Kazuyoshi
Hoshino

Kazuyoshi Hoshino was born in Shizuoka on 1 July 1947. In 1968 he won Japan's national motocross titles in the 90cc and 125cc classes for Kawasaki, and in 1969 he moved to car racing as a works driver for Nissan. He entered single-seater racing in FJ1300 in 1974 and soon rose to higher categories.

He started two Formula One races, both of them the Japanese Grand Prix. In 1976 he drove the Tyrrell-Ford of Heros Racing, held fourth place at one point and then retired because his tyres had run out. In 1977 he returned to the Japanese Grand Prix, again for Heros Racing, in a Kojima-Ford built the year before, and finished eleventh. He scored no championship points.

In Japan he won the Formula 2000 title in 1975 and 1977, the Japanese Formula Two title in 1978, and the Formula 3000 championship in 1987, 1990 and 1993. He won the Fuji Grand Champion Series five times: in 1978, 1982, 1984, 1985 and 1987. In a Nissan Skyline GT-R he took the 1990 Japanese Touring Car Championship. With Toshio Suzuki he won the 1990 Suzuka 1000 in a Nissan R90C, and the pair also won the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship in 1991 and 1992. In 1998 he finished third at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Nissan R390 GT1, sharing the car with Aguri Suzuki and Masahiko Kageyama. He ended his driving career in 2002. His son Kazuki also became a racing driver and in 2023 took over from him as team director of Impul in Super GT and Super Formula.

Source: Wikipedia, “Kazuyoshi Hoshino”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.