Kei Cozzolino

Kei Francesco Cozzolino (born 9 November 1987 in Shinjuku, Tokyo) is a Japanese-Italian professional racing driver. A Ferrari specialist, he competes in sports car racing events including the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona and the Asian Le Mans Series with AF Corse. Cozzolino joined the 2024 Super GT series, driving a Ferrari 296 GT3 for Ponos Racing.

Early life Cozzolino was born in Ichigaya, Shinjuku by Japanese mother and Italian father. He grew up in Japan and had his first experience with racing at eight years old, thanks to his dad's passion for cars. When Cozzolino turned 14, they moved to Florence, Italy, where he studied at an international school.

Racing career

Karting Cozzolino started karting at the age of nine. He competed and won in various competitions in classes in Japan and around the world. His karting career ended in 2005 when he switched to racing cars.

Junior Formula In 2006, Cozzolino made his debut in auto racing, in the Formula Toyota series, during the second round of the championship at Sendai Hi-Land Raceway. Cozzolino finished tenth out of eleven finishers.

In 2007, Cozzolino competed in the Formula Challenge Japan and the Formula Toyota classes. In the Formula Challenge Japan, supported by Nissan, Toyota and Honda, he won one race. All the drivers who entered both the Formula Toyota and Formula Challenge Japan series were supported by Toyota. This was to promote the Formula Challenge Japan as a replacement of the Formula Toyota after the series disbandment. In the final season of the Formula Toyota, Cozzolino won the title. He was strong all season long, but Keisuke Kunimoto had the lead before the final round of the season. At the final round of the season at Fuji International Speedway, Cozzolino qualified second and Kunimoto sixth. After a strong race, Cozzolino won the race, Kunimoto did not finish the race, thus the championship was decided in Cozzolino's favour.

Formula 3

After his 2007 Formula Toyota championship, Cozzolino graduated to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship driving Now Motor Sport in a Dallara F308. As a result of winning the championship, he also tested for the Toyota Tom's Formula Nippon factory team. In his debut year in Formula 3, Cozzolino achieved four podium finishes and a ninth place in the championship. He also participated in the 2008 Macau Grand Prix Formula Three where he finished fifteenth.

For the 2009 season, Cozzolino switched to the only Honda powered entry Toda Racing. He achieved his first win in Formula Three during the round at Twin Ring Motegi. But with the Toyota Tom's team dominating the championship, Cozzolino was best of the rest finishing fourth.

Formula Nippon (Super Formula) For the 2010 season, Cozzolino graduated to the Formula Nippon, the highest racing class in Japan. Cozzolino participated in a Toyota powered Swift FN09 entered by Team LeMans. His best finish was a fourth place at Autopolis. During the non-championship Fuji Sprint Cup, he achieved his first pole-position and eventually finished tenth in the standings.

World Touring Car Championship After more than a year without racing, Cozzolino was announced as a replacement of Alberto Cerqui for the Guia Race of Macau. 29 drivers attempted to qualify for the event of which 23 could start the race, Cozzolino qualified 22nd. In the first race, he had an accident after seven laps but he was qualified 20th. In the second race, he was the last running driver in 19th place, two laps behind the winning driver.

Asian Le Mans Series In 2018–2019, Cozzolino drove the Ferrari 488 GT3 of the privately run CAR GUY team, with teammates Takeshi Kimura and James Calado, won all four legs of the 2018–19 Asian Le Mans Series. The team achieved an auto-invitation to enter into the 2019 24 hours of Le Mans. Cozzolino returned to the series with AF Corse teaming up with Emmanuel Collard and Charlie Samani.

24 Hours of Le Mans

Cozzolino has made three appearances in Le Mans (2019, 2020 and 2023). In 2019, he finished fifth in class. At his second attempt in 2020, the Ferrari 488 GTE EVO of the MR Racing team, suffered a mechanical problem early on the race and was forced to be seven laps behind the leader. In the end, the team retired due to a gearbox failure on lap 172. In the 2023 edition, this time with the Kessel Racing's Ferrari 488 GTE EVO number 74, he finished ninth in class.

