Ritomo Miyata

Ritomo Miyata
Miyata in 2023
Nationality	Japanese
Born	(1999-08-10) 10 August 1999 (age 25) Zushi, Kanagawa, Japan
Super GT career
Debut season	2018
Current team	TGR Team au TOM'S
Racing licence	FIA Platinum
Car number	36
Former teams	Team WedsSport Bandoh, LM Corsa (GT300)
Starts	49
Wins	5 (1 in GT300)
Podiums	9 (2 in GT300)
Poles	3
Fastest laps	1
Best finish	1st in 2023
Super Formula Championship career
Debut season	2020
Current team	Vantelin Team TOM'S
Car number	37
Starts	28
Wins	2
Podiums	8
Poles	0
Fastest laps	3
Best finish	1st in 2023
Previous series
2023 2020 2017–19 2016–17	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am Super Formula Lights Japanese Formula 3 Championship F4 Japanese Championship
Championship titles
2023 2023 2020 2016, 2017	Super GT Super Formula Super Formula Lights F4 Japanese Championship

Ritomo Miyata (宮田莉朋, Miyata Ritomo, born 10 August 1999) is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing who is currently competing in the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship for Rodin Motorsport and the 2024 European Le Mans Series for Cool Racing. He is the reigning champion of the Super GT and Super Formula championships, having won both titles in 2023 with TOM'S, and previously won the 2020 Super Formula Lights championship, as well as back-to-back titles in the FIA F4 Japanese Championship.

He is also the fifth driver to win the Super Formula and Super GT titles in the same year, doing so in 2023.^[1]

Miyata is a graduate of Yokohama High School. His name comes from the Fiat Ritmo, named as such by his parents as they were car enthusiasts. He was diagnosed with autism early in his childhood and was unable to adjust to school life during his kindergarten and elementary schooling years, spending much of his early life receiving counseling at various hospitals; he uses racing as a method of subduing his traits.^[2]

Miyata is an avid gamer, bringing his computer and consoles to races.^[3] As of September 2023, Miyata has over 500 race wins from 1,000 starts in iRacing official events^[4] and also participates in esports racing events for BS+COMPETITION.^[5]

Miyata started his motorsport career in karting in 2004, winning the All-Japan Kart Championship KF class title in 2014. In 2015, after his 16th birthday, he made his formula racing debut in the Formula 4 Japanese Championship with the RSS team at the last three race weekends of the season. Despite his limited experience, he finished in the top ten in three of the six races, including a podium finish at Autopolis. He finished 15th in the standings with 24 points.^{[citation needed]}

In 2016 he made his full-time Japanese F4 debut with Toyota-backed TOM'S Spirit. He won two races at Fuji Speedway and took podium finishes in three other races, and won the championship by just four points over Honda-sponsored driver Ukyo Sasahara.

In 2017, Miyata raced a dual program in Japanese F4 and the All-Japan Formula Three Championship, driving in both series with TOM'S (TOM'S Spirit in F4). He won his second consecutive F4 title with four wins and 11 podiums, including a sweep of the two races at Fuji during the Golden Week holiday. He defeated Sasahara for the second year, this time by a margin of seven points, while finishing 58 points ahead of third-place driver Yuki Tsunoda.

In his debut Formula 3 season, he achieved ten podium finishes and finished fourth in the championship with 79 points, behind Mitsunori Takaboshi, Sho Tsuboi and Álex Palou. At the end of the year he made his debut in the Macau Grand Prix, finishing 12th.

Miyata continued in All-Japan F3 for a second season with TOM'S. He won his first race at Fuji on 8 July, followed by a second win at Okayama on 28 July. These two wins propelled him to second in the championship behind his teammate Tsuboi, who won the championship and the other 17 races that year. Miyata finished 13th in his second Macau Grand Prix start.

He returned for a third season of All-Japan F3 in 2019. Miyata won eight races, including five of the last eight, but finished second in the standings again, this time to former Renault Sport Academy driver Sacha Fenestraz of B-Max Racing Team.

