Itsuki Sato
Itsuki Sato | |
|---|---|
佐藤樹 | |
| Born | Itsuki Sato 3 December 2002 Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan |
| Nationality |  Japanese |
| F4 Japanese Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2022 |
| Current team | HYDRANGEA Kageyama Racing |
| Car number | 17 |
| Former teams | Rn-sports, HELM Motorsports, Drago Corse |
| Starts | 46 |
| Wins | 5 |
| Podiums | 11 |
| Poles | 3 |
| Fastest laps | 7 |
| Best finish | 2nd in 2025 |
| Championship titles | |
| 2022 2021 | JAF Japan Formula 4 Motegi and Sugo FJ Championship |
| Statistics up to date as of December 1, 2026. | |
Itsuki Sato (佐藤 樹, Satō Itsuki; born 3 December 2002) is a Japanese racing driver who last competed in the F4 Japanese Championship for HYDRANGEA Kageyama Racing and Porsche Carrera Cup Japan as a Porsche Japan junior driver.
Career
Sato began karting at the age of three, mainly racing in Rotax-run championships across Japan. Most of Sato's early career was spent with Super Chips Racing Service, with whom he finished runner-up with in the 2013 Mobara West Cup's Mini Rok standings, staying with them until his first year in Senior Rotax in 2017.
Sato then moved to HRS Japan from 2018 onwards, most notably finishing third in both the 2019 RMC Japan Festival and the 2020 Kart Race In Suzuka series and also briefly competed in Europe by competing in the Rotax Max Euro Trophy in 2019.
Stepping up to single-seaters in 2021, Sato competed in the Motegi and Sugo FJ Series for RiNoA Racing Project. Sato won four races to clinch the title by 25 points over Shinnosuke Ito at the penultimate round at Motegi.
Sato moved to Formula Beat for 2022, in which he missed the round at Tokachi but clinched the title at the season-ending Suzuka round after winning all but three races he contested. During 2022 Sato made two one-off appearances in Japanese F4, racing for Rn-sports in the season-opening round at Fuji and HELM Motorsports at Sugo, taking a best result of 14th in the latter round. Sato was also one of four finalists in the Honda Racing School Suzuka Circuit, alongside Tosei Moriyama, Hironobu Shimizu and Shuma Shimakage.
Following his Formula Beat title, Sato remained with HELM Motorsports to race in Japanese F4 full-time in 2023. In his first full season in the series, Sato took a best result of sixth twice, scored at both Fuji and Suzuka, en route to 13th in points.
In 2024, Sato switched to Drago Corse as he remained in Japanese F4 for his sophomore season. In his second season in Japanese F4, Sato scored his maiden series podium at Fuji, which helped him to finish 12th in the overall standings at season's end.
Sato returned to Japanese F4, switching to HYDRANGEA Kageyama Racing for his third full season in the series, while he also competing in Porsche Carrera Cup Japan as Porsche Japan's junior driver. In the former, Sato began the season with a podium in race two at Fuji before taking his maiden series win in race three, and following that up by winning both races in the second Fuji round. Sato then scored wins at Suzuka and Sugo as well as four more podiums to end the year runner-up in points. During 2025, Sato also raced in the FIA F4 World Cup, and made a one-off appearance in the F4 Indian Championship at Kari, in which he won twice.
After not racing for much of 2026, Sato joined Bionic Jack Racing to contest the final round of that year's Porsche Carrera Cup Japan season at Fuji, finishing fifth in both races.
