Hiroki Yoshimoto (吉本 大樹, Yoshimoto Hiroki) (born 2 September 1980 in Osaka) is a Japanese race car driver. He raced in the 2005 GP2 Series for the BCN Competicion team, alongside the Venezuelan E. J. Viso. For 2006 he was initially teamed with the more experienced Timo Glock of Germany. In addition to his racing, he is also the vocalist for Japanese rock band doa under the name Daiki Yoshimoto (吉本 大樹, Yoshimoto Daiki, "Daiki" and "Hiroki" are written identically in Japanese).[1] In 2023, Yoshimoto and doa's members have announced departure from the agency Giza Studio and from September and became freelancer under Floodlight company, the announcement was made on doa's official website.
| Hiroki Yoshimoto | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Born | September 2, 1980 Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan |
| World Touring Car Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2011 |
| Current team | NIKA Racing |
| Car number | 67 |
| Former teams | Tuenti Racing Team |
| Starts | 6 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | NC in 2011–2013 |
| Previous series | |
| 2005–06 2008–09 | GP2 Series GP2 Asia Series |
Daiki Yoshimoto | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Hiroki Yoshimoto |
| Born | September 2, 1980 |
| Origin | Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist, Race car driver |
| Instrument(s) | Vocalist |
| Years active | 2004 - |
| Labels | Giza Studio, Floodlight company |
Racing career
Yoshimoto is the only driver in GP2 Series to have driven the bulk of his pre-GP2 career in Asia, the rest of the series mainly moving up the ranks in South America or Europe. Yoshimoto started out in 1999, competing in Japanese Formula Junior 1600. He moved for Japanese Formula Toyota in 2000, racing in Korean F1800 later in the year. A move to Japanese Formula Three for 2001 was his reward for hard work, although his stint with the Yellow Hat team resulted in only two races.
He got his first taste of a full Japanese F3 season in 2002, though, with the Now team. He achieved 1 win, 1 pole position and two other podium finishes, finishing 8th in the championship. He also finished respectively 5th in the prestigious Macau Grand Prix. He stayed with the team for 2003 finishing 10th in the championship before moving on in 2004 for the Japanese GT Series. He also drove two races of the World Series by Nissan of the same year, for the Gabord team.
On 3 and 4 November 2007, Yoshimoto took part in the Formula Asia V6 by Renault Championship at the Zhuhai International Circuit. He won round 11 ahead of James Winslow and Armaan Ebrahim but stalled on the grid for round 12 and eventually finished 5th.
He returned to GP2 for 2008, driving for the Qi-Meritus Mahara team in the GP2 Asia Series. He continued in the series for the 2008–09 season with the BCN Competición team. However, BCN was purchased and renamed as Ocean Racing Technology after the first round of the season, and Yoshimoto was replaced by Yelmer Buurman.[2]
Racing record
Complete GP2 Series results
(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 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | BCN Competición | IMO FEA Ret | IMO SPR 9 | CAT FEA Ret | CAT SPR 17 | MON FEA DNS | NÜR FEA 11 | NÜR SPR Ret | MAG FEA 6 | MAG SPR 2 | SIL FEA 13 | SIL SPR Ret | HOC FEA 12 | HOC SPR Ret | HUN FEA 13 | HUN SPR 17 | IST FEA 8 | IST SPR 10 | MNZ FEA 10 | MNZ SPR 16 | SPA FEA Ret | SPA SPR 17 | BHR FEA 7 | BHR SPR 6 | 16th | 14 |
| 2006 | BCN Competición | VAL FEA Ret | VAL SPR 12 | IMO FEA 8 | IMO SPR 3 | NÜR FEA 8 | NÜR SPR 4 | CAT FEA Ret | CAT SPR Ret | MON FEA Ret | SIL FEA Ret | SIL SPR 17† | MAG FEA 9 | MAG SPR Ret | HOC FEA 23† | HOC SPR Ret | HUN FEA Ret | HUN SPR Ret | IST FEA Ret | IST SPR 19 | MNZ FEA 8 | MNZ SPR 5 | 15th | 12 |
Complete GP2 Asia Series results
(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 | 11 | 12 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Qi-Meritus Mahara | DUB FEA 6 | DUB SPR 4 | SEN FEA Ret | SEN SPR 20 | SEP FEA Ret | SEP SPR 10 | BHR FEA 12 | BHR SPR 4 | DUB FEA 5 | DUB SPR 13 | 10th | 13 | ||
| 2008–09 | BCN Competición | SHI FEA Ret | SHI SPR 8 | DUB FEA | DUB SPR | BHR FEA | BHR SPR | LSL FEA | LSL SPR | SEP FEA | SEP SPR | BHR FEA | BHR SPR | 24th | 0 |
Complete Super GT results
* Season still in progress.
References
External links
- Hiroki Yoshimoto career summary at DriverDB.com