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| Hideki Mutoh | |
|---|---|
 Mutoh at theIndianapolis Motor Speedway in 2010 | |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Born | (1982-10-06)October 6, 1982 (age 43) |
| Super GT career | |
| Debut season | 2006 |
| Car number | 55 |
| Former teams | Nakajima Racing,Team Mugen,Team Kunimitsu, Real Racing,Autobacs Racing Team Aguri |
| Starts | 83 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Poles | 3 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 1st in2013 |
| Previous series | |
| 2003–2004 2006, 2011 2007 2008-2011 2012-2013 2013-2014 | Japan Formula 3 Formula Nippon Indy Pro Series IndyCar Series Super GT GT300 Super Formula |
| Championship titles | |
| 2013 2002 | Super GT - GT300 Formula Dream |
| Awards | |
| 2008 | IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year |
Hideki Mutoh (武藤 英紀,Mutō Hideki; born October 6, 1982) is a Japanese race car driver fromTokyo who last raced in the2022 Super GT Season forAutobacs Racing Team Aguri.
Mutoh is 172 cm (5 ft 8 in) tall and weighs 64 kg (141 lb). His blood type is AB Rh-positive. His hobbies include tennis, driving, and darts. He drives aHonda CR-V. He has two older sisters. He was expected to inherit his family's seafood wholesale business, Hotei Tora (布袋寅), inTsukiji, becoming the sixth generation owner, but instead chose to become a race car driver. Upon returning from the UK without sufficient funds, he borrowed money from his grandfather, Kazuyori Mutoh (武藤和順), the fourth-generation owner of Hotei Tora, after writing an IOU.
He begankarting at the age of twelve in 1995. In 1997, he won the East Series of the Karting Kanto Championship. The following day after graduating junior high school in 1998, he went to study in England. He made his racing debut in 1999, competing inFormula Vauxhall Junior Winter Series. In 2000, he competed in the BritishFormula Ford, finishing ninth in the series and seventh in theFormula Ford Festival. In 2001, he again finished ninth in the British Formula Ford series, and also finished third in the Formula Ford European Championship. He returned to Asia in 2002 to compete inAsian Formula 2000 andFormula Dream, where he finished second in the Formula Dream series in his rookie season. He won the Formula Dream championship in 2003.
In 2004, Mutoh moved to theJapan Formula 3, finishing ninth in the series. In 2005, he finished third in the Japan Formula 3 championship. In 2006, he drove inFormula Nippon andSuper GT 500–class forNakajima Racing. He achieved his first Super GT victory in the final round atFuji Speedway, starting from pole position. He also recorded the fastest lap in the seventh round of Formula Nippon atSportsland SUGO.
In 2007,Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) announced that Mutoh had been signed to drive their new entry in theIndy Pro Series in a car prepared byPanther Racing, who had last competed in IPS in 2003, winning the championship with driverMark Taylor. Mutoh captured his first win in Liberty Challenge Race 1 at theIndianapolis Motor Speedwayroad course onUnited States Grand Prix weekend, starting from pole position. He went on to win another race at Kentucky Speedway and finished second in the championship standings, earning Rookie of the Year honors.
On September 9, Mutoh made hisIndy Racing League IndyCar Series debut withPanther Racing atChicagoland Speedway in thePeak Antifreeze Indy 300 in the one-off entry No. 60 car, sponsored by the Formula Dream Project. Mutoh finished eighth and clocked the fastest lap of the race despite it being his debut. On October 31, 2007, it was announced Mutoh would replace 2007 IndyCar Series championDario Franchitti at Andretti Green Racing in the team's full-time #27 IndyCar for2008.[1]
Mutoh made his debut for Andretti Green Racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March and in May was the highest qualifying rookie for the2008 Indianapolis 500, starting from ninth. He finished seventh in the race, the second best finishing position for a Japanese driver in the history of the race. He was also the highest finishing rookie in the race, but the Rookie of the Year award for the race was given toRyan Hunter-Reay.
Mutoh scored his best finish of his IndyCar Series career in June at theIowa Speedway, finishing second toDan Wheldon, setting a new mark for best IndyCar finish by a Japanese driver, surpassing the third place ofTora Takagi atTexas Motor Speedway in2003. He failed to finish higher than sixth in the remainder of the season, but beat transitional driverJustin Wilson to the Rookie of the Year title and tenth place overall in the series. He was also awarded the "Fastest Rookie of the Year" award.
Mutoh continued with Andretti Green Racing for the 2009 IndyCar Series season. The start of the season was marked by misfortune and mechanical issues. For the2009 Indianapolis 500, his second attempt, he qualified in sixteenth position. During the race, he demonstrated a pace comparable to the leading drivers, improving his position. However, slower pit stops hampered his progress, and he ultimately finished in tenth place out of twenty finishers. His best result of the season came at Iowa Speedway, where he finished third, securing his second consecutive podium finish at the track. AtRichmond International Raceway, he led 74 laps, his first time leading laps in the IndyCar Series, and finished fourth. He also achieved two fifth-place finishes on road courses, at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma. He finished the season eleventh in the points standings, just one point behind ninth place.
