Hidetoshi Mitsusada (光貞秀俊, Mitsusada Hidetoshi, born 29 December 1970) is a former racing driver and current motorsport announcer from Japan. He currently serves as a commentator for Super GT on J Sports, partnering lead announcer Sascha Boeckle on its live broadcasts.
| Hidetoshi Mitsusada 光貞秀俊 | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Japanese |
| Born | December 29, 1970 Osaka, Japan |
| Super GT | |
| Years active | 1996-2008 |
| Teams | Arktech Motorsports DHG Racing Hitotsuyama Racing Raybrig Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft Mugen x Dome Project Nakajima Racing Toyota Castrol Team Cerumo |
| Starts | 70 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Poles | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| Best finish | 3rd in 2001 |
| Previous series | |
| 1994-2002 1999-2000 1995 | Formula Nippon Formula 3000 Japanese Touring Car Championship |
Career
editMitsusada began competing in Japanese Formula Three in 1991 with Now Motor Sports and secured a podium in his first season with the team. By 1993, he continued to race with the team and won his first race, along with a further four podium finishes. He finished 4th in the championship, and represented the team at the 1993 Macau Grand Prix. In 1994, he graduated to Formula Nippon and drove for DOME. In 1995, he continued racing in Formula Nippon now for Team 5Zigen, and also raced for Toyota Team Cerumo in the Japanese Touring Car Championship. In that series he secured 57 points and 2 podium finishes driving their Toyota Corona. In 1996, Mitsusada made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, racing for Team SARD Toyota Co Ltd in their Toyota Supra. He also raced for the first time in Super GT with the Toyota Castrol Team, having close battles with the Lark McLaren F1.[1] A return to Formula Nippon in the same year followed, again with Team 5Zigen, however over the 10 races he scored no points. For 1997, he switched to Cosmo Team Cerumo and saw greater success with three podium finishes and 4th place in the championship.
For 1998, Mitsusada moved away from Japan to compete in the final three rounds of the Formula 3000 International Championship with Nordic Racing. His best result came in the final round of the season with a 15th place finish. He returned to Japan for 1999, and once again competed in Formula Nippon this time with Nakajima Racing. He finished the season in 3rd place, collecting 2 wins and 31 points along the way. He also raced for the team three times in Super GT, winning 1 race.
In 2000, Mitsusada was appointed official test driver for the Benetton Formula One team. He would support the drivers developing the B200 race car.[2] Alongside this, he was confirmed to race for World Racing Team in the Formula 3000 International Championship. However, he failed to qualify for any of the first three races and was dropped from his race seat and Benetton test role.[3][4] He returned to compete in Super GT, now with DOME and secured 2 podium finishes. He also competed in the 1000km Suzuka race. Across 2001 and 2002, Mitsusada continued to race across both Formula Nippon and Super GT.
In 2003, he switched attention purely to the Super GT series. He finished the season in 20th, driving the Raybrig Honda NSX.[5] In 2004, he switched teams to Hitotsuyama Racing where he would stay until the end of 2005 racing their Ferrari 550 Maranello. Between 2006 and 2008, Mitsusada switched from GT500 to the GT300 class, initially with DHG Racing racing their Ford GT.[6] He secured 1 podium finish in the first season, on his way to 16th in the championship. For his final two seasons, Mitsusada raced the Arktech Motorsports teams Porsche Boxster, finishing 15th and 26th in each season respectively.[7][8][9]