FIA World Endurance Championship

Following his remarkable achievement in 2019, Cozzolino secured a contract to compete for the MR Racing team during the FIA WEC 2019–2020 season. He teamed up with Olivier Beretta and Motoaki Ishikawa, and their best performance came in the form of a third-place finish in the opening round at Silverstone. Unfortunately, as the season progressed, MR Racing was forced to withdraw from the series due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cozzolino made a return to the series for the final round in Bahrain, this time with Red River Sport.

In 2023, Cozzolino joined forces with Kessel Racing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Monza events. Subsequently, he made a comeback with AF Corse to participate in the Fuji and Bahrain rounds.

Super GT

In 2016, Cozzolino made his debut in the Super GT series upon being promoted as a Lamborghini Young Driver. During that year, he participated in only two rounds, driving the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 as a member of the Direction Racing team.

Cozzolino's return to the series took place in 2020 when he stepped in to replace Nicki Thiim for the Pacific - D'station Racing team, driving the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 alongside the team's star driver, Tomonobu Fujii.

In the year 2021, Cozzolino embarked on a new venture, debuting the Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo with the PACIFIC NAC CARGUY Racing Team, forming a partnership with the 2012 Super GT 300 Champion, Naoki Yokomizo.

Looking ahead to 2024, Cozzolino rejoined the series as part of the PONOS Racing team, piloting the Ferrari 296 GT3. He would team up with Ferrari Factory Driver, Lilou Wadoux.

Following the announcement of Kawabata Shintaro's return to Super GT on June 5, 2026, Kei Cozzolino's profile was removed from the PONOS Racing website. It was later confirmed that he had departed the team.

Later, according to team owner and driver Tsujiko Yorikatsu, the team decided to strengthen its lineup midway through the season in order to improve its competitiveness. The team believed that, in order to make a leap to the front of the field, it needed "new stimulation" and a "different technical approach."

As a result, the team decided to replace its driver lineup, believing that Kawabata Shintaro would be able to extract more performance from the car and enhance the team's overall competitiveness.

Following PONOS Racing's announcement of a driver lineup change, Kei Cozzolino officially confirmed through his personal website that he would be leaving the team.

He expressed his gratitude to the team for providing him with opportunities to compete in various championships, including Super GT, the Asian Le Mans Series, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the SRO Japan Cup. Cozzolino also wished PONOS Racing success as it continues the season under its new structure.

Furthermore, he stated his intention to continue his career as a racing driver both in Japan and internationally while contributing to the development of motorsport.

Racing record Racing career summary ‡ Team score

Complete Formula Toyota results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pos. Points 2007 Le Beausset Motorsports FUJ SUZ MOT SEN1 SEN2 SUG FUJ 1st 103

Complete Japanese Formula 3 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula Nippon results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pos. Points 2010 Team LeMans SUZRet MOT10 FUJ8 MOT13 SUG7 AUT4 SUZ113 SUZ21410th8

Complete World Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points 2012 ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC ITA1 ITA2 ESP1 ESP2 MAR1 MAR2 SVK1 SVK2 HUN1 HUN2 AUT1 AUT2 POR1 POR2 BRA1 BRA2 USA1 USA2 JPN1 JPN2 CHN1 CHN2 MAC120† MAC219† 44th 0

Complete Super GT Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Season still in progress.

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GT World Challenge Asia results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Season still in progress.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2019 Car Guy Racing Takeshi Kimura Côme Ledogar Ferrari 488 GTE GTEAm 332 35th 5th 2020 MR Racing Vincent Abril Takeshi KimuraFerrari 488 GTE Evo GTEAm 172 DNF DNF 2023 Kessel Racing Yorikatsu Tsujiko Naoki Yokomizo Ferrari 488 GTE Evo GTEAm 303 38th 9th

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)