Tomoki Nojiri

Japanese racing driver

Tomoki Nojiri

Nationality|  Japanese
Born|  (1989-09-15) September 15, 1989 (age 33)
Ibaraki, Japan
Super GT GT500 career
Debut season| 2015
Current team| Autobacs Racing Team Aguri
Car number| 8
Starts| 59 (60 entries)
Wins| 8
Podiums| 11
Poles| 10
Fastest laps| 7
Best finish| 2nd in 2021
Super Formula career
Debut season| 2014
Current team| Team Mugen
Car number| 16
Former teams| Dandelion Racing
Starts| 70 (73 entries)
Championships| 2 (2021, 2022)
Wins| 8
Podiums| 19
Poles| 13
Fastest laps| 6
Best finish| 1st in 2021, 2022
Previous series
2013–2014
2011–2013| Super GT GT300
All-Japan Formula Three

Tomoki Nojiri (野尻智紀, Nojiri Tomoki, born September 15, 1989) is a Japanese racing driver for the Honda Motor Company. He currently drives in the GT500 class of the Autobacs Super GT Series, and the Super Formula Championship, where he is the 2021 and 2022 series champion.[1]

## Racing career[edit]

### Early career[edit]

Nojiri began his karting career in the All-Japan Karting Championship in 2003, and in 2006, he became the FA class champion.[2] Nojiri moved to Europe to race in the European championship, the Italian Masters, and World Cup KF1 in 2007. In 2008, Nojiri was the top graduate from the Suzuka Circuit Racing School Formula, earning him a scholarship to compete in Formula Challenge Japan (FCJ) for 2009. He finished fifth in the FCJ standings in 2009, and again in 2010, while also finishing fifth in the JAF Formula 4 West Series in 2009.

In 2011, Nojiri graduated to the All-Japan Formula 3 Championship National Class with HFDP Racing. He won three times, including in his first start at Suzuka Circuit, and finished second in the championship to Katsumasa Chiyo. In 2021, Nojiri stepped up to the main level championship in Japanese F3; he finished fifth in the standings, and won the tenth round at Okayama International Circuit. Nojiri moved to Toda Racing in 2013, where he finished fourth in the championship.

### Super Formula (2014–present)[edit]

Nojiri's championship-winning 2021 car on display

In 2014, Nojiri joined Docomo Team Dandelion Racing in the Japanese Super Formula Championship. In the sixth and penultimate round of the championship at Sportsland Sugo, Nojiri scored his first career victory in just his seventh race.[3] He finished the year tenth in the championship, and won Rookie of the Year honours ahead of Formula One veteran Vitantonio Liuzzi, and reigning Japanese F3 champion Yuichi Nakayama. Nojiri remained with Dandelion Racing from 2015 to 2018. He finished seventh in the championship in 2015, ninth in 2016, and seventh in 2018. Over these four seasons, Nojiri won three pole positions, recorded four podiums, and two fastest laps.

For the 2019 season, Nojiri transferred to Team Mugen, in a swap for reigning champion Naoki Yamamoto (who took Nojiri's place at Dandelion Racing). The move to Mugen, along with the introduction of the new Dallara SF19 chassis, paid dividends for Nojiri. He finished a career-best fourth in the championship, while also ending a five-year winless drought at the season-ending JAF Grand Prix in Suzuka. He finished fifth in the championship in 2020, winning the fourth round at Autopolis from pole position.

Nojiri won back-to-back races at Fuji Speedway and Suzuka to open the 2021 season. He then went on to win the fifth round at Mobility Resort Motegi from pole position. In the next race at Motegi, Nojiri finished fifth to clinch his first Super Formula drivers' championship, becoming the first driver since Loïc Duval in 2009 to clinch the Japanese top formula championship before the final round of the season.[4]

His form carried into 2022: Nojiri opened the season with a win and second place finish at the doubleheader weekend at Fuji, along with a pole position in round two. He strung together four consecutive pole positions, six podiums and never finished lower than fourth in the first eight races of the season. At the JAF Grand Prix Suzuka, Nojiri won the pole for the first race, and clinched his second consecutive championship with a second place finish. He completed the season with a pole-to-win victory, his second of the season. Nojiri became the first driver since Tsugio Matsuda to win consecutive championships in Japanese top formula racing.[5]

### Super GT (2013–present)[edit]

The Honda NSX-GT with which Nojiri took his first Super GT win in 2017

Nojiri's first Super GT start came in the GT300 class, driving Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA)'s Honda CR-Z GT300 at the 2013 Suzuka 1000km. He stepped up to full-time Super GT competition in 2014 with Team Mugen, taking over for reigning GT300 champion Hideki Mutoh. Nojiri and co-driver Yuhki Nakayama finished tenth in the GT300 championship, with a third place finish at the Fuji 500km.

In 2015, Nojiri moved up to the GT500 class with ARTA. He finished fourth in his top class debut, at Okayama. Two years later, Nojiri won his first GT500 pole in the fourth round at Sugo, and then won the fifth round at Fuji Speedway (with co-driver Takashi Kobayashi) to take his first career GT500 victory. Takuya Izawa transferred to ARTA as Nojiri's new co-driver in 2018. Nojiri and Izawa won the third round at Suzuka, and the eighth and final round at Motegi, en route to a third place finish in the GT500 championship. They won the rain-shortened opening round at Okayama in 2019, but fell to tenth in the standings at the end of the season.

