Keisuke Kunimoto (国本 京佑,Kunimoto Keisuke, born 9 January 1989) , also known asLee Kyung-woo (Korean: 이경우) is aJapanese/Zainichi Koreanrace car driver who raced with aJapanese racing license.[1]
His mother is Japanese. His father, Yoshihiro Lee (李好廣、이호광Lee Ho-gwang), also known as Yoshihiro Kunimoto, is the 1983 All Japan Karting Champion and his uncle, Yoshihiko Lee (이호언Lee Ho-eon), won the same karting championship twice in 1980 and 1981. His younger brother,Yuji, is also a race car driver.
Racing career
editKunimoto begankarting 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 ofToyota. He began his car racing career in the 2005Formula Toyota season, at the seventh round of the season inTsukuba.[citation needed]
He competed in Formula Toyota andFormula 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 theAll-Japan Formula Three forTOM'S and in theSuper 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 toMacau with TOM'S and won theMacau F3 Grand Prix, becoming the second Japanese driver to win the race afterTakuma Sato.
Formula Nippon
editKunimoto competed in the2009 Formula Nippon season forTeam LeMans, finishing last in the standings with one point.
A1 Grand Prix
editKunimoto joinedA1 Team Korea for the2008–09 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
editKunimoto joinedEpsilon Euskadi for the last twoFormula Renault 3.5 Series rounds of the2009 season. He replaced SpaniardDani Clos in the team's line-up at theNürburgring and at the season finale at the newCiudad del Motor de Aragón circuit.[4]
He returned with the team for the2010 season, partnering2009 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championAlbert Costa.[5]
Racing record
editCareer summary
edit| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | FLaps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Formula Toyota | TDP Scholarship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14th |
| 2006 | Formula Toyota | TDP Scholarship FT | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 7th |
| Formula Challenge Japan | TDP Scholarship | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 47 | 7th | |
| 2007 | Formula Challenge Japan | TDP Scholarship | 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 | NaviTeam 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 |  NaviTeam 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 inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics 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. Retrieved4 February 2008.
- ^"한국 A1GP 대표 선수된 재일동포 3세 이경우" (in Korean).The Dong-a Ilbo. 10 February 2009. Retrieved10 January 2024.
- ^"Keisuke Kunimoto: Największa sensacja w historii GP Makau?" (in Polish). motohigh.pl. 6 November 2009. Retrieved10 January 2024.
- ^English, Steven (14 September 2009)."Kunimoto to join Epsilon for two races".autosport.com.Haymarket Publications.Archived from the original on 22 September 2009. Retrieved14 September 2009.
- ^"Epsilon Euskadi announces World Series 2010 drivers' line up".Epsilon Euskadi. Consultec. 22 February 2010. Archived fromthe original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved7 March 2010.
- ^"Complete Archive of Keisuke Kunimoto".Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved26 May 2022.
- ^"Keisuke Kunimoto Results".Motorsport Stats. Retrieved26 May 2022.
- ^"Keisuke Kunimoto".Motor Sport. Retrieved26 May 2022.
External links
edit
- Keisuke Kunimoto official websiteArchived 2010-03-17 at theWayback Machine(in Japanese)
- Profile – All-Japan Formula Three official website
- Profile – Super GT official website
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Formula Challenge Japan Champion 2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Macau Grand Prix Winner 2008 | Succeeded by |