, earning Rookie of the Year honours by finishing fifth ove ...

, raced full-time in the French F4 Championship. Sato finished the season runner-up in the standings behind Iwasa, with four wins and 12 podiums.

Super Formula Lights

Sato would return to the Japanese circuit after just one season in Europe, competing in the

2021 Super Formula Lights The 2021 Super Formula Lights Championship was the second Super Formula Lights, Super Formula Lights Championship season, after the Japanese Formula 3 Championship was rebranded following the end of the 2019 season. It featured drivers competing in ...

championship with

TODA Racing TODA RACING Co., Ltd. is a Japanese automotive parts supplier and racing engine constructor. It also operates its own racing team. History Founded in 1971 by Yukio Toda. Since it was founded, the company has been tuning Honda engines, so it has ...

. He won four of the last six races of the season, including a sweep of the August race meeting at Motegi, to finish the year third in the championship behind champion Teppei Natori, and runner-up

Giuliano Alesi Giuliano Ryu Alesi (born 20 September 1999) is a French professional racing driver. He is the son of French racing driver and Formula One Grand Prix winner Jean Alesi and Japanese actress and TV personality Kumiko Goto. Career Karting Born ...

Super GT

GT300

Sato made his

Super GT Series 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 ...

debut in 2021, driving the ARTA Honda NSX GT3 in the GT300 class along with two-time series champion

Shinichi Takagi is a Japanese professional racing driver. He won the GT300 class Super GT championship in 2002 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, 2002 and 2019 Super GT Series, 2019. Career Takagi made his debut in the All Japan Grand Touring Car Cha ...

. The team finished fourth in the championship, collecting three podium finishes at Fuji Speedway, Sugo, and Motegi, although their results were intermixed with four finishes outside the top nineteen. In the final race of the season at Fuji, Sato influenced the outcome of the GT500 class championship in controversial manner. While racing the

Subaru BRZ The Toyota 86 and the Subaru BRZ are 2+2 (car body style), 2+2 sports cars jointly developed by Toyota and Subaru, manufactured at Subaru's Gunma assembly plant. The 2+2 fastback coupé has a naturally aspirated boxer engine, Front-engine, rea ...

of Hideki Yamauchi for position, he went for an overtake into turn one, but braked too late and crashed into the GT500 class Stanley Honda NSX-GT of Naoki Yamamoto, who was in position to win the GT500 championship with 15 laps remaining. The incident took out both Sato and Yamamoto from the race, and it ultimately cost Yamamoto and Team Kunimitsu the GT500 titles, which were won by

TOM's is an automotive aftermarket parts manufacturer and tuner of Toyota and Lexus vehicles, as well as a factory-backed racing team. The TOM'S head office is located in Tokyo, Japan. TOM'S most prominently produces aftermarket parts for current ...

and drivers

Yuhi Sekiguchi is a Japanese Auto racing, racing driver. He currently competes in the GT500 class of the Super GT, Super GT Series for Toyota Gazoo Racing, TGR SARD, Team SARD. Sekiguchi won the 2011 Japanese Formula 3 Championship and the 2021 Super GT Serie ...

and

Sho Tsuboi is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing and TOM'S, TOM'S Racing, who currently competes in the Super GT, Super GT Series GT500 class and Super Formula Championship.DriverDB Internetseite: Tsuboi is a three-time Super GT GT500 champ ...

. After the race, Sato admitted that he was fully responsible for the incident. For 2022, Sato was dropped from Honda's Super GT lineup with his place at the No. 55 ARTA team taken by rookie

Iori Kimura is a Russian Japanese racing driver who is the current Super Formula Lights champion and competed in Super GT. Career Early career Kimura started professional racing in 2016, competed in Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup. Then in 2017, Kimura raced in ...

. However, Honda affirmed their commitment to Sato by announcing him as a Super Formula driver for 2022.

GT500

Sato returns to Super GT in 2024, as he competes in GT500 with his former team ARTA. He is partnered with

Hiroki Otsu is a Japanese racing driver who is currently competing in Super GT with ARTA, and in Super Formula for TCS Nakajima Racing as a substitute driver for Naoki Yamamoto. Career Early career Otsu started his motorsport career in karting in 200 ...

Super Formula

Sato took part in the Super Formula manufacturer and rookie test at Suzuka Circuit on 7-9 December, driving the number 15 Red Bull Mugen Team Goh car. Sato finished as the fastest of four rookies on the final day. On 14 January 2022, Sato was announced as a Super Formula driver for Honda. He joined

Team Goh TGM Grand Prix or TGMGP, formerly Team Goh Motorsports, is a Japanese auto racing team founded by Kazumichi Goh in 1996. Now the team compete in Super Formula Championship since 2023. History Initially competing in the All-Japan Grand Touring ...

, who spun off from Team Mugen and formed a two-car team in 2022. In February 2022, it was announced that Sato would join the

. He would be released from the Junior Team the next year. Sato won Rookie of the Year honours ahead of his team mate, Atsushi Miyake, and recorded his first podium in the JAF Grand Prix Suzuka. Sato moved to

to replace

Toshiki Oyu is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing who currently competes in Super GT for Team Cerumo and in Super Formula for INGING. He was previously a factory driver for Honda until 2023. Career Early career Oyu made his motorsport de ...

. Sato stays with Nakajima for 2024.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Sato was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
* Season still in progress. ‡ Team standings

Complete F4 Japanese Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete French F4 Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† As Sato was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete Super Formula Lights results

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

Complete Super GT results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete Super Formula results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

References

External links

*
Ren SATO Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sato, Ren 2001 births Living people Japanese racing drivers French F4 Championship drivers Super GT drivers Super Formula drivers Karting World Championship drivers Team Aguri drivers Japanese F4 Championship drivers Nakajima Racing drivers Super Formula Lights drivers 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Team Goh Motorsports drivers