Naoki Yamamoto is a racing driver from Japan who competes in Super GT for Stanley Team Kunimitsu. Yamamoto is a four-time champion (2018, 2020, 2020, 2025), with 11 wins and 43 podiums from 171 starts.[1]
A Racer Rating of 6,244 ranks Yamamoto 107th of 38,983 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the high 8,000s. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file.
| 2026-05-03 | Fuji GT500 | P8 | −60 |
| 2026-04-11 | Okayama GT500 | P7 | −40 |
| Rating won | Race | Series | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| +146 | Suzuka 2013 | Super GT | P1 |
| +138 | Motegi 2022 | Super Formula | P1 |
| +135 | Fuji 2014 | Super GT | P1 |
| +129 | Sugo 2019 | Super Formula | P1 |
| +126 | Sugo 2015 | Super GT | P1 |
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Podiums | DNFs | Poles | Points | Pos | Gain/Loss | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | ▸Super GT | Stanley Team Kunimitsu | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | −100 | 6,244 |
| 2025 | â–¸Super GT | Stanley Team Kunimitsu | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P1 | +139 | 6,344 |
| 2024 | â–¸Super Formula | PONOS Nakajima Racing | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P8 | +151 | 6,205 |
| â–¸Super GT | Stanley Team Kunimitsu | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P2 | +272 | ||
| 2023 | ▸Super Formula | TCS Nakajima Racing | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P12 | −121 | 5,782 |
| ▸Super GT | Team Kunimitsu | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | P11 | −141 | ||
| 2022 | ▸Super Formula | TCS Nakajima Racing | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | P10 | −112 | 6,043 |
| â–¸Super GT | Team Kunimitsu | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | P3 | +209 | ||
| 2021 | ▸Super GT | Team Kunimitsu | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | P2 | −99 | 5,947 |
| ▸Super Formula | TCS Nakajima Racing | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P13 | −365 | ||
| 2020 | â–¸Super GT | Team Kunimitsu | 8 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P1 | +121 | 6,384 |
| â–¸Super Formula | DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | P1 | +98 | ||
| 2019 | ▸Super GT | Team Kunimitsu | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P9 | −564 | 6,211 |
| ▸Super Formula | DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | P2 | ↑383+445 | ||
| 2018 | â–¸Super GT | Team Kunimitsu | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | P1 | +353 | 6,222 |
| 2017 | â–¸Super GT | Team Kunimitsu | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | P7 | +98 | 5,654 |
| 2016 | ▸Super GT | Team Kunimitsu | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P10 | −332 | 5,428 |
| 2015 | ▸Super GT | Team Kunimitsu | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | P3 | −33 | 5,556 |
| 2014 | â–¸Super GT | Weider Modulo Dome Racing | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P3 | +300 | 5,610 |
| 2013 | â–¸Super GT | Weider Modulo Dome Racing | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P4 | +209 | 5,542 |
| 2012 | ▸Super GT | Team Kunimitsu | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P7 | −13 | 5,333 |
| 2011 | ▸Super GT | Team Kunimitsu | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | P9 | −117 | 5,346 |
| 2010 | â–¸Super GT | Team Kunimitsu | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | P7 | +4,113 | 5,463 |
| Rival | Rating | Raced | Ahead | Behind | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇯🇵 Kazuya OshimaFIA Platinum | 5,519 | 173 | 106 | 67 | 61% |
| 🇯🇵 Yuji KunimotoFIA Platinum | 4,810 | 157 | 109 | 48 | 69% |
