(born November 25, 1999) is a Japanese racing driver. He currently competes in the GT500 class 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

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 ...

for the 2024 season and previously in the GT300 class in for GAINER, partnered with

Hironobu Yasuda is a Japanese racing driver. He currently drives in the Super GT series in the Super GT#GT300, GT300 category for Anest Iwata Racing. In 2008 he won the GT300 class in the Super GT championship, co-driving with Kazuki Hoshino (racing driver), K ...

Racing career

Early career

In 2018, Okusa made his

formula racing Formula racing, also known as open-wheel racing in North America, is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. A "formula", first devised by FIA for its post–World War II single-seater races, is a set of regulations for ...

debut in the final round of the

Japanese Formula 3 Championship was a national motor racing championship that takes place in Japan. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater Formula Three chassis. As a result of Formula 3 naming regulations by the FIA, on 13 August 2019, series pr ...

, finishing fifth in his first race. The following year, he contested the shootout 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 ...

's scholarship, but lost out to current

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 to 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name returned aga ...

driver

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 ...

. After spending 2019 starring in Super Taikyū, where he claimed the championship title in the ST-3 class, Okusa returned to formula racing in the inaugural season of the

Formula Regional Japanese Championship The Formula Regional Japanese Championship is a Japanese formula racing championship held under FIA Formula Regional car regulations. Announced by the Japan Automobile Federation on 26 December 2019, it was confirmed that K2 Planet, promoter of ...

, claiming the first podium of his formula racing career by finishing third in a one-off appearance at

Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Shizuoka, Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the ...

. In Super Taikyū, he switched to the ST-TCR class, ultimately finishing as championship runner-up alongside

Katsumasa Chiyo is a Japanese factory racing driver, currently competing in the Autobacs Super GT Series as a factory driver for Nissan. He is a graduate of the Nissan Driver Development Program (NDDP), and a past champion of the Bathurst 12 Hour race, and t ...

and mentor

. He returned to the Formula Regional Japanese championship in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

with his personal sponsor's eponymous team,

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 ...

Racing. Although he only competed in three rounds, Okusa managed to clinch third place in the standings, with 2 wins and seven podiums to his name. Okusa made another two cameos again at

2022 Formula Regional Japanese Championship The 2022 Formula Regional Japanese Championship was a multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship held in Japan. The drivers competed in Formula Regional cars that conform to the FIA Formula Regional regula ...

with Sutekina Racing, claiming a win, a pole position, and three podiums.

Super GT

Okusa made his debut in

's GT300 class with GAINER, paired up alongside Ryūichiro Tomita and third driver Yūsuke Shiotsu. Okusa made an immediate impact, qualifying in third on debut in

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 ...

and taking his first win at the next round at

. He would ultimately take his maiden pole position and two more podiums throughout the season to finish third in the standings, three points behind the championship-winning car of

Kondō Racing Kondo Racing is an automobile racing team founded, owned and headed by Masahiko Kondo. The operating body is MK Company Co., Ltd. MK is an abbreviation for Masahiko Kondo. The team competes in Super Formula as well as in Super GT in both the GT5 ...

. In 2023, Okusa paired up with his longtime mentor and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

GT300 class champion

. Okusa will move to GT500, as he moves to

alongside

Takuya Izawa is a Japanese racing driver. He is a race winner in the Super Formula Championship, Super Formula and Super GT championships, as well as a podium finisher in the GP2 Series. Racing record Complete Japanese Formula 3 Championship results (:T ...

Super Formula

Okusa makes his

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 ...

debut with

TGM Grand Prix 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 ...

, replacing the outgoing Toshiki Oyu at

Suzuka Circuit The , the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka, Mie, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Honda Mobilityland, a subsidiary of Honda, Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000. It is most well known by i ...

. He performed admirably on debut, finishing ahead of full-time teammate

Cem Bölükbaşı Cem Bölükbaşı (; born 9 February 1998) is a Turkish racing driver and former sim racer who competes in the 2025 European Le Mans Series for Nielsen Racing. He previously drove for DKR Engineering in the 2024 European Le Mans Series. Bölük ...

in both races.

Racing record

Career summary

‡ Team standings

Complete Japanese Formula 3 Championship results

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

Complete Formula Regional Japanese Championship 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)

Complete Super Formula results

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

References

External links

* {{DriverDB driver, riki-okusa Living people Japanese racing drivers 1999 births Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers Formula Regional Japanese Championship drivers Super GT drivers Super Formula drivers 21st-century Japanese sportsmen Racing drivers from Kanagawa Prefecture Nakajima Racing drivers Team Goh Motorsports drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Japan drivers