Karting record
Karting career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | HarunaCup KartRace – Koma 60 | Super Chips | |
| 2011 | HarunaCup KartRace – Koma 60 | Super Chips | |
| 2012 | Mobara West Cup – Mini Rok | Super Chips | 5th |
| 2013 | Rotax Max Challenge Japan – Max Cadet | Super Chips | 37th |
| Mobara West Cup – Mini Rok | 2nd | ||
| 2014 | Motegi Kart Race – Yamaha Cadet Open | Super Chips | 8th |
| 2017 | Rotax Max Challenge Japan – Senior Max | Super Chips | 37th |
| Rotax Max Challenge Japan Festival – Senior Max | DNQ | ||
| Rotax Max Challenge Japan Festival – XPS Cup | 19th | ||
| 2018 | Rotax Max Challenge Mizunami Series – Senior Max | HRS Japan | 9th |
| Kart Race In Suzuka – Senior Max | 20th | ||
| Rotax Max Challenge Japan – Senior Max | 36th | ||
| Rotax Max Challenge Japan Festival – Senior Max | 28th | ||
| 2019 | Rotax Max Euro Trophy – Senior Max | Daems Racing Team | 47th |
| Rotax Max Challenge Mizunami Series – Senior Max | HRS Japan | 10th | |
| Kart Race In Suzuka – Senior Max | 5th | ||
| Rotax Max Challenge Japan – Senior Max | 32nd | ||
| Rotax Max Challenge Japan Festival – Senior Max | 3rd | ||
| 2020 | Kart Race In Suzuka – Senior Max | HRS Japan | 3rd |
| Rotax Max Challenge Mizunami Series – Senior Max | 8th | ||
| Rotax Max Challenge Japan – Senior Max | 18th | ||
| Rotax Max Challenge Japan Festival – Senior Max | 4th | ||
| 2021 | Rotax Max Challenge Mizunami Series – Senior Max | HRS Japan | 13th |
| Rotax Max Challenge Japan – Senior Max | 43rd | ||
| Rotax Max Challenge Japan Festival – Senior Max | DNQ | ||
| Sources: | |||
Racing record
Racing career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | FLaps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Motegi and Sugo FJ Championship | RiNoA Racing Project | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 100 | 1st |
| 2022 | JAF Japan Formula 4 | Marusan Mist | 10 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 182 | 1st |
| F4 Japanese Championship | Rn-sports | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25th | |
| HELM Motorsports | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2023 | F4 Japanese Championship | HELM Motorsports | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 13th |
| 2024 | F4 Japanese Championship | Drago Corse | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 12th |
| 2025 | F4 Japanese Championship | HYDRANGEA Kageyama Racing | 14 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 212.5 | 2nd |
| Porsche Carrera Cup Japan | Porsche Japan | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 117 | 6th | |
| F4 Indian Championship | Ahmedabad Apex Racers | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 63 | 7th | |
| FIA F4 World Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/a | DNF | ||
| 2026 | Porsche Carrera Cup Japan | Bionic Jack Racing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 13th |
| Source: | |||||||||
Complete F4 Japanese Championship results
(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 | 13 | 14 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Rn-sports | FUJ1 1 21 |
FUJ1 2 18 |
SUZ 1 |
SUZ 2 |
FUJ2 1 |
FUJ2 2 |
SUZ2 1 |
SUZ2 2 |
25th | 0 | ||||||
| HELM Motorsports | SUG 1 14 |
SUG 2 15 |
AUT 1 |
AUT 2 |
MOT 1 |
MOT 2 | |||||||||||
| 2023 | HELM Motorsports | FUJ1 1 28 |
FUJ1 2 6 |
SUZ 1 6 |
SUZ 2 13 |
FUJ2 1 9 |
FUJ2 2 9 |
SUZ2 1 10 |
SUZ2 2 11 |
SUG 1 9 |
SUG 2 12 |
AUT 1 12 |
AUT 2 11 |
MOT 1 9 |
MOT 2 9 |
13th | 27 |
| 2024 | Drago Corse | FUJ1 1 Ret |
FUJ1 2 3 |
SUZ 1 10 |
SUZ 2 11 |
FUJ2 1 9 |
FUJ2 2 10 |
SUG 1 11 |
SUG 2 12 |
AUT 1 10 |
MOT 1 8 |
MOT 2 10 |
MOT 3 5 |
SUZ2 1 13 |
SUZ2 2 9 |
12th | 37 |
| 2025 | HYDRANGEA Kageyama Racing | FUJ1 1 11 |
FUJ1 2 2 |
FUJ1 3 1 |
FUJ2 1 1 |
FUJ2 2 1 |
SUZ 1 1 |
SUZ 2 2 |
SUG 1 2 |
SUG 2 2 |
SUG 3 1 |
AUT 1 2 |
AUT 2 5 |
MOT 1 Ret |
MOT 2 14 |
2nd | 212.5 |
Complete F4 Indian Championship results
(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 | Pos | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Ahmedabad Apex Racers | KAR1 1 |
KAR1 2 |
MAD1 1 |
MAD1 2 |
MAD1 3 |
MAD1 4 |
KAR2 1 1 |
KAR2 2 3 |
KAR2 3 1 |
KAR2 4 7 |
KAR3 1 |
KAR3 2 |
KAR3 3 |
MAD2 1 |
MAD2 2 |
7th | 63 |
Complete FIA F4 World Cup results
| Year | Car | Qualifying | Quali Race | Main Race |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mygale M21-F4 | 14th | 8th | DNF |
References
