(born 2 September 1980 in Osaka) is a Japanese race car driver. He raced in the 2005 GP2 Series for the BCN Competicion team, alongside the Venezuelan E. J. Viso. For 2006, he was initially teamed with the more experienced Timo Glock of Germany. In addition to his racing, he is also the vocalist for Japanese rock band doa under the name . In 2023, Yoshimoto and doa's members have announced departure from the agency Giza Studio and from September and became freelancer under Floodlight company, the announcement was made on doa's official website.

Racing career

Yoshimoto is the only driver in GP2 Series to have driven the bulk of his pre-GP2 career in Asia, the rest of the series mainly moving up the ranks in South America or Europe. Yoshimoto started out in 1999, competing in Japanese Formula Junior 1600. He moved for Japanese Formula Toyota in 2000, racing in Korean F1800 later in the year. A move to Japanese Formula Three for 2001 was his reward for hard work, although his stint with the Yellow Hat team resulted in only two races.

Yoshimoto got his first taste of a full Japanese F3 season in 2002, though, with the Now team. He achieved one win, one pole position and two other podium finishes, finishing eighth in the championship. He also finished respectively fifth in the prestigious Macau Grand Prix. He stayed with the team for 2003 finishing tenth in the championship before moving on in 2004 for the Japanese GT Series. He also drove two races of the World Series by Nissan of the same year, for the Gabord team.

On 3 and 4 November 2007, Yoshimoto took part in the Formula Asia V6 by Renault Championship at the Zhuhai International Circuit. He won round 11 ahead of James Winslow and Armaan Ebrahim but stalled on the grid for round 12 and eventually finished fifth.

Yoshimoto returned to GP2 for 2008, driving for the Qi-Meritus Mahara team in the GP2 Asia Series. He continued in the series for the 2008–09 season with the BCN Competición team. However, BCN was purchased and renamed as Ocean Racing Technology after the first round of the season, and Yoshimoto was replaced by Yelmer Buurman.

Racing record

Complete Japanese Formula Three Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 2001 Aim Sports Dallara F300 Torii-Toyota 3S-GESUZ1SUZ2TSU1TSU2FUJ1FUJ2MIN1MIN2MOT1MOT2SUZSUG1SUG2SEN1SEN2 OKA1 OKA2MOT1MOT2 NC 0 2002 Now Motor Sports Dallara F302 Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE TSU1 TSU2 SUZ1 SUZ2 FUJ1 FUJ2 MIN1 MIN2 MOT1 MOT2 SUZ1 SUZ2 SUG1 SUG2 SEN1 SEN2 OKA1 OKA2 MOT1 MOT2 8th 85 2003 Now Motor Sports Lola-Dome F106 Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE SUZ1 SUZ2 FUJ1 FUJ2 OKA1 OKA2 MOT1 MOT2 SUZ1 SUZ2 SUG1 SUG2 TSU1 TSU2 SUG1 SUG2 MIN1 MIN2 MOT1 MOT2 10th 52

Complete World Series by Nissan results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points 2004 Gabord ReycoJAR1JAR2ZOL1ZOL2MAG1MAG2VAL1VAL2LAU1LAU2EST1EST2CAT1CAT2VAL1VAL2JER1JER2 24th 1

Complete GP2 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 DC Points 2005 BCN Competición IMOFEA IMOSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA NÜRFEA NÜRSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SPAFEA SPASPR BHRFEA BHRSPR 16th 14 2006 BCN Competición VALFEA VALSPR IMOFEA IMOSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA SILFEA SILSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MNZFEA MNZSPR 15th 12

Complete GP2 Asia Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points 2008 Qi-Meritus Mahara DUBFEA DUBSPR SENFEA SENSPR SEPFEA SEPSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR DUBFEA DUBSPR 10th 13 2008–09 BCN Competición SHIFEA SHISPR DUBFEA DUBSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR LSLFEA LSLSPR SEPFEA SEPSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR 24th 0

