Keisuke Kunimoto
Keisuke Kunimoto (国本 京佑, Kunimoto Keisuke, born 9 January 1989) , also known as Lee Kyung-woo (Korean: 이경우) is a Japanese/Zainichi Korean race car driver who raced with a Japanese racing license.[1]
His mother is Japanese. His father, Yoshihiro Lee (李好廣、이호광 Lee Ho-gwang), also known as Yoshihiro Kunimoto, is the 1983 All Japan Karting Champion and his uncle, Yoshihiko Lee (이호언 Lee Ho-eon), won the same karting championship twice in 1980 and 1981. His younger brother, Yuji, is also a race car driver.
Racing career
[edit]Kunimoto began karting in 2001 when he was 12. After winning the All Japan Karting Championship FA Class in 2004, he entered Formula Toyota Racing School and took scholarship of Toyota. He began his car racing career in the 2005 Formula Toyota season, at the seventh round of the season in Tsukuba.[citation needed]
He competed in Formula Toyota and Formula Challenge Japan in 2006 and 2007, and won the championship of Formula Challenge Japan with three wins and ended runner-up in Formula Toyota in 2007.[citation needed]
In 2008, he raced in the All-Japan Formula Three for TOM'S and in the Super GT for apr, as a Toyota young Drivers Program (TDP) driver. He finished runner-up in the first Formula Three season.[citation needed]
2008 Macau Grand Prix
[edit]
At the end of the season, Kunimoto went to Macau with TOM'S and won the Macau F3 Grand Prix, becoming the second Japanese driver to win the race after Takuma Sato.
Formula Nippon
[edit]Kunimoto competed in the 2009 Formula Nippon season for Team LeMans, finishing last in the standings with one point.
A1 Grand Prix
[edit]Kunimoto joined A1 Team Korea for the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season, and was set to make his debut at the South African round, but political issues regarding a slogan on his car, prevented him from racing on that weekend.[2][3]
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
[edit]Kunimoto joined Epsilon Euskadi for the last two Formula Renault 3.5 Series rounds of the 2009 season. He replaced Spaniard Dani Clos in the team's line-up at the Nürburgring and at the season finale at the new Ciudad del Motor de Aragón circuit.[4]
He returned with the team for the 2010 season, partnering 2009 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 champion Albert Costa.[5]
Racing record
[edit]Career summary
[edit]| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | FLaps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Formula Toyota | TDP Scolarship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14th |
| 2006 | Formula Toyota | TDP Scolarship FT | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 7th |
| Formula Challenge Japan | TDP Scolarship | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 47 | 7th | |
| 2007 | Formula Challenge Japan | TDP Scolarship | 18 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 189 | 1st |
| Formula Toyota | A Project Hanashima | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 98 | 2nd | |
| 2008 | Japanese Formula 3 Championship | TOM'S | 18 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 219 | 2nd |
| Macau Grand Prix | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 1st | ||
| Super GT - GT300 | apr | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 9th | |
| 2008-09 | A1 Grand Prix | A1 Team Korea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4‡ | 19th‡ |
| 2009 | Formula Nippon | Team LeMans | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13th |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2 | Navi Team Goh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF | |
| Formula Renault 3.5 Series | Epsilon Euskadi | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32nd | |
| 2010 | Formula Renault 3.5 Series | Epsilon Euskadi | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 22nd |
‡ Team standings
24 Hours of Le Mans results
[edit]| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 |  Navi Team Goh
|
Seiji Ara Sascha Maassen
|
Porsche RS Spyder Evo | LMP2 | 339 | DNF | DNF |
Source:[6]
| |||||||
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results
[edit](key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Epsilon Euskadi | CAT 1 |
CAT 2 |
SPA 1 |
SPA 2 |
MON 1 |
HUN 1 |
HUN 2 |
SIL 1 |
SIL 2 |
BUG 1 |
BUG 2 |
ALG 1 |
ALG 2 |
NÜR 1 16 |
NÜR 2 13 |
ALC 1 17 |
ALC 2 21 |
32nd | 0 |
| 2010 | Epsilon Euskadi | ALC 1 Ret |
ALC 2 14 |
SPA 1 15 |
SPA 2 16 |
MON 1 18 |
BRN 1 5 |
BRN 2 Ret |
MAG 1 16 |
MAG 2 18 |
HUN 1 9 |
HUN 2 15 |
HOC 1 12 |
HOC 2 13 |
SIL 1 12 |
SIL 2 13 |
CAT 1 11 |
CAT 2 18 |
22nd | 8 |
References
[edit]- ^ Ａ１グランプリ韓国代表は在日３世のイ・キョンウ (in Japanese). joins.com. 3 February 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
- ^ "한국 A1GP 대표 선수된 재일동포 3세 이경우" (in Korean). The Dong-a Ilbo. 10 February 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
- ^
"Keisuke Kunimoto: Największa sensacja w historii GP Makau?" (in Polish). https://motohigh.pl. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
{{cite news}}: External link in|publisher= - ^ English, Steven (14 September 2009). "Kunimoto to join Epsilon for two races". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Archived from the original on 22 September 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
- ^ "Epsilon Euskadi announces World Series 2010 drivers' line up". Epsilon Euskadi. Consultec. 22 February 2010. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ "Complete Archive of Keisuke Kunimoto". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ "Keisuke Kunimoto Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ "Keisuke Kunimoto". Motor Sport. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
External links
[edit]
- Keisuke Kunimoto official website Archived 2010-03-17 at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese)
- Profile – All-Japan Formula Three official website
- Profile – Super GT official website
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- Formula Nippon drivers
- World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers
- Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers
- Japanese people of Korean descent
- Japanese racing drivers
- South Korean people of Japanese descent
- South Korean emigrants to Japan
- South Korean racing drivers
- Sportspeople from Yokohama
- Super GT drivers
- Zainichi Korean sportspeople
- 1989 births
- Living people
- Formula Challenge Japan drivers
- Epsilon Euskadi drivers
- Team LeMans drivers
- TOM'S drivers