Carrying #1 in Super GT
2019 with Button in
Team Kunimitsu NSX......and in Super Formula
this season in Dandelion
Racing Dallara SF1925 JULY 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 27INTERVIEW NAOKI YAMAMOTORIGHT PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME
Honda’s recent wave
of European imports –
most notably Nobuharu
Matsushita, Nirei
Fukuzumi and Tadasuke
Makino – were all sent
west as the manufacturer
returned to Formula 1 as
an engine supplier. For
Naoki Yamamoto, his
early days on the Honda
ladder unfortunately
coincided with it
withdrawing from
F1 – and the global
financial crash.
“The timing was too
bad, because Honda had
gone out from F1, so then
it was a very difficultsituation,” he says. “But
now it’s getting better.
If I was 19 years old now,
then I would want to go
to Europe. I would want
to drive in Formula 2
or something.”
Yamamoto’s rookie
year in car racing, in the
2007 Formula Challenge
Japan (the country’s
Formula Renault
equivalent), ended
with the runner-up slot
behind future Macau
Grand Prix winner and
FCJ sophomore Keisuke
Kunimoto. That was good
enough for promotion to
Japanese F3 in 2008 withHonda-backed Real
Racing, where he was
a respectable fifth. But
the economic downturn
meant he was dumped
down to the National
Class – ironically using
spec Toyota engines –
for 2009, a season he
dominated. “Honda didn’t
have enough budget for
the Championship Class,”
he explains. “But it was
good because it was all
the same conditions, with
the same Toyota engines
for everybody. We were
very successful so that
was a special year.”
That launchedYamamoto directly into
Japan’s two top levels –
Formula Nippon and the
GT500 class of Super GT- although his dream had
always been Formula 1:
“My father loved F1,
and since I was a child
I watched races on TV a
lot with him. It was the
Ayrton Senna boom in
that period. Then, when
I was four or five, he took
me to Suzuka to watch
the Japanese Grand Prix,
and I got really passionate
about it. When I was six I
had a go-kart.”
Aged 14, Yamamoto
won the 2002 Japanese
Formula A kart title, got
signed up by Aguri Suzuki
and then went to Europe
for 2004-05 as a factory
Tony Kart driver, where
he was team-mates with
future DTM and Formula E
star Edoardo Mortara. He
was fifth in the Italian
Open Masters in 2005,
and 12th in the world
championship. Highly
respectable for a
school-age kid far from
home, in an alien culture,
and up against drivers of
the calibre of not only
Mortara, but Valtteri
Bottas, Jules Bianchi
and Ben Hanley.and he watched all the onboards of races. By the time he came
to Japan he knew all the drivers of GT300 and GT500 [that’s
about 90 of them, give or take!] – he studied a lot and he had
really good knowledge by the time he arrived. At first I thought,
‘Strange, after being a Formula 1 driver why would you come
to Japan?’ But now I understand that he deeply loves racing,
and that’s why he’s here. So there is a lot to admire with his
spirit and I really respect the love he has for racing.”
And who gets the most fans at autograph sessions? “Jenson.
He’s got a lot of fans. I really learn from him how he handles them.”
That partnership has continued in 2019, but it was all change
in Super Formula. Finally, Yamamoto left Mugen for Dandelion
Racing, while engineer Abe got snapped up by Toyota to join
Team Le Mans. “I think it was around summertime last year that
Abe-san and I got together and discussed it,” says Yamamoto.
“We learned a lot together but we got too comfortable, and also
he had his offer from Toyota, so we decided that it’s important
that now we go our separate ways. When he was gone I knew
that it’s possible that without him the level would drop a bit
[at Mugen], and all the very strong mechanics were leaving,
and Dandelion I knew were very fast on different tracks [this is
significant, because at Mugen eight out of Yamamoto’s 10 poles
and five of his six wins had come at Suzuka, with slim pickings
elsewhere]. So if I was going to leave Mugen I thought Dandelion
would be perfect; I knew this was the right team to come to.”
So far it’s looking good. Yamamoto is leading the 2019
standings, hoping to accomplish what he did with Abe-san
with Dandelion’s so-far-titleless engineer Kimitoshi Sugisaki.
“It was a gamble because you never know until you join,” he says.
“But if you knew the future it would be a very boring life. This
is life and this is exciting. I really enjoy Mr Sugisaki’s view and
his approach – and I feel I can earn a championship with him.”
And the future? Yamamoto plays down his F1 chances: “Honestly
I never talked to Red Bull. I just went to Abu Dhabi and yeah, of
course I met Dr Helmut Marko, but just to say hello and a few
words. It’s very impressive. I never went to a Formula 1 paddock.
Everything is totally different compared to Japanese racing.”
Intriguingly, he also mentions IndyCar, where Honda is
very strong: “I’d like to drive in an IndyCar test, but I have
to focus on Super Formula and Super GT.”
Whatever he does – overseas or not – be sure that it will
be carried out with complete commitment. And that this
polite, friendly and professional racing superstar will set
himself very tough targets to succeed.