2019 was the last season for the All-Japan Formula Three Championship, which was renamed Super Formula Lights in 2020. Miyata returned for a fourth season in this category. Beginning with a sweep of the opening round at Twin Ring Motegi, Miyata won 12 out of 17 races and clinched the championship with a win in the penultimate race meeting at Suzuka Circuit.^[6]

Miyata made his debut in Super GT in 2018, driving in the GT300 class for Lexus customer team LM corsa. At 18 years old, he recorded his first podium finish at Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand, where he and co-driver Hiroki Yoshimoto finished third.

LM corsa changed tyre suppliers from Yokohama to Dunlop in 2019, and Miyata returned for his second season. In the sixth round at Autopolis, Miyata took his first career win after a late-race charge from Yoshimoto to take the lead with four laps to go.^[7] Miyata and Yoshimoto also won both races of the auto sport Web Sprint Cup, a GT3 and GT300-only support race held during the inaugural Super GT x DTM Dream Race weekend at Fuji Speedway.^[8]

Earlier that season, Miyata made his one-off GT500 debut at the Fuji GT 500km Race, when he substituted for Kazuki Nakajima at TOM'S, driving the number 36 Lexus LC 500 alongside Yuhi Sekiguchi.

In 2020, Toyota Gazoo Racing confirmed that Miyata would step up to GT500 full-time with TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh, driving the new Toyota GR Supra GT500 alongside Yuji Kunimoto. Miyata scored five top-ten finishes including a best finish of seventh place in round five at Fuji.

Miyata remained at the WedsSport Bandoh team for a second season in 2021. He scored his first pole position at the Fuji 500km, and finished second at the following round in Motegi for his first GT500 podium. Miyata and Kunimoto would finish second again in the seventh round at Motegi, ending the season 11th in the drivers' standings.

After two seasons, Miyata transferred to TOM'S for the 2022 season. He joined the number 37 team, replacing World Endurance Championship-bound Ryō Hirakawa and forming a new partnership with his one-time F3 rival Sacha Fenestraz. The combination of Miyata and Fenestraz had an impressive season highlighted by both drivers' first career GT500 wins, during the Fuji GT 450km Race in August. Miyata and Fenestraz finished sixth in the drivers' championship with six top-ten finishes and two podiums.

In 2023, Miyata moved over to the number 36 car, this time on a permanent basis with Sho Tsuboi as his co-driver. Miyata and Tsuboi won the Golden Week 450km race at Fuji in only their second race together, then finished second in the following round at Suzuka. The pair won their second race at Autopolis in the penultimate round of the season, which gave them a seven-point lead going into the final race at Motegi. Late in the race, Miyata was running in second place, which would have given TOM'S the championship ahead of NDDP Racing drivers Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi. Takaboshi spun off while leading, and Miyata took the lead with five laps to go. Miyata and Tsuboi clinched the championship with their third win of the season.

This made Miyata the fifth driver to win both the Super GT GT500 and Super Formula championships in the same year, joining Pedro de la Rosa (1997), Satoshi Motoyama (2003), Richard Lyons (2004), and Naoki Yamamoto (2018 and 2020).

Due to Kazuki Nakajima's commitments in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the travel restrictions mandated during the COVID-19 pandemic, Miyata made his Super Formula championship debut in 2020, replacing Nakajima at Vantelin Team TOM'S for two races. He qualified on the front row for his series debut at Okayama International Circuit, finished ninth in the race, then finished eighth in his second start at Autopolis.

After winning the Super Formula Lights championship, Miyata earned a full-time Super Formula drive with TOM'S in 2021, replacing the departing Nick Cassidy. Miyata had six top-ten finishes in seven races, and finished tenth in the championship with a best finish of fourth in a rain-shortened race at Autopolis. Miyata took another step forward in 2022, the last season for the Dallara SF19 chassis. He got his first podium finish, a third place, in the second round at Fuji. He finished the season with another third place in the final round at Suzuka, and was fourth in the final championship standings.

The new Dallara SF23 made its debut in 2023, Miyata's fourth season in Super Formula. In the third round of the season at Suzuka, Miyata took his first career win. He got his second win in round five at Sugo, ahead of two-time series champion Tomoki Nojiri. A third-place finish at the season-ending JAF Grand Prix at Suzuka was enough for Miyata to clinch the championship ahead of Red Bull Racing reserve driver Liam Lawson and Nojiri. Miyata scored a total of six podium finishes and finished all nine races inside the top five.

