Kakunoshin Ohta

Kakunoshin Ohta
Kakunoshin Ohta
	Ohta at Mobility Resort Motegi in 2024
Nationality	Japanese
Born	22 June 1999 (age 25); Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan
Super GT career
Debut season	2022
Current team	Real Racing
Car number	17
Former teams	UpGarage; Nakajima Racing;
Starts	16
Wins	0
Podiums	3
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	14th in 2023
Super Formula career
Debut season	2023
Current team	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing
Car number	6
Starts	10
Wins	1
Podiums	2
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	7th in 2023
Previous series
2022; 2022; 2021-22; 2019; 2018-21	Super GT - GT300; Super Formula Lights; Super Taikyū; French F4 Championship; F4 Japanese Championship
Championship titles
2022	Super Taikyū - ST-Z

Kakunoshin Ohta (太田格之進, Ōta Kakunoshin, born 22 June 1999) is a Japanese racing driver for Honda Motor Company who currently competes in Super GT for Astemo Real Racing and in Super Formula for docomo Team Dandelion Racing.

Career

Early career

Ohta made his single-seater racing debut in 2018, racing at a single round of the F4 Japanese Championship with MYST [ja]. The following season, he made his full-time debut in the 2019 championship with backing from the Honda Formula Dream Project,^[1] claiming 2 wins but finishing 6th in the standings. That year, Ohta also made a guest appearance in the French F4 championship alongside Honda stablemate Ren Satō, where he finished in the top ten in the three races he competed in and secured one podium. He would also make an appearance in Japan Formula 4 at the end of the year, winning the "All-Japan Deciding Race" over the likes of Satō, Atsushi Miyake, and Riki Ōkusa.^{[citation needed]}

In 2020, Ohta returned to the F4 Japanese Championship, albeit having lost his manufacturer backing.^[1] He regained support from Honda and rejoined the Honda Formula Dream project for 2021 to contest his third season in the championship, eventually finishing fifth in the standings.^[1]

Ohta stepped up to Super Formula Lights for the 2022 season, driving for Toda Racing.^[2] Belying his past record, he impressed immediately, claiming four wins and twelve podiums to finish second in the championship, behind only the returning Kazuto Kotaka.

Super GT

Ohta began his Super GT career in GT300 with Team UpGarage, paired with veteran driver Takashi Kobayashi.^[2] Ohta claimed his maiden podium on debut at the first round in Okayama, and would go on to finish on the podium once more to end the season eighth in the standings. For the 2023 season, Ohta was promoted to the GT500 class, driving for Modulo Nakajima Racing alongside series veteran Takuya Izawa.^[3] After promising season, Ohta moves to Real Racing as he replaces Nobuharu Matsushita, and race along with Koudai Tsukakoshi.^[4]

Super Formula

Following his performance in Super Formula Lights, Ohta was promoted to a top-level drive in the Super Formula Championship for 2023, racing for docomo Dandelion Racing alongside Tadasuke Makino and in place of Hiroki Ōtsu.^[3] Ohta struggled during the first half of the season but proved to be a revalation following the summer break, qualifying in the top ten for the first time at the fifth round at Sportsland SUGO and proceeding to qualify in the top four in each of the season's four remaining rounds. He claimed his first podium in the championship in a shortened penultimate round at Suzuka, and followed it up by fending off the challenge of heavily favored championship contender Liam Lawson and eventual series champion Ritomo Miyata to claim his first race victory in the season finale.^[5] He continues to compete with Dandelion Racing for 2024.^[4]

IMSA

Ohta given a chance to test the Acura ARX-06 in the upcoming IMSA Sanctioned Test at Daytona International Speedway on 15-16 November.^[6]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2018	F4 Japanese Championship	MYST	2	0	0	0	0	0	47th
2019	F4 Japanese Championship	Honda Formula Dream Project	14	2	3	2	4	125	6th
2019	French F4 Championship	FFSA Academy	3	0	0	0	1	0	NC†
2020	F4 Japanese Championship	Vegaplus	9	0	0	1	2	68	7th
2021	F4 Japanese Championship	Honda Formula Dream Project	14	0	0	1	6	150	5th
	Formula Regional Japanese Championship	Rn-sports	2	0	0	0	1	27	14th
	Super Taikyu - ST-Z	Team 5Zigen	4	0	0	0	2	80.5‡	3rd‡
2022	Super Formula Lights	Toda Racing	18	4	6	7	12	108	2nd
	Super GT - GT300	Team UpGarage	8	0	0	0	2	34	8th
	Super Taikyu - ST-Z	Team 5Zigen	6	2	3	3	4	131.5‡	1st‡
2023	Super Formula	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	9	1	0	0	2	35.5	7th
2023	Super GT	Modulo Nakajima Racing	8	0	0	0	1	19	14th
2024	Super GT	Astemo Real Racing
	Super Formula	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	1	0	0	0	0	10	4th
	Super Taikyu - ST-X	Craft-Bamboo Racing Japan

† As he was a guest driver, Ohta was ineligible to score points.

