Ritomo Miyata

Ritomo Miyata (宮田莉朋) 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.

Early and personal life
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.

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

Early career
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.

First Japanese F4 championship (2016)
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.

All-Japan Formula Three debut and second Japanese F4 championship (2017)
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.

All-Japan F3/Super Formula Lights (2018–2020)
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.

GT300 (2018–2019)
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. 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.

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.

GT500 (2020–present)
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).

Super Formula (2020–2023)
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.

FIA Formula 2 Championship
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. Miyata recorded his first points-paying finish at Bahrain International Circuit.

2023 season: WEC debut
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. 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. 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. He will return 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.

2024 season: ELMS
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. Miyata won in his first start in the series at the 4 Hours of Barcelona.

Other series
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, 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. 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.

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

Complete Super Formula results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
 * Season still in progress.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
 * Season still in progress.

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) * Season still in progress.

Complete European Le Mans Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
 * Season still in progress.