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Ren Sato (racing driver)

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Ren Sato
Sato at Suzuka Circuit in November 2024
NationalityJapan Japanese
Born (2001-08-05) 5 August 2001 (age 23)
Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Super Formula career
Debut season2022
Current teamNakajima Racing
Car number65
Former teamsTeam Goh
Starts18
Wins0
Podiums1
Poles0
Fastest laps1
Best finish10th in 2023
Super GT career
Debut season2021
Current teamARTA
Car number16
Previous series
2021
2021
2019-2020
2018-2019		Super GT GT300
Super Formula Lights
French F4 Championship
F4 Japanese Championship
Championship titles
2019F4 Japanese Championship

Ren Sato (佐藤蓮, Satō Ren, born 5 August 2001) is a Japanese racing driver who currently competes in Super GT for ARTA and in Super Formula for PONOS Nakajima Racing. He is a factory driver for Honda, and a former member of the Red Bull Junior Team and Honda Formula Dream Project.

He is not related to two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato or sports car racer Marino Sato.

Career

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Formula 4

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Sato made his single-seater debut with Honda Formula Dream Project in the 2018 FIA F4 Japanese Championship. He finished seventh in the championship with 58 points in his first season. In 2019, Sato dominated the Japanese F4 circuit en route to his first racing championship. He won 11 out of the season's 14 races, including eight wins in a row to end the season, and finished on the podium in all but one race. Sato clinched the 2019 championship in the penultimate race meeting at Sportsland Sugo, and won the championship by 164 points.[citation needed]

He took part in the 2019 French F4 Championship round at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours as a guest driver. In 2020, Sato, along with Ayumu Iwasa, raced full-time in the French F4 Championship.[1] Sato finished the season runner-up in the standings behind Iwasa, with four wins and 12 podiums.[citation needed]

Super Formula Lights

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Sato would return to the Japanese circuit after just one season in Europe, competing in the 2021 Super Formula Lights championship with TODA Racing. He won four of the last six races of the season, including a sweep of the August race meeting at Motegi, to finish the year third in the championship behind champion Teppei Natori, and runner-up Giuliano Alesi.[citation needed]

Super GT

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Sato made his Super GT Series debut in 2021, driving the ARTA Honda NSX GT3 in the GT300 class along with two-time series champion Shinichi Takagi. The team finished fourth in the championship, collecting three podium finishes at Fuji Speedway, Sugo, and Motegi, although their results were intermixed with four finishes outside the top nineteen.[citation needed]

In the final race of the season at Fuji, Sato influenced the outcome of the GT500 class championship in controversial manner. While racing the Subaru BRZ of Hideki Yamauchi for position, he went for an overtake into turn one, but braked too late and crashed into the GT500 class Stanley Honda NSX-GT of Naoki Yamamoto, who was in position to win the GT500 championship with 15 laps remaining.[2] The incident took out both Sato and Yamamoto from the race, and it ultimately cost Yamamoto and Team Kunimitsu the GT500 titles, which were won by TOM's and drivers Yuhi Sekiguchi and Sho Tsuboi.[3] After the race, Sato admitted that he was fully responsible for the incident.[4] For 2022, Sato was dropped from Honda's Super GT lineup with his place at the No. 55 ARTA team taken by rookie Iori Kimura.[5] However, Honda affirmed their commitment to Sato by announcing him as a Super Formula driver for 2022.

Sato returns to Super GT in 2024, as he competes in GT500 with his former team ARTA. He is partnered with Hiroki Otsu.[6]

Super Formula

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Sato at Mobility Resort Motegi in 2024

Sato took part in the Super Formula manufacturer and rookie test at Suzuka Circuit on 7-9 December, driving the number 15 Red Bull Mugen Team Goh car. Sato finished as the fastest of four rookies on the final day.[7] On 14 January 2022, Sato was announced as a Super Formula driver for Honda.[5] He joined Team Goh, who spun off from Team Mugen and formed a two-car team in 2022. In February 2022, it was announced that Sato would join the Red Bull Junior Team. He would be released from the Junior Team the next year.[8] Sato won Rookie of the Year honours ahead of his team mate, Atsushi Miyake, and recorded his first podium in the JAF Grand Prix Suzuka. Sato moved to Nakajima Racing to replace Toshiki Oyu.[9] Sato stays with Nakajima for 2024.

Racing record

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Career summary

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Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position
2018 F4 Japanese Championship Honda Formula Dream Project 14 0 0 2 0 58 7th
2019 F4 Japanese Championship Honda Formula Dream Project 14 11 8 5 13 311 1st
French F4 Championship FFSA Academy 3 0 0 0 0 0 NC†
2020 French F4 Championship FFSA Academy 21 4 2 6 12 257 2nd
2021 Super GT Series - GT300 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri 8 0 0 1 3 45 4th
Super Formula Lights Toda Racing 17 5 4 6 9 92 3rd
2022 Super Formula Team Goh 10 0 0 1 1 25 12th
2023 Super Formula TCS Nakajima Racing 8 0 0 0 0 17.5 10th
Super Taikyu - ST-TCR AI' Racing 1 0 0 0 0 37.5‡ 2nd‡
2024 Super Formula PONOS Nakajima Racing 9 0 0 0 0 22 11th
Super GT - GT500 ARTA 8 0 0 0 1 35 12th
Super Taikyu - ST-Q Team HRC
2025 Super Formula PONOS Nakajima Racing
Super GT- GT500 ARTA

† As Sato was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
* Season still in progress.

