Nobuharu Matsushita
| Nobuharu Matsushita | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality |
 Japanese |
| Born |
13 October 1993 Saitama, Japan |
| GP2 Series career | |
| Debut season | 2015 |
| Current team | ART Grand Prix |
| Car no. | 6 |
| Starts | 21 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| Best finish | 9th in 2015 |
| Previous series | |
| 2015-16 2013–14 2012 2011 |
MRF Challenge All-Japan Formula Three Formula Challenge Japan Formula Pilota China |
| Championship titles | |
| 2014 2012 |
All-Japan Formula Three Formula Challenge Japan |
Nobuharu Matsushita (松下信治 Matsushita Nobuharu, born 13 October 1993) is a Japanese racing driver, best known for winning the 2014 All-Japan Formula Three Championship.
Career
Karting
Born in Saitama, Matsushita began his racing career in karting in 2005, competing the All-Japan Junior Kart Championship. In 2008, he clinched the championship title in the Open Masters Kart ARTA Challenge. He ended his karting participations in 2010, finishing third in the KF1 category of the All Japan Kart Championship.[1]
Formula Pilota China and Formula Challenge Japan
In 2011, Matsushita graduated to single–seaters into the Formula Pilota China with the Super License team.[2] He missed the Ordos round, but after his returning he showed better performance than in the first part of the season. He won the final race of the season at Sepang and finished the season fourth.[3]
For 2012, he switched to the Formula Challenge Japan mono-series. He scored ten podiums in twelve races, including five wins and took the championship title.[4]
All-Japan Formula Three
In 2013, Matsushita stepped up to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship with the HFDP Racing.[5] He collected five podiums and another seven point-scoring finishes, to end the season on the fifth position in the series standings, it was the best result for the Honda driver.[6]
For the next season he decided to stay in the series with the same team.[7] He was victorious at Motegi, Fuji and Sugo, grabbing the championship title from Kenta Yamashita with a twelve-point gap.[8]
GP2 Series
Matsushita made his début in the GP2 Series in 2015 with ART Grand Prix.[9] In the first race at Bahrain, he qualified second on the grid opposite teammate Stoffel Vandoorne and finished in the points in both races, setting the fastest lap in the sprint race. At the Red Bull Ring, Matsushita took his first GP2 podium by finishing third in the sprint race. He took his first victory in the sport in the sprint race at the Hungaroring as part of an ART 1-2. He finished 9th in the overall standings.
In February 2016, it was announced Matsushita would reunite with ART for a second season, alongside fellow 2015 rookie Sergey Sirotkin.
Formula One
On 20 February 2016, Matsushita was signed as a development driver for McLaren.[10]
Racing record
Career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | FLaps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Formula Pilota China | Super License | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 89 | 4th |
| 2012 | Formula Challenge Japan | 12 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 91 | 1st | |
| 2013 | All-Japan Formula Three | HFDP Racing | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 43 | 5th |
| 2014 | All-Japan Formula Three | HFDP Racing | 15 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 102 | 1st |
| 2015 | GP2 Series | ART Grand Prix | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 68.5 | 9th |
| 2015-16 | MRF Challenge Formula 2000 | MRF Challenge | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 80 | 6th |
| 2016 | Formula One | McLaren | Development driver | ||||||
| GP2 Series | ART Grand Prix | ||||||||
Complete GP2 Series 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 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | ART Grand Prix | BHR FEA 10 |
BHR SPR 6 |
ESP FEA 11 |
ESP SPR 18 |
MON FEA Ret |
MON SPR 19 |
AUT FEA 4 |
AUT SPR 3 |
GBR FEA Ret |
GBR SPR 19 |
HUN FEA 8 |
HUN SPR 1 |
BEL FEA Ret |
BEL SPR 15 |
ITA FEA Ret |
ITA SPR 15 |
RUS FEA 10 |
RUS SPR 7 |
BHR FEA 2 |
BHR SPR Ret |
ABU FEA 11 |
ABU SPR C |
9th | 68.5 |
References
- ↑ "Profile" (in Japanese). http://nobunobuf1.wix.com/. Retrieved 13 February 2015. External link in
|publisher=(help) - ↑ "Teams & drivers 2011". Formula Pilota China. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
- ↑ "Formula Pilota China 2011 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ↑ "Formula Challenge Japan 2012". Driver Database. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ↑ "Honda 2013 Motorsports Overview". Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ↑ "Japanese Formula 3 Championship – Championship Class 2013". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
- ↑ "2014 Honda Global Motor Sports Activities Automobile[PDF]" (PDF). Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ↑ Allen, Peter (13 October 2014). "PaddockScout Roundup: GP2/GP3 Sochi, F3/F4 Imola". Paddock Scout. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ↑ "Honda 2015 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ↑ "Matsushita named as McLaren F1 test driver". February 20, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
External links
- Official website (Japanese)
- Nobuharu Matsushita career summary at DriverDB.com
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Takamoto Katsuta |
Formula Challenge Japan Champion 2012 |
Succeeded by Kenta Yamashita |
| Preceded by Yuichi Nakayama |
All-Japan Formula Three Championship Champion 2014 |
Succeeded by Nick Cassidy |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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