Ryō Hirakawa

Ryō Hirakawa
Nationality	Japanese
Born	7 March 1994 Kure, Japan
Super Formula career
Debut season	2013
Current team	Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans
Car no.	7
Starts	7
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	11th in 2013
Previous series
2012 2010–12 2010	All-Japan Formula Three Formula Challenge Japan Formula BMW Pacific
Championship titles
2012 2012	All-Japan Formula Three Porsche Carrera Cup Japan

Ryō Hirakawa (平川亮 Hirakawa Ryō, born 7 March 1994) is a Japanese racing driver, best known for winning the 2012 All-Japan Formula Three Championship.

Career

Karting

Born in Kure, Hiroshima, Hirakawa began his racing career in karting at the age of eleven and raced in various local championships, progressing to the KF2 category in 2009, finishing 32nd in the Asia-Pacific Championship.^[1][2]

Formula Challenge Japan and Formula BMW Pacific

In 2010, Hirakawa graduated to single–seaters into the Formula Challenge Japan mono-series. He finished two of the eleven races on the podium and finished sixth in the series standings.^[3] Hirakawa also contested the final rounds in Formula BMW Pacific, joining the Asia Racing Team.^[4][5]

He remained in Formula Challenge Japan for two further years, finishing both years as runner-up; he took one win in 2011 and five wins in 2012.^[6][7]

All-Japan Formula Three

In 2012, Hirakawa stepped up to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship with the RSS team.^[8] He dominated the first half of the championship, taking seven wins and taking the championship title with it.^[9] During the season he also appeared in the Macau Grand Prix.^[10]

Super Formula

Hirakawa made his debut in the Super Formula Championship in 2013 with Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans. At 19 years of age, Hirakawa was the youngest driver in the championship

In 2014, he scored his first Super Formula podium finish in the July 13 race at Fuji Speedway, finishing second after running off track while leading on the final lap. Kazuki Nakajima claimed the race victory.

In 2015, he remained with Team LeMans, to be joined by ex-Formula 1 driver Kamui Kobayashi. Hirakawa finished eighth in the championship for the second consecutive season, but did not claim a podium finish. Hirakawa left the series for the 2016 season, focusing on his commitments in Super GT and his new challenges in the European Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

IndyCar

Hirakawa had tests with Dale Coyne Racing during 2013.^[11]

Super GT

Hirakawa made his Super GT debut in 2014 with Lexus Team Petronas TOM's, substituting for Kazuki Nakajima for two races while Nakajima fulfilled commitments in the World Endurance Championship.

He made his full-time debut in 2015 for Lexus Team KeePer TOM's, driving alongside Andrea Caldarelli. He won his first race in just his third career start at Okayama, then won again in the season finale at Motegi. Hirakawa and Caldarelli finished fifth in the championship.

For 2016, Hirakawa will be joined in the KeePer TOM's RC-F by James Rossiter.

European Le Mans Series

On February 4, 2016, Toyota Gazoo Racing announced that Hirakawa would be competing in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series.^[12] On March 4, Hirakawa was confirmed as the third driver at Thiriet by TDS Racing alongside Pierre Thiriet and Mathias Beche. Hirakawa will also drive in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time. He won his first race in the ELMS at the 2016 4 Hours of Imola on May 15, 2016.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	FLaps	Podiums	Points	Position
2010	Formula Challenge Japan		11	0	0	1	2	17	6th
	Formula BMW Pacific	Asia Racing Team	3	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2011	Formula Challenge Japan		13	1	1	0	10	73	2nd
2012	All-Japan Formula Three	RSS	15	0	0	1	6	52	1st
	Formula Challenge Japan		12	5	4	4	10	91	2nd
	Macau Grand Prix Formula Three	KCMG by RSS	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
	Porsche Carrera Cup Japan	GARMIN Porsche	12	7	6	?	9	?	1st
2013	Super Formula	Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans	7	0	0	2	0	9	11th
2014	Super Formula	Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans	9	0	0	0	1	16.5	8th
	Super GT - GT500	Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S	2	0	0	0	0	8	11th
2015	Super Formula	Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans	8	0	0	0	0	13	8th
	Super GT - GT500	Lexus Team KeePer TOM'S	8	2	2	0	2	56	5th
2016	European Le Mans Series - LMP2	Thiriet by TDS Racing	2	1	1	?	1	26	3rd*
	Super GT - GT500	Lexus Team KeePer TOM's	2	0	1	0	2	27	2nd*

† – As Hirakawa was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Super Formula Results

(Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	DC	Points
2013	Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans	SUZ 8	AUT 7	FUJ 11	MOT 7	SUG Ret	SUZ1 6	SUZ2 4			11th	9
2014	Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans	SUZ 4	FUJ1 Ret	FUJ2 8	FUJ 2	MOT 10	AUT 13	SUG 8	SUZ1 16	SUZ2 5	8th	16.5
2015	Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans	SUZ 12	OKA 9	FUJ 6	MOT 7	AUT 4	SUG 8	SUZ 10	SUZ 5		8th	13

Complete Super GT results

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	DC	Points
2014	Lexus Team Petronas TOM'S	Lexus RC-F	GT500	OKA	FUJ 9	AUT 5	SUG	FUJ	SUZ	BUR	MOT	20th	8
2015	Lexus Team KeePer TOM'S	Lexus RC-F	GT500	OKA 1	FUJ 6	BUR 6	FUJ 12	SUZ 8	SUG 9	AUT 12	MOT 1	5th	56
2016	Lexus Team KeePer TOM'S	Lexus RC-F	GT500	OKA 2	FUJ 3	SUG	FUJ	SUZ	BUR	MOT1	MOT2	2nd*	27*

*Season still in progress.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2016	Thiriet by TDS Racing	Mathias Beche Pierre Thiriet	Oreca 05-Nissan	LMP2	241	DNF	DNF

References

1. "Profile" (in Japanese). ryo-hirakawa.com. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
2. "Asia-Pacific Championship — KF2 2009". drivedb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
3. "Formula Challenge Japan 2010". Driver Database. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
4. "Formula BMW Pacific Provisional Entry List". macau.grandprix.gov.mo. Macau Grand Prix. Retrieved 2010-10-06.
5. "Formula BMW Pacific 2010". DriverDB.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
6. "Formula Challenge Japan 2011". DriverDB.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
7. "Formula Challenge Japan 2012". DriverDB.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
8. 開幕ラウンド占有走行 [Travel round the opening possession]. All-Japan Formula Three Championship (in Japanese). Japanese Formula 3 Association. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
9. "Japanese Formula 3 Championship – Championship Class 2012". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
10. "Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix Provisional Entry List". macau.grandprix.gov.mo. Macau Grand Prix. 24 August 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
11. Glendenning, Mark (14 August 2013). "Ryo Hirakawa closes in on Coyne IndyCar drive". Autosport. Haymarket. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
12. "Toyota GAZOO Racing Outlines 2016 Motorsports Activities". Toyota Global Newsroom. Toyota GAZOO Racing. Retrieved 4 March 2016.

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Ryō Hirakawa on Twitter
  
• Ryō Hirakawa career summary at DriverDB.com