Yuhi Sekiguchi

Yuhi Sekiguchi is a Japanese racing driver who currently competes in two premier Japanese championships – the Super GT Series and the Super Formula. He made a Super GT debut in 2007, winning four races since then. In the Super Formula Championship, Sekiguchi made a debut in 2016, winning five races since then.

Earlier in a career, he was a champion in several open-wheel competitions: Formula Challenge Japan (2006), Formula Toyota (2006) and Japanese Formula 3 (2011).

Yuhi Sekiguchi

Double champion early in a career

Born in December 1987 in Nakano, Tokyo, Sekiguchi spent some time in karting competitions and then made a debut in car racing in 2004, participating in few races of the Formula Renault Asian Challenge.

In 2005, he moved to Esso Formula Toyota Series, finishing fifth in his debut season and then winning the championship title in 2006. Sekiguchi was a double champion that year because he also won the title in the inaugural season of the Formula Challenge Japan.

Formula 3 and Super GT programme in 2007

In 2007, Sekiguchi continued with a double programme, progressing to the Japanese Formula 3 Championship but also making a debut in the Super GT Series. In Formula 3, he was driving a Dallara-Toyota for Now Motorsport, scoring one podium to finish seventh in the points.

In his first Super GT season, Sekiguchi was driving the #19 Toyota Celica for Racing Project Bandoh, sharing a car with Akira Iida. They scored GT300 class victory at Sportsland Sugo to finish 10th in the final standings.

In 2008, Sekiguchi competed in the International Formula Master series

2008 – a season in the International Formula Master

In 2008, Sekiguchi made an attempt in the international racing, participating in the International Formula Master series with the Italian Euronova Racing team. Driving the #45 Tatuus-Honda he scored no wins or podiums to finish 16th in the points. He also participated in one round of the Italian Formula Master, scoring one victory.

In Japan, Sekiguchi participated in just one race, as the third driver in the #19 Lexus IS350 at Suzuka 1000 Km, sharing a car with Manabu Orido and Tsubasa Abe.

Back to Japanese Formula 3 in 2009

Between seasons, in October 2008, Sekiguchi participated in the Chinese round of the GP2 Asia Series. After that, he returned full time to the Japanese Formula 3 Championship, driving the #18 Dallara-Toyota for AIM Sports in the National Class. He was a race winner three times, finishing fifth in the points.

In the 2009 Super GT season, Sekiguchi joined Team Takeuchi in four rounds to drive the #52 Lexus IS350 in the GT300 class.

In 2011, Sekiguchi was the Formula 3 champion with B-Mx Engineering

F3 vice-champion in 2010, F3 champion in 2011

Sekiguchi stayed in the National Class of the Japanese Formula 3 in 2010, driving the #12 Dallara-Nissan for ThreeBond Racing. He finished second in the final standings, behind Yuji Kunimoto.

For the 2011 Formula 3 season, Sekiguchi joined B-Max Engineering to drive the #50 Dallara-Toyota in the Championship Class, scoring six victories and taking the title. He beat Hironobu Yasuda by just one point.

Two Super GT seasons with JLOC

While competing in the Formula 3, Sekiguchi spent two seasons with JLOC team in the Super GT Series, driving a Lamborghini Gallardo in the GT300 class. In 2010, his teammate in the #86 car was Koji Yamanishi and they finished ninth in the points.

In 2011, Sekiguchi was sharing the #88 Lamborghini with Hiroyuki Iiri, finishing 13th in the final GT300 classification.

Yuhi Sekiguchi (left) and Katsumasa Chiyo were the teammates in 2012

Two Super GT seasons with Nissan

In 2012, with the F3 title in his pocket, Sekiguchi focused solely on Super GT racing. He was driving the #3 Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 for NDDP Racing, sharing a car with Katsumasa Chiyo. They were race winners at Sportsland Sugo. Sekiguchi missed one round (Fuji) and finished sixth in the points.

In 2013, Sekiguchi stayed with Nissan but made a progress to GT500 class. He joined Satoshi Motoyama in the #1 Mola Nissan GT-R. Without wins or podiums, they finished 12th in the points.

In 2013, Sekiguchi also made a short return to Formula 3, participating in two races of the Japanese championship and taking part in some non-championship events (Masters of F3, Macau Grand Prix) but without notable results.

Yuhi Sekiguchi in 2014

Driving for Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh since 2014

For the 2014 Super GT season, Sekiguchi made a move from Nissan to Lexus, joining Lexus Team WedsSport Bandoh to drive the #19 Lexus RC F. His co-driver was Juichi Wakisaka. Without wins and far from podiums in all eight races, they finished 15th in the points.

Sekiguchi's second season in the #19 Lexus was slightly better. His best result during a season was the fourth place at Suzuka 1000 Km and he finished 11th in the points.

In 2015, Sekiguchi again made a short return to Formula 3, joining B-Max in four races of the Japanese and in the Macau Grand Prix.

Yuhi Sekiguchi in 2015

Two wins in the first Super Formula season

In 2016, Sekiguchi made a debut in the Japanese Super Formula Championship, joining Team Impul to drive the #20 Toyota. He opened a season out of points at Suzuka and Okayama and then reached his first podium in the third round at Fuji.

In the fourth race, at Twin Ring Motegi, the maiden victory came. Later in the season, Sekiguchi scored one more win at Sportsland Sugo to finish third in the championship, behind Yuji Kunimoto and Andre Lotterer.

Maiden GT500 victory in 2016

In 2016, Sekiguchi was also pretty successful in the Super GT Series, scoring his maiden GT500 victory in the #19 Lexus RC F. He and his new co-driver Yuji Kunimoto were the race winners at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand.

They scored one more podium in the season's finale at Twin Ring Motegi, finishing the championship in the fourth place.

Yuhi Sekiguchi drives for Toyota in the Super Formula Championship since 2016

Two more Super Formula wins in 2017

In 2017, Sekiguchi continued with a double programme in the Super Formula and Super GT Series. He added two more Super Formula wins on his account, winning at Okayama and Sportsland Sugo in the #19 Toyota. He was among the contenders for the championship title but the season's finale had been canceled due to a typhoon and he finished fourth in the points.

In the Super GT Series, he was driving a new Lexus LC 500, sharing a car with three different co-drivers but scored no wins or podiums. He ended 13th in the points. Outside Japanese competitions, he made a one-off return to Formula 3 in the Macau Grand Prix, not finishing the race, and also joined VS Racing to drive Lamborghini Huracan GT3 in one round of the Asian Le Mans Series.

Sekiguchi scored five Super Formula wins with Team Impul from 2016 to 2018

Winning both in Super Formula and Super GT

In 2018, Sekiguchi was a race winner one in the Super Formula, at Okayama, finishing again fourth in the championship points. In the Super GT Series, he stayed with Toyota/Lexus but changed a car, sharing the #36 Lexus LC500 with Kazuki Nakajima. They were race winners at Fuji Speedway and he finished fifth in the points.

He continued with the same programme in 2019, winning one race in the Super Formula to finish eighth in the points, but also winning one race in the Super GT Series to finish seventh in the points.

Photos: Yuhi Sekiguchi, Super Formula, Eric Gilbert,