Yuji Ide

(born 21 January 1975) is a Japanese racing driver. He is the 2005 Formula Nippon runner-up and the 2010 Suzuka 1000km winner. He competed in Formula One with the Super Aguri team in 2006, but was demoted to third driver after four races and subsequently lost his FIA Super Licence.

Early career

Born in Saitama, Saitama, Ide started his racing career in 1990 with kart racing. In 1991, he won the Kantou National Cup Kart Championship. In 1992, he was second in the Regional Kart Championship East Kantou series A1 Class and also won the Japan Kart Grand Prix SS stock class National GP. The following year, he joined the All-Japan Kart Championship Series Formula A Class before progressing to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship. Ide had known Aguri Suzuki for a long time, according to a press release, however Ide's meshing with the team had some issues with his lack of proficient English.

In his debut race in Bahrain, Ide was significantly behind his more experienced teammate Takuma Sato and failed to finish. At the next race in Malaysia, he retired after 33 laps.

During qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix, Ide was blamed for blocking Rubens Barrichello during his qualifying lap, causing the Brazilian to be stuck in the first round of qualifying and start 16th on the grid. Ide finished 13th in the race, two laps down. His weekend in Melbourne was notable for a number of spins, and team principal Aguri Suzuki subsequently suggested Ide's seat was not safe if his performances did not improve.

At Imola, Ide caused a first lap crash with Christijan Albers that put the Dutchman into a series of rolls which ended with Albers's car upside down. Ide was reprimanded by the stewards and warned over future conduct. Aguri Suzuki said "He didn't have enough testing because he doesn't understand how to use the car".

On 4 May 2006, Super Aguri announced that Ide would be dropped from the upcoming European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, following advice from the FIA that he needed more experience.

On 10 May 2006, the FIA revoked Ide's FIA Super Licence meaning he could no longer compete in F1 during the 2006 season. A statement from Super Aguri said that "Aguri Suzuki and A.Company (Japan) shall continue to seek driving opportunities for Yuji and hopefully a path back into Formula One". His best qualifying effort was 21st of 22 cars at his debut at Bahrain,

In the November 2009 issue of F1 Racing Magazine, Ide was named as one of the five worst F1 drivers in history. However, in December 2020 The Race noted that he was "a more capable driver than he was made to appear", with his brief F1 spell hampered by little testing, a language barrier and driving "very much the second car" of the new Super Aguri team.

Ide contested the International Pokka 1000km round of the 2006 Super GT Series at Suzuka with Nismo in the No. 23 Nissan. During the race, he was penalized after making contact with the No. 55 car of Hidetoshi Mitsusada; Ide ignored the black flag, resulting in his team's disqualification from the race.

In 2007, Ide remained in Formula Nippon with the Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) team, which is owned by Aguri Suzuki. His best finish of the season was a third place, scored in round five at Suzuka. Ide also raced as a third driver for ARTA in the 2007 International Pokka 1000km, where the team finished second overall, despite a large success ballast weight handicap.

Ide raced as a full-time driver in Super GT for Team Kunimitsu in 2008 and 2009, and then for ARTA in 2010. He notably won the 2010 Pokka GT Summer Special and finished second at the 2008 event. He also raced full-time in Formula Nippon in 2008 and 2010, but scored points just three times.

Racing record

Career summary

‡ Team standings.

Complete Japanese Formula 3 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Engine Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 DC Pts 1994 Active Toyota SUZ FUJ TSU SUZ SEN TOK MIN TAI SUG NC 0 Asada Racing Mugen SUZ 1995 Asada Racing Mugen J SUZ TSU MIN SUZ TAI SUG FUJ SUZ SEN 4th 22 1997 Asada Racing Mugen SUZ TSU MIN FUJ SUZ SUG SEN MOT FUJ SUZ NC 0 1998 Now Motorsports Toyota SUZ TSU MIN FUJ MOT SUZ SUG TAI SEN SUG NC 0 2000 Mugen × Dome Project Mugen SUZ TSU FUJ MIN TAI SUZ SUG MOT SEN SUZ 2nd 35 2001 Three Bond Racing Three Bond SUZ1 SUZ2 TSU1 TSU2 FUJ1 FUJ2 MIN1 MIN2 MOT1 MOT2 SUZ SUG1 SUG2 SEN1 SEN2 TAI1 TAI2 MOT1 MOT2 5th 100

Complete French Formula Three Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Chassis Engine Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Pts 2002 ARTA/Signature Dallara F302 Renault A NOG1 NOG2 LÉD1 LÉD2 DIJ1 DIJ2 CRT1 CRT2 ALB1 ALB2 LMS1 LMS2 MAG1 MAG2 7th 84

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 9 10 11 DC Points 2003 Team Cerumo SUZ FUJ MIN MOT SUZ SUG FUJ MIN MOT SUZ 7th 19 2004 Team Impul SUZ SUG MOT SUZ SUG MIN SEP MOT SUZ 3rd 32 2005 Team Impul MOT SUZ SUG FUJ SUZ MIN FUJ MOT SUZ 2nd 39 2006 Dandelion Racing FUJ SUZ MOT SUZ AUT FUJ SUG MOT SUZ 21st 0 2007 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri FUJ SUZ MOT OKA SUZ FUJ SUG MOT SUZ 13th 6 2008 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri FUJ SUZ MOT OKA SUZ SUZ MOT MOT FUJ FUJ SUG 19th 2 2010 Motul Team Mugen SUZ MOT FUJ MOT SUG AUT SUZ SUZ 14th 1

Complete Super GT results ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Points 2006 Super Aguri F1 Team Super Aguri SA05 Honda RA806E 2.4 V8 BHR MAL AUS SMR EUR ESP MON GBR CAN USA FRA GER HUN TUR ITA CHN JPN BRA 25th 0 Ide was entered as third driver but did not take part in the race weekend.