Masataka Yanagida

Masataka Yanagida (柳田真孝, Yanagida Masataka, born 4 June 1979, in Tokyo) is a Japanese racing driver. He notably won the Super GT title four times, from 2003 to 2012 in GT300 then GT500.

Career The son of successful racing driver Haruhito Yanagida, a runner-up in the Japanese Touring Car Championship, Masataka began his career in karting in 1993. In 1997, he raced in Formula Renault Campus in France, before stepping up to the main French Formula Renault Championship in 1998. He moved on to Formula Dream in 1999, taking five victories in the 2000 season.

Yanagida's Super GT career yielded four titles, all with Nissan (pictured in 2013).

In 2001, Yanagida began racing in Japanese F3 and Japanese GT. He finished seventh in the F3 standings and fourth in the GT300 class in Japanese GT, where he raced with Yuji Ide. He improved to finish third in GT300 in 2002, before winning the class in 2003. He returned to F3 in 2004, but could only finish 10th. He moved up to the GT500 class of Super GT in 2005, finishing fifth in the standings, sharing with Michael Krumm.

Yanigada made his World Touring Car Championship debut at the 2010 FIA WTCC Race of Japan at Okayama for the Wiechers-Sport team.

Racing record Career summary

Complete Japanese Formula 3 results

Complete Formula Nippon results Year Team Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Pts 2006 Kondo Racing ToyotaFUJSUZMOTSUZAUTFUJSUGMOTSUZ 14th 1 2007 Kondo Racing ToyotaFUJSUZMOTOKASUZFUJSUGMOTSUZ NC 0

Complete Super GT results Season still in progress

Complete Asian Le Mans Series

Notes and references