Recent from talks
Katsumasa Chiyo
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Katsumasa Chiyo
Katsumasa Chiyo (千代勝正, Chiyo Katsumasa; born 9 December 1986 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese factory racing driver, currently competing in the Autobacs Super GT Series as a factory driver for Nissan. He is a graduate of the Nissan Driver Development Program (NDDP), and a past champion of the Bathurst 12 Hour race, and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
Chiyo began racing cars in 2007, competing in the Formula Challenge Japan (FCJ) series after earning a scholarship from the NDDP. He finished third in the 2008 FCJ series, before moving into the National Class of the All-Japan Formula Three Championship in 2009. Chiyo won the National Class title in 2011 with NDDP Racing, winning five races to defeat Honda prospect Tomoki Nojiri on a tie breaker.
Chiyo returned to All-Japan F3 in 2013, competing in the main class with the B-Max Racing Team. He finished third in the championship, with two victories. Chiyo took part in the 2013 Macau Grand Prix, finishing in 15th place. In 2015, Chiyo made a one off return to F3 at Fuji Speedway. In 2016, Chiyo returned to F3 to contest the full season with B-Max Racing. He won one race, and finished sixth in the championship, after missing four races over two rounds due to a back injury.
After winning the All-Japan F3 National Class title in 2011, Chiyo stepped up to the Autobacs Super GT Series, racing a Nissan GT-R GT3 in the GT300 class for NDDP Racing. He took his first victory at Sportsland SUGO with Yuhi Sekiguchi, and went on to finish the season in fourth place. With NDDP prospect Daiki Sasaki moving up to GT300, Chiyo moved to pro-am team Dijon Racing for the 2013 season. He finished 28th in the standings after taking just one points-scoring finish.
After missing the 2014 season due to his new commitments in Europe, Chiyo returned to Super GT in 2015, this time with Gainer in their new Nissan GT-R alongside André Couto. Chiyo and Couto won the second round of the championship, the Fuji 500km. Then in the Suzuka 1000km, Chiyo, Couto, and third driver Ryuichiro Tomita won the GT300 class, despite carrying 88 kilogrammes of Success Ballast. Chiyo finished the season second in the championship, despite missing two races due to his ongoing commitments in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
His performances in Japan and Europe secured a promotion to the GT500 class for the 2016 season, joining three-time GT500 champion Satoshi Motoyama at MOLA. Chiyo and Motoyama finished third at Okayama International Circuit in their first race together. Chiyo suffered a spinal injury after a crash in the summer race at Fuji, which forced him to miss over a month of competition including the Suzuka 1000km. He finished the season twelfth in the standings in 2016, and again in 2017, where Chiyo nearly took his first premier class victory at Sugo after a last-lap battle between Motoyama and Kohei Hirate.
Chiyo and Motoyama remained team mates in 2018, as MOLA were replaced in GT500 by the new NDDP Racing with B-Max team. They finished 17th in the championship that season. After the season, Chiyo was assigned to drive in the Intercontinental GT Challenge for Nissan and KC Motorgroup (KCMG), resulting in his second sabbatical from Super GT. Instead, he was appointed reserve driver for the GT500 class, and in addition to providing commentary on television programs, he accompanied the team to all rounds that did not clash with the Intercontinental GT Challenge schedule. At the sixth round of the season in Autopolis, Chiyo was called on as a last-minute replacement for James Rossiter at Calsonic Team Impul, after Rossiter was diagnosed with acute tinnitus.
Chiyo returned to full-time GT500 competition in 2020, returning to NDDP Racing with B-Max alongside Hirate. They ranked 13th in the championship in 2020, and both drivers were retained for 2021.
Hub AI
Katsumasa Chiyo AI simulator
(@Katsumasa Chiyo_simulator)
Katsumasa Chiyo
Katsumasa Chiyo (千代勝正, Chiyo Katsumasa; born 9 December 1986 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese factory racing driver, currently competing in the Autobacs Super GT Series as a factory driver for Nissan. He is a graduate of the Nissan Driver Development Program (NDDP), and a past champion of the Bathurst 12 Hour race, and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
Chiyo began racing cars in 2007, competing in the Formula Challenge Japan (FCJ) series after earning a scholarship from the NDDP. He finished third in the 2008 FCJ series, before moving into the National Class of the All-Japan Formula Three Championship in 2009. Chiyo won the National Class title in 2011 with NDDP Racing, winning five races to defeat Honda prospect Tomoki Nojiri on a tie breaker.
Chiyo returned to All-Japan F3 in 2013, competing in the main class with the B-Max Racing Team. He finished third in the championship, with two victories. Chiyo took part in the 2013 Macau Grand Prix, finishing in 15th place. In 2015, Chiyo made a one off return to F3 at Fuji Speedway. In 2016, Chiyo returned to F3 to contest the full season with B-Max Racing. He won one race, and finished sixth in the championship, after missing four races over two rounds due to a back injury.
After winning the All-Japan F3 National Class title in 2011, Chiyo stepped up to the Autobacs Super GT Series, racing a Nissan GT-R GT3 in the GT300 class for NDDP Racing. He took his first victory at Sportsland SUGO with Yuhi Sekiguchi, and went on to finish the season in fourth place. With NDDP prospect Daiki Sasaki moving up to GT300, Chiyo moved to pro-am team Dijon Racing for the 2013 season. He finished 28th in the standings after taking just one points-scoring finish.
After missing the 2014 season due to his new commitments in Europe, Chiyo returned to Super GT in 2015, this time with Gainer in their new Nissan GT-R alongside André Couto. Chiyo and Couto won the second round of the championship, the Fuji 500km. Then in the Suzuka 1000km, Chiyo, Couto, and third driver Ryuichiro Tomita won the GT300 class, despite carrying 88 kilogrammes of Success Ballast. Chiyo finished the season second in the championship, despite missing two races due to his ongoing commitments in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup.
His performances in Japan and Europe secured a promotion to the GT500 class for the 2016 season, joining three-time GT500 champion Satoshi Motoyama at MOLA. Chiyo and Motoyama finished third at Okayama International Circuit in their first race together. Chiyo suffered a spinal injury after a crash in the summer race at Fuji, which forced him to miss over a month of competition including the Suzuka 1000km. He finished the season twelfth in the standings in 2016, and again in 2017, where Chiyo nearly took his first premier class victory at Sugo after a last-lap battle between Motoyama and Kohei Hirate.
Chiyo and Motoyama remained team mates in 2018, as MOLA were replaced in GT500 by the new NDDP Racing with B-Max team. They finished 17th in the championship that season. After the season, Chiyo was assigned to drive in the Intercontinental GT Challenge for Nissan and KC Motorgroup (KCMG), resulting in his second sabbatical from Super GT. Instead, he was appointed reserve driver for the GT500 class, and in addition to providing commentary on television programs, he accompanied the team to all rounds that did not clash with the Intercontinental GT Challenge schedule. At the sixth round of the season in Autopolis, Chiyo was called on as a last-minute replacement for James Rossiter at Calsonic Team Impul, after Rossiter was diagnosed with acute tinnitus.
Chiyo returned to full-time GT500 competition in 2020, returning to NDDP Racing with B-Max alongside Hirate. They ranked 13th in the championship in 2020, and both drivers were retained for 2021.
Recent media