On 14 November 2023, Toyota announced that Miyata would enter the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship. Two weeks later, he would be confirmed to drive for Rodin Motorsport (formerly Rodin Carlin) alongside Zane Maloney.^[9][10] Miyata recorded his first points-paying finish at Bahrain International Circuit.

On 30 May 2023, Toyota Gazoo Racing announced that Miyata was selected as a WEC Challenge programme driver, with the goal of developing a career path towards the top category of the FIA World Endurance Championship.^[11] Miyata joined Toyota Gazoo Racing in a non-driving role at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 6 Hours of Monza later that season.

At the 6 Hours of Fuji, Miyata made his WEC race debut in the LMGTE Am class, driving a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo for Kessel Racing with the blessing of Toyota.^[12] Miyata finished third in class, after he was demoted from second place following a post-race time penalty for not reducing his speed in time during a Full Course Yellow.^[13] He returned to the WEC at the 2024 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, replacing Kelvin van der Linde in the #78 Akkodis ASP Team Lexus RC F LMGT3.^[14]

In November 2023, Miyata was confirmed to race in the European Le Mans Series LMP2 class with Cool Racing, alongside Peugeot Sport development driver Malthe Jakobsen and Lorenzo Fluxá.^[9] Miyata won in his first start in the series at the 4 Hours of Barcelona.^[15]

Miyata entered the 2019 World Touring Car Cup Race of Japan at Suzuka, driving an Audi RS 3 LMS TCR for Audi Team Hitotsuyama as a wildcard entry. Miyata was scheduled to compete in the 2020 Suzuka 10 Hours for Hitotsuyama in an Audi R8 LMS GT3,^[16] but the race was cancelled due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beginning in 2018, Miyata began competing in the Super Taikyu Series. He made his debut in the ST-3 class with Le Beausset Motorsports, where he helped the team to a runner-up finish in the championship. He then competed the ST-4 class with Endless Sports from 2019 to 2020. From 2021 to 2023, he drove Audi Team Hitotsuyama, beginning with a one-off ST-X class drive at the Fuji 24 Hours in an Audi R8 LMS GT3, then in the ST-Z class in an Audi R8 LMS GT4 in 2022 and 2023.

Miyata made his IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship debut at the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona, driving a Lexus RC F GT3 for Vasser Sullivan Racing.^[17] Miyata and co-drivers Frankie Montecalvo, Parker Thompson, and Aaron Telitz started from pole position in the GT Daytona (GTD) class but retired in the final hour after the car caught fire after a pit stop.

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2015	F4 Japanese Championship	RSS	6	0	0	0	1	24	15th
2016	F4 Japanese Championship	TOM'S Spirit	14	2	2	3	5	142	1st
2017	F4 Japanese Championship	TOM'S Spirit	14	4	5	6	11	231	1st
	Japanese Formula 3 Championship	Team TOM'S	18	0	0	2	10	79	4th
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	12th
2018	Japanese Formula 3 Championship	Team TOM'S	19	2	2	2	15	117	2nd
	Macau Grand Prix		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	13th
	Super GT - GT300	LM corsa	8	0	0	0	1	23	15th
	Super Taikyu - ST-3	Le Beausset Motorsports	6	1	1	0	5	129‡	2nd‡
2019	Japanese Formula 3 Championship	Corolla Chukyo Kuo TOM'S	20	8	10	10	15	142	2nd
	Super GT - GT300	LM corsa	7	1	0	0	1	25	12th
	Super GT - GT500	Lexus Team au TOM'S	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
	World Touring Car Cup	Audi Sport Team Hitotsuyama	3	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
	Super Taikyu - ST-4	Endless Sports	5	1	0	1	4	89‡	4th‡
2020	Super Formula Lights	TOM'S	17	12	6	15	16	153	1st
	Super Formula	Vantelin Team TOM'S	2	0	0	0	0	7	17th
	Super GT - GT500	TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh	8	0	0	0	0	10	17th
	Super Taikyu - ST-4	Endless Sports	4	0	0	0	3	74‡	4th‡
2021	Super GT - GT500	TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh	8	0	2	1	2	36	11th
	Super Formula	Kuo Vantelin Team TOM'S	7	0	0	0	0	22	10th
	Super Taikyu - ST-X	Audi Team Hitotsuyama	1	0	0	0	0	18‡	8th‡
2022	Super GT - GT500	TGR Team KeePer TOM'S	8	1	0	0	2	43	6th
	Super Formula	Kuo Vantelin Team TOM'S	10	0	0	1	2	64	4th
	Super Taikyu - ST-Z	Audi Team Hitotsuyama	5	0	0	0	2	77‡	7th‡
		Audi Driving Experience Japan	1	0	0	0	0	3‡	10th‡
2023	Super GT - GT500	TGR Team au TOM'S	8	3	1	0	4	89	1st
	Super Formula	Vantelin Team TOM'S	9	2	0	2	6	114.5	1st
	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGTE Am	Kessel Racing	1	0	0	0	1	15	20th
	Super Taikyu - ST-Z	Audi Team Hitotsuyama	3	0	0	1	0	73‡	5th‡
2024	FIA Formula 2 Championship	Rodin Motorsport	24	0	0	2	0	29*	19th*
	European Le Mans Series - LMP2	Cool Racing	5	2	0	0	2	62	3rd
	24 Hours of Le Mans - LMP2		1	0	0	0	0	N/A	12th
	FIA World Endurance Championship - LMGT3	Akkodis ASP Team	1	0	0	0	0	1	31st
	IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD	Vasser Sullivan	1	0	1	0	0	195	65th
	FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Reserve driver