‡ Team standings.

Complete F4 Japanese Championship results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	DC	Points
2018	MYST	OKA 1	OKA 2	FUJ1 1	FUJ1 2	SUZ 1	SUZ 2	FUJ2 1 27	FUJ2 2 Ret	SUG 1	SUG 2	AUT 1	AUT 2	MOT 1	MOT 2	47th	0
2019	Honda Formula Dream Project	OKA 1 Ret	OKA 2 Ret	FUJ1 1 2	FUJ1 2 5	SUZ 1 1	SUZ 2 1	FUJ2 1 4	FUJ2 2 9	AUT 1 3	AUT 2 6	SUG 1 18	SUG 2 27	MOT 1 8	MOT 2 7	6th	125
2020	Vegaplus	FUJ1 1	FUJ1 2	FUJ1 3	SUZ 1 5	SUZ 2 2	SUZ 3 3	MOT 1 6	MOT 2 9	MOT 3 8	FUJ2 1 9	FUJ2 2 7	FUJ2 3 4			7th	68
2021	Honda Formula Dream Project	FUJ1 1 4	FUJ1 2 31	SUZ 1 2	SUZ 2 2	MOT1 1 3	MOT1 2 5	MOT1 3 2	SUG 1 8	SUG 2 9	SUG 3 6	MOT2 1 3	MOT2 2 2	FUJ2 1 Ret	FUJ2 2 4	5th	150

Complete Super Formula Lights 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	Pos	Points
2022	Toda Racing	FUJ 1 Ret	FUJ 2 2	FUJ 3 4	SUZ 1 2	SUZ 2 1	SUZ 3 2	AUT 1 2	AUT 2 1	AUT 3 2	SUG 1 Ret	SUG 2 3	SUG 3 5	MOT 1 2	MOT 2 9	MOT 3 4	OKA 1 1	OKA 2 3	OKA 3 1	2nd	113

Complete Super Formula 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	DC	Points
2023	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	FUJ 15	FUJ 19	SUZ 17	AUT 16	SUG 15	FUJ 6³	MOT Ret²	SUZ 3	SUZ 1²	7th	35.5
2024	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	SUZ 4²	AUT 5	SUG 14	FUJ DNS	MOT 19†²	FUJ	FUJ	SUZ	SUZ	9th*	18*

^* Season still in progress.

Complete Super GT results

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Pts
2022	Team UpGarage	Honda NSX GT3 Evo	GT300	OKA 2	FUJ 13	SUZ Ret	FUJ 3	SUZ 14	SUG 11	AUT 19	MOT 4	8th	34
2023	Modulo Nakajima Racing	Honda NSX-Type S GT500	GT500	OKA 10	FUJ 14	SUZ 14	FUJ 2	SUZ 8	SUG 11	AUT 11	MOT Ret	14th	19
2024	Astemo Real Racing	Honda Civic Type R-GT GT500	GT500	OKA Ret	FUJ 3	SUZ	FUJ	SUZ	SUG	AUT	MOT

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "HFDP Drivers' Documentary SFL Vol.2 ~Kakunoshin Ohta~". honda.racing. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Honda outlines Super Formula driver roster for 2022". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Honda 2023 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Racing. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Honda 2024 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Racing. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
^ "Suzuka Super Formula: Miyata beats Lawson to title, Ota wins finale". motorsport.com. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
^ "Kakunoshin Ohta To Test Acura ARX-06 At Daytona". dailysportscar.com. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.

External links

Kakunoshin Ohta career summary at DriverDB.com

[:a-1] "HFDP Drivers' Documentary SFL Vol.2 ~Kakunoshin Ohta~". honda.racing. Retrieved 2 May 2022.

[:0-2] "Honda outlines Super Formula driver roster for 2022". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

[Honda2023-3] "Honda 2023 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Racing. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.

[Honda2024-4] "Honda 2024 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Racing. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.

[5] "Suzuka Super Formula: Miyata beats Lawson to title, Ota wins finale". motorsport.com. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2023.

[6] "Kakunoshin Ohta To Test Acura ARX-06 At Daytona". dailysportscar.com. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.

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