Hiroki Yoshimoto

(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 . 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.

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.

Yoshimoto got his first taste of a full Japanese F3 season in 2002, though, with the Now team. He achieved one win, one pole position and two other podium finishes, finishing eighth in the championship. He also finished respectively fifth in the prestigious Macau Grand Prix. He stayed with the team for 2003 finishing tenth 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 fifth.

Yoshimoto 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.

Racing record

Complete Japanese Formula Three Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete World Series by Nissan results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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 IMOFEA IMOSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA NÜRFEA NÜRSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR SILFEA SILSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SPAFEA SPASPR BHRFEA BHRSPR 16th 14 2006 BCN Competición VALFEA VALSPR IMOFEA IMOSPR NÜRFEA NÜRSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA SILFEA SILSPR MAGFEA MAGSPR HOCFEA HOCSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR ISTFEA ISTSPR MNZFEA MNZSPR 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 DUBFEA DUBSPR SENFEA SENSPR SEPFEA SEPSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR DUBFEA DUBSPR 10th 13 2008–09 BCN Competición SHIFEA SHISPR DUBFEA DUBSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR LSLFEA LSLSPR SEPFEA SEPSPR BHRFEA BHRSPR 24th 0

Complete Super GT results ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. (Number) Driver did not take part in this sprint race, points are still awarded for the teammate's result. Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Nippon results

Complete Formula Renault V6 Asia Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete World Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Car Engine Class 1 2 3 4 DC Points 2015–16 Team AAI - HubAuto BMW Z4 GT3 BMW 4.4 L V8 GT FUJ SEP 7th 43 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 Mercedes-Benz 6.2 L V8 BUR SEP