* Season still in progress.
^† As Miyata was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
‡ Team standings.

(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
2015	RSS	OKA 1	OKA 2	FUJ1 1	FUJ1 2	FUJ2 1	FUJ2 2	SUZ 1	SUZ 2	SUG 1 4	SUG 2 9	AUT 1 Ret	AUT 2 3	MOT 1 14	MOT 2 27	15th	24
2016	TOM'S Spirit	OKA 1 5	OKA 2 Ret	FUJ1 1 Ret	FUJ1 2 2	SUG 1 DSQ	SUG 2 2	FUJ2 1 1	FUJ2 2 1	FUJ2 3 4	SUZ 1 6	SUZ 2 6	MOT 1 22	MOT 2 2	MOT 3 11	1st	142
2017	TOM'S Spirit	OKA 1 2	OKA 2 6	FUJ1 1 1	FUJ1 2 1	AUT 1 3	AUT 2 4	SUG 1 Ret	SUG 2 3	FUJ2 1 3	FUJ2 2 3	SUZ 1 2	SUZ 2 1	MOT 1 1	MOT 2 3	1st	231

(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	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	DC	Pts
2017	Corolla Chukyo Kuo TOM'S	Toyota	OKA 1 3	OKA 2 3	OKA 3 3	SUZ 1 DNS	SUZ 2 DNS	FUJ 1 5	FUJ 2 3	OKA 1 2	OKA 2 2	SUZ 1 2	SUZ 2 4	FUJ 1 6	FUJ 2 5	MOT 1 4	MOT 2 8	MOT 3 4	AUT 1 4	AUT 2 2	SUG 1 2	SUG 2 3		4th	79
2018			SUZ 1 2	SUZ 2 2	SUG 1 2	SUG 2 2	FUJ 1 9	FUJ 2 1	OKA 1 1	OKA 2 2	OKA 3 C	MOT 1 2	MOT 2 2	MOT 3 2	OKA 1 5	OKA 2 3	OKA 3 C	SUG 1 2	SUG 2 2	SUG 3 4	SUG 4 2	FUJ 1 6	FUJ 2 3	2nd	117
2019			SUZ 1 2	SUZ 2 1	AUT 1 7	AUT 2 8	AUT 3 6	OKA 1 3	OKA 2 1	OKA 3 3	SUG 1 1	SUG 2 DSQ	FUJ 1 DSQ	FUJ 2 3	SUG 1 1	SUG 2 3	SUG 3 1	MOT 1 2	MOT 2 1	MOT 3 2	OKA 1 1	OKA 2 1		2nd	142
2020			MOT 1 1	MOT 2 1	MOT 3 1	OKA 1 1	OKA 2 2	SUG 1 1	SUG 2 2	SUG 3 1	AUT 1 1	AUT 2 3	AUT 3 1	SUZ 1 1	SUZ 2 Ret	SUZ 3 1	FUJ 1 1	FUJ 2 3	FUJ 3 1					1st	153