Mutoh participated in the2010 IndyCar Series season withNewman/Haas Racing. Despite showing flashes of speed, he struggled to achieve consistent results. At the Kansas Speedway race, he qualified a season-best fourth and was running in a podium position towards the end of the race. However, on a restart with fourteen laps remaining, Mutoh, running fifth, made contact withTakuma Sato, who was in sixth, resulting in both drivers retiring. At the Indianapolis 500, he qualified ninth, matching his 2008 effort, but retired from the race due to handling issues. He ultimately finished eighteenth in the final point standings without achieving a top-ten finish, with a best result of twelfth.
Mutoh has been announced as anAguri SuzukiHonda driver in theSuper GT series in Japan for 2011, alongsideTakashi Kobayashi.[2]
On September 1, Mutoh confirmed he would be part of the2011 Indy Japan: The Final race at Motegi to drive No. 17 forSam Schmidt Motorsports/AFS Racing.[3] Mutoh finished nineteenth on the lead lap.
(key)
| Year | Team | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Nakajima Racing | Honda | FUJ 19 | SUZ 6 | MOT 8 | SUZ Ret | AUT 17 | FUJ 16 | SUG 10 | MOT 10 | SUZ Ret | 14th | 1 |
| 2011 | Real Racing | Honda | SUZ | AUT | FUJ | MOT 10 | SUZ | SUG | MOT1 Ret | MOT2 9 | 15th | 0 | |
| 2013 | DocomoTeam Dandelion Racing | Honda | SUZ 13 | AUT Ret | FUJ 13 | MOT 12 | SUG 10 | SUZ1 12 | SUZ2 10 | 20th | 0 | ||
| 2014 | DocomoTeam Dandelion Racing | Honda | SUZ 10 | FUJ1 10 | FUJ2 12 | FUJ 11 | MOT 5 | AUT 10 | SUG 12 | SUZ1 13 | SUZ2 12 | 15th | 4 |
Source:[4] | |||||||||||||
‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Super AguriPanther Racing | HMS 3 | STP1 2 | STP2 4 | INDY 5 | MIL Ret | IMS1 1 | IMS2 3 | IOW 3 | WGL1 2 | WGL2 6 | NSH 6 | MOH 5 | KTY 1 | SNM1 19 | SNM2 10 | CHI | 2nd | 481 | [7] |
| Year | Team | No. | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Panther Racing | 60 | Dallara IR-05 | HondaHI7RV8 | HMS | STP | MOT | KAN | INDY | MIL | TXS | IOW | RIR | WGL | NSH | MOH | MIS | KTY | SNM | DET | CHI 8 | 25th | 24 | [8] | ||
| 2008 | Andretti Green Racing | 27 | HMS 24 | STP 6 | MOT1 11 | LBH1 DNP | KAN 6 | INDY 7 | MIL 12 | TXS 6 | IOW 2 | RIR 13 | WGL 9 | NSH 14 | MOH 9 | EDM 27 | KTY 18 | SNM 13 | DET 11 | CHI 22 | SRF2 8 | 10th | 346 | [9] | ||
| 2009 | STP 15 | LBH 20 | KAN 8 | INDY 10 | MIL 8 | TXS 21 | IOW 3 | RIR 4 | WGL 18 | TOR 12 | EDM 14 | KTY 13 | MOH 5 | SNM 5 | CHI 23 | MOT 14 | HMS 6 | 11th | 353 | [10] | ||||||
| 2010 | Newman/Haas Racing | 06 | SAO 20 | STP 14 | ALA 15 | LBH 13 | KAN 23 | INDY 28 | TXS 12 | IOW 20 | WGL 12 | TOR 12 | EDM 17 | MOH 18 | SNM 17 | CHI 13 | KTY 17 | MOT 14 | HMS 20 | 18th | 250 | [11] | ||||
| 2011 | Sam Schmidt Motorsports AFS Racing | 17 | STP | ALA | LBH | SAO | INDY | TXS1 | TXS2 | MIL | IOW | TOR | EDM | MOH | NHM | SNM | BAL | MOT 18 | KTY | LVS | 43rd | 12 | [12] | |||
| Years | Teams | Races | Poles | Wins | Podiums (Non-win)** | Top 10s (Non-podium)*** | Indianapolis 500 Wins | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Dallara | Honda | 9 | 7 | Andretti Green | Fastestrookie qualifier 2nd best rookie finisher |
| 2009 | Dallara | Honda | 16 | 10 | Andretti Green | Completed every lap |
| 2010 | Dallara | Honda | 9 | 28 | Newman/Haas Racing | Completed 76 laps |
Source:[13] | ||||||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year 2008 | Succeeded by |
Headquarters:Indianapolis,Indiana | |
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