 In 2010, as aSuper GT driver | |
| Born | (1975-01-21)21 January 1975 (age 50) Saitama,Saitama, Japan |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Japanese |
| Active years | 2006 |
| Team | Super Aguri |
| Entries | 4 (4 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Career points | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 2006 San Marino Grand Prix |
Yuji Ide (井出有治,Ide Yūji) (born 21 January 1975) is a Japanese racing driver. He is the2005 Formula Nippon runner-up and the2010Suzuka 1000km winner. He competed inFormula One with theSuper Aguri team in 2006, but was demoted to third driver after four races and subsequently lost hisFIA Super Licence.[1]
Born inSaitama, Saitama, Ide started his racing career in 1990 withkart racing. In 1991, he won the Kantou National Cup Kart Championship. In 1992 he was second in the Regional Kart Championship East Kantou series A1 Class and also won the Japan Kart Grand Prix SS stock class National GP.[2] The following year he joined the All-Japan Kart Championship SeriesFormula A Class before progressing to theAll-Japan Formula Three Championship.[2]
In 1999 he came second in theAll Japan GT Championship GT300 Class Series.[2] He was also theFormula Dream series champion in Japan.[2] In 2002 Ide joined theFrench Formula Three Championship series and finished in seventh place. The following year, 2003, he joined the All Japan ChampionshipFormula Nippon Series and also finished seventh.[2] In 2004, he claimed third spot before going on to win the Super Endurance Race Class 3 Series. He finished his first stint in Formula Nippon finishing second in the 2005 championship.[2]
At age 31, Ide became one of Formula One's oldest rookies when he landed a seat atSuper Aguri for the 2006 season, in part due to Super Aguri's aspiration of fielding an all-Japanese team.[3] Ide had knownAguri Suzuki for a long time, according to a press release,[4] however Ide's meshing with the team had some issues with his lack of proficientEnglish.[5]
In his debut race inBahrain, Ide was significantly behind his more experienced teammateTakuma Sato and failed to finish. At the next race inMalaysia, he retired after 33 laps.
During qualifying at theAustralian Grand Prix, Ide was blamed for blockingRubens Barrichello during his qualifying lap, causing the Brazilian to be stuck in the first round of qualifying and start 16th on the grid.[6] Ide finished 13th in the race, two laps down. His weekend in Melbourne was notable for a number of spins, and team principal Aguri Suzuki subsequently suggested Ide's seat was not safe if his performances did not improve.
AtImola, Ide caused a first lap crash withChristijan Albers that put the Dutchman into a series of rolls which ended with Albers's car upside down.[7] Ide was reprimanded by the stewards and warned over future conduct. Aguri Suzuki said "He didn't have enough testing because he doesn't understand how to use the car".[8]
On 4 May 2006, Super Aguri announced that Ide would be dropped from the upcomingEuropean Grand Prix at theNürburgring, following advice from theFIA that he needed more experience.[1] He was replaced by the team's third driverFranck Montagny. Ide was demoted to Montagny's seat as third driver.[9]
On 10 May 2006, the FIA revoked Ide'sFIA Super Licence meaning he could no longer compete in F1 during the 2006 season.[10] A statement from Super Aguri said that "Aguri Suzuki and A.Company (Japan) shall continue to seek driving opportunities for Yuji and hopefully a path back into Formula One".[1]
Overall during Ide's four-race F1 career, he finished once – a 13th place at the2006 Australian Grand Prix.[11]His best qualifying effort was 21st of 22 cars at his debut at Bahrain,[11] where the 22nd starter,Kimi Räikkönen, did not complete a qualifying attempt. Super Aguri team principal Aguri Suzuki revealed that Ide had just 200 kilometres of experience in an F1 car before his debut.[12]
In the November 2009 issue ofF1 Racing Magazine, Ide was named as one of the five worst F1 drivers in history. However, in December 2020The Race noted that he was "a more capable driver than he was made to appear", with his brief F1 spell hampered by little testing, a language barrier and driving "very much the second car" of the new Super Aguri team.[13][12]
In July 2006 it was announced that Ide would be racing forTeam Dandelion Racing in the final six rounds of the Formula Nippon championship, with the aim of increasing his racing experience.[14] Ide contested theInternational Pokka 1000km round of the2006 Super GT Series at Suzuka withNismo in the No. 23 Nissan. During the race, he was penalized after making contact with the No. 55 car ofHidetoshi Mitsusada; Ide ignored the black flag, resulting in his team's disqualification from the race.[15]
In 2007, he remained in Formula Nippon with theAutobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) team,[16] which is owned by Aguri Suzuki.[17] His best finish of the season was a third place, scored in round five atSuzuka.[18] Ide also raced as a third driver for ARTA in the2007 International Pokka 1000km, where the team finished second overall, despite a large success ballast weight handicap.[19]
Ide raced as a full-time driver inSuper GT forTeam Kunimitsu in2008 and2009, and then for ARTA in2010. He notably won the2010 Pokka GT Summer Special and finished second at the2008 event.[19] He also raced full-time in Formula Nippon in 2008 and 2010, but scored points just three times.