(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
2018	LM corsa	Lexus RC F GT3	GT300	OKA 17	FUJ 7	SUZ 5	CHA 3	FUJ Ret	SUG 9	AUT 12	MOT 24	15th	23
2019	LM corsa			OKA 7		SUZ 10	CHA 15	FUJ 22	AUT 1	SUG 19	MOT 9	12th	25
	Lexus Team au TOM'S	Lexus LC500 GT500	GT500		FUJ Ret							NC	0
2020	TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh	Toyota GR Supra GT500		FUJ 9	FUJ 15	SUZ 10	MOT Ret	FUJ 7	SUZ 9	MOT 11	FUJ 10	17th	10
2021				OKA 12	FUJ 7	MOT 2	SUZ 13	SUG Ret	AUT 13	MOT 2	FUJ 13	11th	36
2022	TGR Team KeePer TOM'S			OKA 11	FUJ 14	SUZ 3	FUJ 1	SUZ 8	SUG 9	AUT 9	MOT 6	6th	43
2023	TGR Team au TOM'S			OKA 15	FUJ 1	SUZ 2	FUJ 4	SUZ 10	SUG 7	AUT 1	MOT 1	1st	89

(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	DC	Points
2020	Vantelin Team TOM'S	MOT	OKA 9	SUG	AUT 8	SUZ	SUZ	FUJ				17th	7
2021	Kuo Vantelin Team TOM'S	FUJ 7	SUZ 6	AUT 4‡	SUG 7	MOT 8	MOT 9	SUZ 14				10th	22
2022		FUJ 5	FUJ 3	SUZ 18	AUT 5	SUG 6	FUJ 4	MOT 8	MOT 14	SUZ 5	SUZ 3	4th	64
2023	Vantelin Team TOM’S	FUJ 5	FUJ 4	SUZ 1	AUT 2	SUG 1	FUJ 3	MOT 4	SUZ 2‡	SUZ 3		1st	114.5

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

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

Year	Entrant	Class	Car	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Rank	Points
2023	Kessel Racing	LMGTE Am	Ferrari 488 GTE Evo	Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8	SEB	ALG	SPA	LMS	MNZ	FUJ 3	BHR		20th	15
2024	Akkodis ASP Team	LMGT3	Lexus RC F GT3	Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.0 L V8	QAT	IMO	SPA 10	LMS	SÃO	COA	FUJ	BHR	31st	1

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

Year	Team	Class	Car	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Rank	Points
2024	Vasser Sullivan	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	Toyota 2UR 5.0 L V8	DAY 15	SEB	LBH	LGA	WGL	MOS	ELK	VIR	IMS	PET	65th	195

(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	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	DC	Points
2024	Rodin Motorsport	BHR SPR 9	BHR FEA 9	JED SPR 12	JED FEA 15	MEL SPR 5	MEL FEA 5	IMO SPR 13	IMO FEA 15	MON SPR 17	MON FEA 15	CAT SPR 7	CAT FEA 13	RBR SPR 22	RBR FEA Ret	SIL SPR 10	SIL FEA 17	HUN SPR 12	HUN FEA 8	SPA SPR 15	SPA FEA 7	MNZ SPR 13	MNZ FEA 14	BAK SPR Ret	BAK FEA 13	LSL SPR	LSL FEA	YMC SPR	YMC FEA	19th*	29*

* Season still in progress.

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

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	Rank	Points
2024	Cool Racing	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	CAT 1	LEC Ret	IMO	SPA 5	MUG 9	ALG 1	3rd	62

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2024	Cool Racing	Lorenzo Fluxá Malthe Jakobsen	Oreca 07-Gibson	LMP2	289	26th	12th

• Ritomo Miyata career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Sho Tsuboi	F4 Japanese Championship Champion 2016-2017	Succeeded by Yuki Tsunoda
Preceded by Sacha Fenestraz (Japanese Formula 3 Championship)	Super Formula Lights Champion 2020	Succeeded by Teppei Natori
Preceded by Tomoki Nojiri	Super Formula Champion 2023	Succeeded by Sho Tsuboi
Preceded by Bertrand Baguette Kazuki Hiramine	Super GT GT500 Champion 2023 With: Sho Tsuboi	Succeeded by Incumbent