- ↑ "免許取得後に本格参戦してタイトル獲得。WEC、フォーミュラEなど海外志向の21歳【ネクスト・スターVol.4／佐藤樹】". as-web.jp (in Japanese). 11 October 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "2013 MOBARA WEST-CUP シリーズポイント表" (PDF). mobara-tc.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "2019 MAX FESTIVAL XPS CUPフ ァイナル 正式結果" (PDF). eikoms.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "2020 鈴鹿選手権シリーズ カートレース ＩＮ ＳＵＺＵＫＡ" (PDF). suzukacircuit.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "ROTAX EURO Trophy 2019" (PDF). motorsport-events.se (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "S-FJ:リノアレーシングプロジェクト、今シーズンは佐藤樹を起用 チャンピオンと日本一を目指す (RiNoA)". fmotor.jp (in Japanese). 7 February 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "佐藤樹選手、2戦連続のポール・トゥ・ウィンでもてぎ・菅生スーパーFJのチャンピオンを射止める！". motorsports.jaf.or.jp (in Japanese). 30 September 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "S-FJ" (PDF). sportsland-sugo.co.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "チャンピオン確定の最終戦。F4は佐藤樹選手、N-ONEは岩間浩一選手が決めた！". motorsports.jaf.or.jp (in Japanese). 2 December 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ "【順位結果】2022FIA-F4選手権 第1戦富士 決勝". Auto Sport Web (in Japanese). 3 March 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ "【順位結果】2022FIA-F4選手権 第9戦SUGO 決勝". Auto Sport Web (in Japanese). 17 September 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ "世界を目指せ……新生ホンダ・レーシング・スクール・鈴鹿-フォーミュラの修了式開催。4名がスカラシップ選考会へ". jp.motorsport.com (in Japanese). 21 July 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ Wood, Ida (4 May 2023). "Toyota juniors win after Honda battles in Japanese F4 opener at Fuji". formulascout.com. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ Wood, Ida (27 August 2023). "Honda junior Yusuke Mitsui enjoys unbeaten Suzuka run in Japanese F4". formulascout.com. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ Guthrie, Gavin; Muschlien, Finjo (3 May 2024). "Japanese F4: 2024 season guide". Feeder Series. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ Wood, Ida (4 May 2024). "Shimizu leads Japanese F4 opener as engine issues rule 10 drivers out". formulascout.com. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ Muschlien, Finjo (29 April 2025). "Japanese F4: 2025 season guide". Feeder Series. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ Hirano, Ryuji (12 March 2025). "佐藤樹がポルシェジャパンジュニアドライバーに選出。「海外で活躍できるドライバーになる」". Auto Sport Web (in Japanese). Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ "【FIA―F4第3戦】佐藤樹が初優勝 度々SCが導入されたレースに「戦う時間が少なかったので複雑」". chunichi.co.jp (in Japanese). 4 May 2025. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ "【順位結果】2025年FIA-F4第4戦富士 決勝". as-web.jp (in Japanese). 2 August 2025. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ "【FIA―F4第5戦】佐藤樹が圧巻のポールtoウインで今季3勝目「ようやく本来の力を出せるようになりました」". chunichi.co.jp (in Japanese). 3 August 2025. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ "FIA F4最終戦、チャンピオン候補の2台がスタートから接触バトル。「激しすぎた」鈴木斗輝哉がタイトル獲得". as-web.jp (in Japanese). 5 November 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
- ↑ "マカオでのF4ワールドカップに日本のFIA-F4を代表して臨む佐藤樹が意気込み「楽しみながら自分の実力を出し切りたい」". as-web.jp (in Japanese). 19 October 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
- ↑ "Itsuki Sato wins twice at Kari on Indian F4 debut, Mumbai to host finale". formulascout.com. 10 October 2025. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
- ↑ "ポルシェカレラカップジャパン2026 第10戦・第11戦富士 プレビュー". as-web.jp (in Japanese). 22 September 2026. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ "Watarai Clinches Title With Race to Spare at Fuji". sportscar365.com. 25 September 2026. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- 1 2 "Itsuki Sato | Racing career profile | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
- ↑ "2021 ROTAX MAX SERIES POINT RANKING" (PDF). festika-mizunami.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "Senior MAX" (PDF). festika-mizunami.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "2020 ROTAX MAX SERIES POINT RANKING" (PDF). festika-mizunami.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "Senior MAX" (PDF). festika-mizunami.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "2019 ROTAX MAX SERIES POINT RANKING" (PDF). festika-mizunami.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "2018 ROTAX MAX SERIES POINT RANKING" (PDF). festika-mizunami.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "2010 HARUNACUP KARTRACE 第3戦 2010 HARUNACUP KARTRACE 第3戦 エントリー状況 5月25日付" (PDF). eikoms.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "2012年茂原カートカップシリーズポイント表" (PDF). mobara-tc.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "YAMAHAカデットオープン" (PDF). mr-motegi.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 August 2025.
- ↑ "Itsuki Sato Results". Motorsportstats.com. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
External links
- Itsuki Sato career summary at DriverDB.com