‡ Team standings.
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Engine | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Active | Toyota | SUZ 14 | FUJ Ret | TSU 17 | SUZ Ret | SEN 20 | TOK | MIN | TAI | SUG | NC | 0 | |||||||||||
| Asada Racing | Mugen | SUZ 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995 | Asada Racing | Mugen | J | SUZ 12 | TSU 12 | MIN | SUZ Ret | TAI Ret | SUG | FUJ 14 | SUZ 10 | SEN 11 | 4th | 22 | ||||||||||
| 1997 | Asada Racing | Mugen | SUZ Ret | TSU Ret | MIN | FUJ | SUZ | SUG | SEN | MOT | FUJ | SUZ | NC | 0 | ||||||||||
| 1998 | Now Motorsports | Toyota | SUZ 9 | TSU 10 | MIN 16 | FUJ 16 | MOT Ret | SUZ 19 | SUG 13 | TAI | SEN | SUG | NC | 0 | ||||||||||
| 2000 | Mugen ×Dome Project | Mugen | SUZ Ret | TSU 1 | FUJ 6 | MIN 3 | TAI 6 | SUZ 2 | SUG 5 | MOT 3 | SEN 6 | SUZ 1 | 2nd | 35 | ||||||||||
| 2001 | Three Bond Racing | Three Bond | SUZ 1 Ret | SUZ 2 4 | TSU 1 7 | TSU 2 7 | FUJ 1 5 | FUJ 2 Ret | MIN 1 4 | MIN 2 3 | MOT 1 Ret | MOT 2 5 | SUZ 5 | SUG 1 5 | SUG 2 5 | SEN 1 6 | SEN 2 6 | TAI 1 5 | TAI 2 8 | MOT 1 8 | MOT 2 8 | 5th | 100 | |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | ARTA/Signature | Dallara F302 | Renault | A | NOG 1 9 | NOG 2 4 | LÉD 1 5 | LÉD 2 3 | DIJ 1 8 | DIJ 2 8 | CRT 1 2 | CRT 2 1 | ALB 1 Ret | ALB 2 8 | LMS 1 8 | LMS 2 Ret | MAG 1 13 | MAG 2 12 | 7th | 84 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Team Cerumo | SUZ 4 | FUJ 7 | MIN 3 | MOT 2 | SUZ 7 | SUG 10 | FUJ Ret | MIN 3 | MOT 12 | SUZ 5 | 7th | 19 | |
| 2004 | Team Impul | SUZ 12 | SUG 2 | MOT 2 | SUZ 3 | SUG 7 | MIN 7 | SEP 10 | MOT 1 | SUZ 2 | 3rd | 32 | ||
| 2005 | Team Impul | MOT 2 | SUZ 1 | SUG 5 | FUJ 7 | SUZ 8 | MIN 1 | FUJ 3 | MOT 4 | SUZ 3 | 2nd | 39 | ||
| 2006 | Dandelion Racing | FUJ | SUZ | MOT | SUZ 12 | AUT 12 | FUJ 11 | SUG Ret | MOT Ret | SUZ 10 | 21st | 0 | ||
| 2007 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | FUJ 14 | SUZ 10 | MOT 16 | OKA Ret | SUZ 3 | FUJ 16 | SUG Ret | MOT Ret | SUZ 9 | 13th | 6 | ||
| 2008 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | FUJ 9 | SUZ 18 | MOT 15 | OKA Ret | SUZ 15 | SUZ Ret | MOT 12 | MOT Ret | FUJ Ret | FUJ 19 | SUG 17 | 19th | 2 |
| 2010 | MotulTeam Mugen | SUZ 9 | MOT 9 | FUJ 10 | MOT 9 | SUG 9 | AUT DNS | SUZ 8 | SUZ 8 | 14th | 1 | |||
‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Super Aguri F1 Team | Super AguriSA05 | Honda RA806E 2.4V8 | BHR Ret | MAL Ret | AUS 13 | SMR Ret | EUR * | ESP | MON | GBR | CAN | USA | FRA | GER | HUN | TUR | ITA | CHN | JPN | BRA | 25th | 0 |
* Ide was entered as third driver but did not take part in the race weekend.