In 2013, Mitsusada launched Team MPR a karting team he manages.[10] Mitsusada currently acts as one of the lead commentators for Super GT's live broadcast on J Sports, a role that he has had since at least 2018.[11][12]
Racing record
editComplete Japanese Formula 3 results
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Now Motor Sports | Mugen | SUZ 11 |
FUJ C |
FUJ DNS |
SUZ 3 |
TSU DNS |
SEN 7 |
MIN 11 |
TSU DNS |
SUG 20 |
SUZ 19 |
SUZ 13 |
16th | 4 |
| 1992 | Now Motor Sports | Mugen | SUZ Ret |
TSU 12 |
FUJ 12 |
SUZ 13 |
SEN 16 |
TAI 12 |
MIN 12 |
SUG 5 |
SUZ Ret |
SUZ Ret |
13th | 2 | |
| 1993 | Now Motor Sports | Toyota | SUZ 4 |
TSU 3 |
FUJ 9 |
SUZ 5 |
SEN 2 |
TAI 1 |
MIN 4 |
SUG Ret |
SUZ 3 |
SUZ 3 |
4th | 33 |
Japanese Top Formula Championship results
edit| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Dome | SUZ Ret |
FUJ Ret |
MIN 10 |
SUZ 9 |
SUG 8 |
FUJ 12 |
SUZ 10 |
FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | NC | 0 |
| 1995 | Team 5Zigen | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | SUZ Ret |
SUG | FUJ 7 |
TOK Ret |
FUJ Ret |
SUZ 9 |
NC | 0 | |
| 1996 | Team 5Zigen | SUZ Ret |
MIN Ret |
FUJ 9 |
TOK Ret |
SUZ 10 |
SUG 14 |
FUJ 10 |
MIN 12 |
SUZ Ret |
FUJ Ret |
NC | 0 |
| 1997 | Cosmo Team Cerumo | SUZ 3 |
MIN 7 |
FUJ 4 |
SUZ 4 |
SUG Ret |
FUJ 3 |
MIN 3 |
MOT 9 |
FUJ 5 |
SUZ | 4th | 20 |
| 1999 | Piaa Nakajima Racing | SUZ 3 |
MOT 1 |
MIN 8 |
FUJ 10 |
SUZ 5 |
SUG 11 |
FUJ 4 |
MIN 1 |
MOT 5 |
SUZ 9 |
3rd | 31 |
| 2001 | DoCoMo Dandelion Racing | SUZ | MOT | MIN | FUJ | SUZ 13 |
SUG | FUJ | MIN | MOT | SUZ | NC | 0 |
| 2002 | Team 5Zigen | SUZ | FUJ | MIN 5 |
SUZ 2 |
MOT | SUG | FUJ | MIN | MOT | SUZ | 9th | 8 |
Complete Formula 3000 results
edit| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Points | Championship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Nordic | GER | SAN | SPA | GBR | MON | FRA | AUS | GER | HUN | BEL 23 |
ITA Ret |
GER 15 |
0 | NC |
| 2000 | World Racing Team | SAN DNQ |
GBR DNQ |
SPA DNQ |
GER | MON | FRA | AUS | GER | HUN | BEL | 0 | NC |
Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship results
edit(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 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Toyota Team Cerumo | Toyota Corona | FUJ 1 Ret |
FUJ 2 12 |
7th | 57 | ||||||||||||||
| Toyota Corona EXiV | SUG 1 6 |
SUG 2 2 |
TOK 1 7 |
TOK 2 2 |
SUZ 1 4 |
SUZ 2 5 |
MIN 1 6 |
MIN 2 Ret |
TAI 1 Ret |
TAI 2 Ret |
SEN 1 16 |
SEN 2 DSQ |
FUJ 1 5 |
FUJ 2 20 |
Complete JGTC/Super GT results
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
External links
edit- Hidetoshi Mitsusada career summary at DriverDB.com
References
edit- ^ "The Story Of Team Lark's 1996 Campaign". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "Benetton Maintains Japanese Line". crash.net. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- ^ "Formula 3000 round-up". Autosport. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "Benetton Looking For New Test Driver". Atlasf1. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
- ^ "Honda's History In GT500, In Pictures". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "La historia de la semana: La mezcla imperfecta de un Ford GT y el motor Zetec-R de Fórmula 1" (in Spanish). diariomotor.com. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "Hidetoshi Matsusada". DriverDB. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "Mitsusada". Motorsport Magazine. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "Hidetoshi Mitsusada". Historic Racing. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "光貞秀俊が監督のMPR、公式サイトをオープン" (in Japanese). as-web.jp. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ "SUPER GT 2023 第8戦 モビリティリゾートもてぎ". jsports.co.jp (in Japanese). J Sports. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
- ^ "Motegi GT Grand Final Preview: The Battle For the Championship". dailysportscar.com. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2023.