| 🇯🇵 Yuhi SekiguchiFIA Gold | 5,715 | 140 | 77 | 63 | 55% |
| 🇯🇵 Hiroaki IshiuraFIA Platinum | 5,505 | 139 | 75 | 64 | 54% |
| 🇯🇵 Koudai Tsukakoshi | 5,397 | 138 | 86 | 52 | 62% |
| 🇯🇵 Tomoki Nojiri | 6,152 | 132 | 67 | 65 | 51% |
| 🇯🇵 Tsugio MatsudaFIA Platinum | 4,858 | 122 | 71 | 51 | 58% |
| 🇯🇵 Ronnie Quintarelli | 5,458 | 116 | 60 | 56 | 52% |
| 🇯🇵 Yuji Tachikawa | 5,160 | 108 | 51 | 57 | 47% |
| 🇯🇵 Kenta YamashitaFIA Platinum | 6,267 | 106 | 55 | 51 | 52% |
| 🇯🇵 Alex PalouFIA Platinum, 4× champion | 7,659 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 57% |
| 🇲🇽 Pato O'WardFIA Gold, 2× champion | 7,024 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 67% |
| 🇯🇵 Tadasuke MakinoFIA Gold, 2× champion | 6,639 | 53 | 24 | 29 | 45% |
| # | Driver | Series | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97 | 🇦🇹 Niki Lauda | Formula 1 | 6,274 |
| 98 | 🇵🇱 Robert Kubica | WEC | 6,274 |
| 99 | 🇺🇸 Matt Campbell | IMSA WeatherTech | 6,270 |
| 100 | 🇯🇵 Kenta Yamashita | Super GT | 6,267 |
| 101 | 🇺🇸 Tyler Reddick | NASCAR Cup Series | 6,263 |
| 102 | 🇲🇽 Daniel Suarez | NASCAR Cup Series | 6,260 |
| 103 | 🇫🇷 Didier Pironi | Formula 1 | 6,256 |
| 104 | 🇮🇹 Alberto Ascari | Formula 1 | 6,252 |
| 105 | 🇦🇺 Jamie Whincup | Supercars Championship | 6,251 |
| 106 | 🇯🇵 Ryo Hirakawa | WEC | 6,245 |
| 107 | 🇯🇵 Naoki Yamamoto | Super GT | 6,244 |
| 108 | 🇬🇧 Jake Dennis | Formula E | 6,242 |
| 109 | 🇸🇪 Ronnie Peterson | Formula 1 | 6,242 |
| 110 | 🇬🇧 John Watson | Formula 1 | 6,238 |
| 111 | 🇮🇹 Luigi Fagioli | Formula 1 | 6,237 |
| 112 | 🇺🇸 Ryan Preece | NASCAR Cup Series | 6,234 |
| 113 | 🇫🇷 Jean-Eric Vergne | Formula E | 6,228 |
| 114 | 🇺🇸 Peter Revson | Formula 1 | 6,225 |
| 115 | 🇺🇸 Clint Bowyer | NASCAR Truck | 6,222 |
| 116 | 🇲🇽 Pedro RodrÃguez | Formula 1 | 6,222 |
| 117 | 🇨🇳 Zhou Guanyu | Formula 2 | 6,213 |
Naoki Yamamoto is a professional sportscar racing driver whose career has centred on Super GT, where he has won three championships (2018, 2020, 2025) and recorded eight wins from 117 starts across 16 seasons with Stanley Team Kunimitsu. He holds the FIA Platinum grading for sportscar and endurance racing, denoting a driver at the full professional level in that discipline. His rating of 7,230 places him among the top 100 active drivers in the world and reflects an established professional capable of winning at the very top level of his chosen series.[1]
Yamamoto's competitive record reveals a sustained rivalry with several championship-calibre professionals. He holds a winning head-to-head record against Sho Tsuboi, a four-time Super GT champion, with 41 victories to Tsuboi's 57 across 98 shared races; against Yuhi Sekiguchi, the 2021 Super GT champion, Yamamoto leads 73 to 44 over 117 races. He has also competed frequently against Kazuya Oshima, the 2016 Super GT champion, finishing ahead in 69 of 121 shared races. Notably, he has beaten drivers of considerably higher rating from other disciplines on occasion, including Alex Palou, a four-time IndyCar champion rated 7,766, though this record reflects isolated results rather than a sustained pattern. His average finishing position across all 130 starts stands at seventh.[2]
A parallel career in Super Formula from 2017 to 2024 yielded two podium finishes from 13 starts, a field where he raced against multiple champions and higher-rated specialists without finding victory. Yamamoto announced his retirement from Super Formula at the end of 2024 and remains active in Super GT as of the 2026 season, where his three-championship record and consistency with Team Kunimitsu have established him as a cornerstone figure in the series.