‡ Team standings

Complete F4 Japanese Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points
2018 Honda Formula Dream Project OKA
1
15 		OKA
2
9 		FUJ1
1
6 		FUJ1
2
Ret 		SUZ
1
4 		SUZ
2
5 		FUJ2
1
10 		FUJ2
2
6 		SUG
1
10 		SUG
2
8 		AUT
1
14 		AUT
2
13 		MOT
1
7 		MOT
2
7 		7th 58
2019 Honda Formula Dream Project OKA
1
1 		OKA
2
20 		FUJ1
1
1 		FUJ1
2
1 		SUZ
1
2 		SUZ
2
2 		FUJ2
1
1 		FUJ2
2
1 		AUT
1
1 		AUT
2
1 		SUG
1
1 		SUG
2
1 		MOT
1
1 		MOT
2
1 		1st 311

Complete French F4 Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pos Points
2019 NOG
1 		NOG
2 		NOG
3 		PAU
1 		PAU
2 		PAU
3 		SPA
1 		SPA
2 		SPA
3 		LÉD
1 		LÉD
2 		LÉD
3 		HUN
1 		HUN
2 		HUN
3 		MAG
1
19 		MAG
2
11 		MAG
3
11 		LEC
1 		LEC
2 		LEC
3 		NC† 0
2020 NOG
1
2 		NOG
2
14† 		NOG
3
2 		MAG
1
1 		MAG
2
6 		MAG
3
1 		ZAN
1
3 		ZAN
2
3 		ZAN
3
6 		LEC1
1
2 		LEC1
2
1 		LEC1
3
3 		SPA
1
4 		SPA
2
1 		SPA
3
3 		LEC2
1
4 		LEC2
2
4 		LEC2
3
4 		LEC3
1
6 		LEC3
2
4 		LEC3
3
2 		2nd 257

† As Sato was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete Super Formula Lights results

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(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 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points
2021 Toda Racing FUJ
1
2 		FUJ
2
1 		FUJ
3
9 		SUZ
1
12† 		SUZ
2
2 		SUZ
3
5 		AUT
1
9 		AUT
2
9 		AUT
3
C 		SUG
1
7 		SUG
2
2 		SUG
3
6 		MOT
1
1 		MOT
2
1 		MOT
3
1 		MOT
1
2 		MOT
2
1 		MOT
3
4 		3rd 92

Complete Super GT results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points
2021 ARTA Honda NSX GT3 Evo GT300 OKA
26 		FUJ
3 		SUZ
23 		MOT
7 		SUG
2 		AUT
20 		MOT
2 		FUJ
24 		4th 45
2024 ARTA Honda Civic Type R-GT GT500 GT500 OKA
9 		FUJ
15 		SUZ
32 		FUJ
11 		SUZ
10 		SUG
6 		AUT
4 		MOT
5 		12th 35
2025 ARTA Honda Civic Type R-GT GT500 GT500 OKA
 FUJ
 SEP
 FUJ
 SUZ
 SUG
 AUT
 MOT

* Season still in progress.

Complete Super Formula results

[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
2022 Team Goh Honda FUJ
92 		FUJ
13 		SUZ
10 		AUT
17 		SUG
16 		FUJ
6 		MOT
12 		MOT
7 		SUZ
3 		SUZ
19 		12th 25
2023 TCS Nakajima Racing Honda FUJ
6 		FUJ
9 		SUZ
DNS 		AUT
7 		SUG
12 		FUJ
5 		MOT
16 		SUZ
10 		SUZ
Ret 		10th 17.5
2024 PONOS Nakajima Racing Honda SUZ
5 		AUT
Ret 		SUG
11 		FUJ
7 		MOT
10 		FUJ
7 		FUJ
DSQ 		SUZ
Ret3 		SUZ
5 		11th 22
2025 PONOS Nakajima Racing Honda SUZ
 SUZ
 MOT
 MOT
 AUT
 FUJ
 FUJ
 SUG
 FUJ
 FUJ
 SUZ
 SUZ

* Season still in progress.

References

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  1. ^ Allen, Peter (10 January 2020). "Honda sends teenagers Ren Sato and Ayumu Iwasa to French F4". Formula Scout. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Rd. 8 Race GT500: au TOM'S GR Supra digs deep for the win and comes from behind to take title as well! STANLEY NSX-GT taken down by misfortune". supergt.net. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  3. ^ O'Connell, R.J. (28 November 2021). "Victory And GT500 Championship Glory For TGR Team au TOM's at Fuji". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Ren Sato: Honda's disgraced junior gets chance at redemption". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Honda Global | January 14, 2022 Honda 2022 Motorsports Program Overview". global.honda. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Honda 2024 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Racing. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Ren Sato Fastest in Rookie Test | SUPER FORMULA Official Website". superformula.net. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  8. ^ White, Megan (18 January 2023). "Red Bull Junior Team announces 2023 line-up". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Honda 2023 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Racing. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by F4 Japanese Championship
Champion
2019 		Succeeded by
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