For 2020, Nirei Fukuzumi joined ARTA as Nojiri's co-driver. After a difficult start to the season, Nojiri and Fukuzumi strung together four top five finishes to finish the year fifth in the championship; this included a win at the seventh round at Motegi. Nojiri and Fukuzumi returned to ARTA for the 2021 season. One week after clinching the Super Formula championship, Nojiri won the sixth round of the Super GT series at Autopolis alongside Fukuzumi, then won the following round at Motegi. They finished the year second in the drivers' championship.

In 2022, Nojiri and Fukuzumi won a shortened Golden Week race at Fuji Speedway.

## Racing record[edit]

### Career summary[edit]

Season  | Series  | Team  | Races  | Wins  | Poles  | F/Laps  | Podiums  | Points  | Position

|
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2009  | Formula BMW Pacific | TopSpeed Racing Shanghai  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | NC†
2010  | Formula BMW Pacific | EuroInternational | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 0  | NC†
2011  | Japanese Formula 3 Championship - National | Honda Formula Dream Project  | 14  | 3  | 5  | 2  | 10  | 89  | 2nd
2012  | Japanese Formula 3 Championship | Honda Formula Dream Project  | 15  | 1  | 2  | 1  | 6  | 49  | 5th
2013  | Japanese Formula 3 Championship | TODA Racing | 15  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 7  | 50  | 4th
Super GT - GT300 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 2  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | NC
Asian Le Mans Series - SGT | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | NC
2014  | Super Formula | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | 9  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 10  | 10th
Super GT - GT500 | Team Mugen | 8  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 26  | 11th
2015  | Super Formula | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | 8  | 0  | 0  | 2  | 2  | 19  | 7th
Super GT - GT500 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 8  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 10  | 14th
2016  | Super Formula | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | 8  | 0  | 1  | 0  | 1  | 14.5  | 9th
Super GT - GT500 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 8  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 16  | 15th
2017  | Super Formula | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | 8  | 0  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 2  | 17th
Super GT - GT500 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 8  | 1  | 3  | 2  | 1  | 37  | 9th
Super Taikyu - ST-X | K's Frontier  | 3  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 36‡  | 7th‡
2018  | Super Formula | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | 7  | 0  | 1  | 0  | 1  | 12.5  | 7th
Super GT - GT500 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 8  | 2  | 3  | 2  | 3  | 71  | 3rd
2019  | Super Formula | Team Mugen | 7  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 24  | 4th
Super GT - GT500 | ARTA | 8  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 31  | 10th
Super Taikyu - ST-TCR | Modulo Racing with Dome | 1  | 0  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 88‡  | 2nd‡
2020  | Super Formula | Team Mugen | 7  | 1  | 2  | 0  | 1  | 47  | 5th
Super GT - GT500 | ARTA | 8  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 3  | 54  | 5th
Super Taikyu - ST-TCR | Floral Racing with Uematsu  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 194‡  | 1st‡
2021  | Super Formula | Team Mugen | 7  | 3  | 2  | 2  | 4  | 86  | 1st
Super GT - GT500 | ARTA | 8  | 2  | 1  | 0  | 2  | 60  | 2nd
2022  | Super Formula | Team Mugen | 10  | 2  | 6  | 1  | 8  | 154  | 1st
Super GT - GT500 | ARTA | 8  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 24  | 12th
2023  | Super Formula | Team Mugen |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Super GT - GT500 | ARTA |  |  |  |  |  |  |

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

### Complete Super GT results[edit]

(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

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2013 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda CR-Z | GT300  | OKA | FUJ | SEP | SUG | SUZ
Ret | FUJ | FUJ
Ret | AUT | MOT | NC  | 0
2014 | Team Mugen | Honda CR-Z | GT300  | OKA
9 | FUJ
3 | AUT
5 | SUG
11 | FUJ
18 | SUZ
8 | BUR
9 | MOT
13 |  | 10th  | 26
2015 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX Concept-GT | GT500  | OKA
4 | FUJ
13 | CHA
Ret | FUJ
Ret | SUZ
10 | SUG
12 | AUT
14 | MOT
11 |  | 14th  | 10
2016 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX Concept-GT | GT500  | OKA
Ret | FUJ
6 | SUG
14 | FUJ
6 | SUZ
9 | CHA
8 | MOT
11 | MOT
13 |  | 15th  | 16
2017 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX-GT | GT500  | OKA
DNS | FUJ
9 | AUT
Ret | SUG
5 | FUJ
1 | SUZ
8 | CHA
11 | MOT
9 |  | 9th  | 37
2018 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | Honda NSX-GT | GT500  | OKA
11 | FUJ
8 | SUZ
1 | CHA
Ret | FUJ
4 | SUG
2 | AUT
12 | MOT
1 |  | 3rd  | 71
2019 | ARTA | Honda NSX-GT | GT500  | OKA
1‡ | FUJ
9 | SUZ
4 | CHA
Ret | FUJ
7 | AUT
5 | SUG
12 | MOT
13 |  | 10th  | 31
2020 | ARTA | Honda NSX-GT | GT500  | FUJ
8 | FUJ
14 | SUZ
13 | MOT
ret | FUJ
3 | SUZ
3 | MOT
1 | FUJ
5 |  | 5th  | 54
2021 | ARTA | Honda NSX-GT | GT500  | OKA
7 | FUJ
8 | MOT
5 | SUZ
11 | SUG
10 | AUT
1 | MOT
1 | FUJ
6 |  | 2nd  | 60
2022 | ARTA | Honda NSX-GT "Type S" | GT500  | OKA
10 | FUJ1
1 | SUZ1
7 | FUJ2
5 | SUZ2
13 | SUG
13 | AUT
11 | MOT
8 |  | 12th  | 24

‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
* Season still in progress.

### Complete Super Formula results[edit]

(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  | DC  | Points

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2014 | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | SUZ
9 | FUJ
Ret | FUJ
15 | FUJ
12 | MOT
9 | AUT
9 | SUG
1 | SUZ
12 | SUZ
9 |  | 10th  | 10
2015 | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | SUZ
8 | OKA
3 | FUJ
8 | MOT
6 | AUT
10 | SUG
3 | SUZ
5 | SUZ
Ret |  |  | 7th  | 19
2016 | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | SUZ
9 | OKA
4 | FUJ
13 | MOT
Ret | OKA
4 | OKA
16 | SUG
3 | SUZ
4 | SUZ
Ret |  | 9th  | 14.5
2017 | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | SUZ
16 | OKA
13 | OKA
10 | FUJ
10 | MOT
8 | AUT
14 | SUG
12 | SUZ
C | SUZ
C |  | 17th  | 2
2018 | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | SUZ
3 | AUT
C | SUG
7 | FUJ
14 | MOT
8 | OKA
4 | SUZ
9 |  |  |  | 7th  | 12.5
2019 | Team Mugen | SUZ
4 | AUT
18 | SUG
Ret | FUJ
4 | MOT
8 | OKA
9 | SUZ
1 |  |  |  | 4th  | 24
2020 | Team Mugen | MOT
7 | OKA
10 | SUG
4 | AUT
1 | SUZ
7 | SUZ
5 | FUJ
Ret |  |  |  | 5th  | 47
2021 | Team Mugen | FUJ
1 | SUZ
1 | AUT
5 | SUG
6 | MOT
1 | MOT
5 | SUZ
3 |  |  |  | 1st  | 86
2022 | Team Mugen | FUJ
2 | FUJ
1 | SUZ
2 | AUT
4 | SUG
3 | FUJ
3 | MOT
3 | MOT
4 | SUZ
2 | SUZ
1 | 1st  | 154
2023 | Team Mugen | FUJ
2 | FUJ
1 | SUZ | AUT | SUG | FUJ | MOT | SUZ | SUZ |  | 1st*  | 41*

* Season still in progress.

## References[edit]

1. ^ Klein, Jamie (23 July 2021). "The late bloomer emerging from obscurity to become Honda's new hero". Autosport. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
2. ^ "Tomoki Nojiri | SUPER GT | Honda.Racing". Honda Racing. Retrieved 30 October 2021.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
3. ^ Ribault, Pierre-Laurent (2014-09-29). "Super Formula 2014-6 : Première victoire pour Tomoki Nojiri à Sugo". Leblogauto.com (in French). Retrieved 2021-10-30.
4. ^ "Motegi Super Formula: Nojiri seals title, Otsu wins race". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
5. ^ "Super Formula: Tomoki Nojiri crowned 2022 champion at Suzuka". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2022-11-08.

## External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tomoki Nojiri.

* Official website
* driverdb
* Honda Racing profile

* v
* t
* e

Teams and drivers contracted to compete in the 2023 Super Formula Championship

Honda|

| Team Mugen| Docomo Team Dandelion Racing| ThreeBond Drago Corse| B-Max Racing| TCS Nakajima Racing

|
|
|
|

* 1\. Tomoki Nojiri
* 15\. Liam Lawson

* 5\. Tadasuke Makino
* 6\. Kakunoshin Ohta

* 12\. Nirei Fukuzumi

* 50\. Nobuharu Matsushita
* 51\. Raoul Hyman

* 64\. Naoki Yamamoto
* 65\. Ren Sato

Toyota|

| Kondō Racing| KCMG| ROOKIE Racing| Team Impul| Kuo Vantelin Team TOM'S| P.mu/Cerumo・INGING

|
|
|
|
|

* 3\. Kenta Yamashita
* 4\. Kazuto Kotaka

* 7\. Kamui Kobayashi
* 18\. Yuji Kunimoto

* 14\. Kazuya Oshima

* 19\. Yuhi Sekiguchi
* 20\. Ryō Hirakawa

* 36\. Giuliano Alesi
* 37\. Ritomo Miyata

* 38\. Sho Tsuboi
* 39\. Sena Sakaguchi

*[Best finish]: Best finish in the championship
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template