Quick Facts
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Biography
Yuichi Nakayama (中山雄, Nakayama Yuichi, born 25 July 1991) is a Japanese racing driver, best known for winning the 2013 All-Japan Formula Three Championship.
Career
Karting
Born in Tokyo, Nakayama began his racing career in karting at the age of six and raced in various local championships, progressing to the KF2 category in 2007, finishing 7th in the Asia-Pacific Championship.
Early career
In 2008, Nakayama graduated to single–seaters into the Formula Challenge Japan mono-series. He finished thirteenth in the series standings, without scoring a podium. He stayed in the series for another season, progressing to fourth position in the standings, collecting six podiums.
He stayed in the series for a third successive season in 2010. He dominated the whole season and won ten from twelve races, finishing every race in the podium positions and finally took the championship title. He also contested the final rounds in Formula BMW Pacific, joining the Asia Racing Team.
All-Japan Formula Three
In 2011, Nakayama stepped up to the National class of the All-Japan Formula Three Championship with the TOM'S Spirit team. He finished third, taking three class wins.
In 2012 he switched to the series' Championship class, joining the main TOM'S team. He finished as runner-up to Ryō Hirakawa, winning races at Motegi, Sugo and Fuji. During the season he also appeared in the Macau Grand Prix, finishing 21st.
He continued his collaboration with TOM'S in 2013. This time he dominated the championship, finishing each of the 13 races he contested – 11 wins and a pair of runner-up placings – on the podium, clinching the championship title before the final round of the season, that he was forced to miss. He also repeated his effort to win the Macau Grand Prix trophy with TOM'S.
Super Formula
Nakayama made his début in Super Formula in 2014 with KCMG. He finished in eighteenth position in the championship standings, without scoring a point. Despite this, the team decided to retain him for the 2015 season.
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | FLaps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Formula Challenge Japan | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 13th | |
| 2009 | Formula Challenge Japan | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 41 | 4th | |
| 2010 | Formula Challenge Japan | 12 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 135 | 1st | |
| Formula BMW Pacific | Asia Racing Team | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | NC† | |
| 2011 | All-Japan Formula Three National Class | TOM'S Spirit | 14 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 83 | 3rd |
| 2012 | All-Japan Formula Three | Petronas Team TOM'S | 15 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 103 | 2nd |
| Macau Grand Prix Formula Three | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 21st | ||
| 2013 | All-Japan Formula Three | Petronas Team TOM'S | 13 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 146 | 1st |
| Macau Grand Prix Formula Three | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 12th | ||
| Super GT | apr | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| 2014 | Super Formula | KCMG | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18th |
| Super GT | apr | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 18th | |
| 2015 | Super GT | apr | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 69 | 3rd |
| 2016 | Super GT | apr | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 60 | 2nd |
| 2017 | Super GT | LM Corsa | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 61 | 3rd |
| 2018 | Super GT | K-Tunes Racing LM Corsa | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 45 | 6th |
| 2019 | Super GT | Lexus Team SARD | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 40* | 3rd* |
† – As Nakayama was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.Season still in progress.
Complete Super Formula results
(Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | KCMG | SUZ Ret | FUJ1 13 | FUJ2 16 | FUJ 10 | MOT Ret | AUT 16 | SUG 13 | SUZ1 Ret | SUZ2 18 | 18th | 0 |
| 2019 | UOMO Sunoco Team LeMans | SUZ | AUT | SUG | FUJ | MOT | OKA 15 | SUZ 16 | 22nd | 0 |
Complete Super GT results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | apr | Toyota Prius | GT300 | OKA | FUJ | SEP | SUG | SUZ 15 | FUJ | FUJ | AUT | MOT | NC | 0 |
| 2014 | apr | Toyota Prius | GT300 | OKA | FUJ | AUT | SUG | FUJ | SUZ 2 | CHA | MOT | 18th | 18 | |
| 2015 | apr | Toyota Prius | GT300 | OKA 1 | FUJ 4 | CHA 9 | FUJ 9 | SUZ 10 | SUG 2 | AUT 13 | MOT 1 | 3rd | 69 | |
| 2016 | apr | Toyota Prius | GT300 | OKA 12 | FUJ 20 | SUG 1 | FUJ 25 | SUZ 2 | CHA 5 | MOT 24 | MOT 2 | 2nd | 60 | |
| 2017 | LM Corsa | Lexus RC F GT3 | GT300 | OKA 8 | FUJ 1 | AUT 6 | SUG 13 | FUJ 9 | SUZ 6 | CHA 1 | MOT 6 | 3rd | 61 | |
| 2018 | K-Tunes Racing LM Corsa | Lexus RC F GT3 | GT300 | OKA 14 | FUJ 14 | SUZ 1 | CHA 10 | FUJ 10 | AUT 14 | SUG 1 | MOT 10 | 6th | 45 | |
| 2019 | Lexus Team SARD | Lexus LC 500 | GT500 | OKA 11 | FUJ 4 | SUZ 5 | CHA 5 | FUJ Ret | AUT 1 | SUG 7 | MOT 11 | 5th | 44 | |
| 2020 | Toyota Gazoo Racing Team SARD | Toyota GR Supra GT500 | GT500 | OKA | FUJ | SUG | AUT | MOT | SUZ | CHA | SEP |
Season still in progress.