Complete Super GT results Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Pts 2004Team LeyJunVemac RD320RGT300TAISUGSEPTOKMOTAUTSUZ12th16 2005DirexivVemac RD320RGT300OKAFUJSEPSUGMOTFUJAUTSUZ22nd1 2006Cars Tokai Dream28Mooncraft ShidenGT300SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ23rd11 2007Cars Tokai Dream28Mooncraft ShidenGT300SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ14th24 2008Cars Tokai Dream28Mooncraft ShidenGT300SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZMOTAUTFUJ7th111 2009Cars Tokai Dream28Mooncraft ShidenGT300OKASUZFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT8th58 2010A speedAston Martin V8 Vantage GT2GT300SUZOKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJMOT14th11 2011A speedAston Martin V8 Vantage GT2GT300OKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT8th33 2012A speedAston Martin V12 Vantage GT3GT300OKAFUJSEPSUGSUZFUJAUTMOT 2nd 73 2013 JLOC Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 GT300 OKA FUJ SEP SUG SUZ FUJ FUJ AUT MOT 11th 25 2014LM corsaBMW Z4 GT3GT300OKAFUJAUTSUGFUJSUZBURMOT6th44 2015LM corsaLexus RC F GT3GT300OKAFUJCHAFUJSUZSUGAUTMOT27th2 2016LM corsaLexus RC F GT3GT300OKAFUJSUGFUJSUZCHAMOTMOTNC0 2017 LM corsa Lexus RC F GT3GT300OKA22FUJAUTFUJSUZSUGCHA6MOT1812th24 2018 LM corsa Lexus RC F GT3GT300OKAFUJSUZCHAFUJSUGAUTMOT15th23 2019 LM corsa Lexus RC F GT3GT300OKAFUJSUZCHAFUJAUTSUGMOT10th27 2020 LM corsa Lexus RC F GT3 GT300 FUJ FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ27th2 2021 LM corsa Toyota GR Supra GT300 GT300OKA8FUJ1SUZ12MOT14SUG5AUT19MOT11FUJ1 3rd 49 2022 LM corsa Toyota GR Supra GT300 GT300 OKA12 FUJ17 SUZ9 FUJ4 SUZ10 SUG15 AUT22 MOT11 23rd 11 2023 LM corsa Toyota GR Supra GT300 GT300 OKA8 FUJ23† SUZ7 FUJ10 SUZ12 SUG21 AUT20 MOT15 22nd 82024 LM corsa Toyota GR Supra GT300 GT300 OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUG AUT MOT SUZ 18th 4 2025 LM corsa Lexus LC 500 GT GT300 OKA FUJ SEP FS1 FS2SUZ SUG AUT MOT 19th 29 2026 LM corsa Lexus LC 500 GT GT300 OKA FUJ SEP FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. (Number) Driver did not take part in this sprint race, points are still awarded for the teammate's result. * Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Nippon results Year Team Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Pts 2007 SG team 5ZIGEN Honda HF386E FUJ SUZ MOT OKA SUZ FUJ SUG MOT SUZ 21st 0 2008 SG team 5ZIGEN Honda HF386EFUJSUZMOTOKASUZSUZMOTMOTFUJFUJSUG 20th 0

Complete Formula Renault V6 Asia Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points 2007 Team MeritusSEP11SEP12SEP21SEP22SEN1SEN2CHE1CHE2AUT1AUT2ZHU1ZHU2 14th 22

Complete World Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points 2011 SUNRED Engineering SUNRED SR León 1.6TBRA1BRA2BEL1BEL2ITA1ITA2HUN1HUN2CZE1CZE2POR1POR2GBR1GBR2GER1GER2ESP1ESP2 JPN1 JPN2CHN1CHN2MAC1MAC2 34th 0 2012 Tuenti Racing Team SUNRED SR León 1.6TITA1ITA2ESP1ESP2MAR1MAR2SVK1SVK2HUN1HUN2AUT1AUT2POR1POR2BRA1BRA2USA1USA2 JPN1 JPN2CHN1CHN2MAC1MAC2 36th 0 2013 NIKA Racing Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TITA1ITA2MAR1MAR2SVK1SVK2HUN1HUN2AUT1AUT2RUS1RUS2POR1POR2ARG1ARG2USA1USA2 JPN1 JPN2CHN1CHN2MAC1MAC2 40th 0

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Car Engine Class 1 2 3 4 DC Points 2015–16 Team AAI - HubAuto BMW Z4 GT3 BMW 4.4 L V8 GT FUJ SEP 7th 43 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Mercedes-Benz 6.2 L V8 BUR SEP

References

External links