Rintaro Kubo
Japanese racing driver (born 1993)
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Rintaro Kubo (久保 凜太郎, Kubo Rintarō; born 18 September 1993) is a Japanese racing driver set to compete in the GT300 class of Super GT for Pacific Racing Team.
Japanese
FIA Silver2020
2013Super Taikyu – ST-4
Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup
Super FJ Motegi Series
| Rintaro Kubo 久保凜太郎 | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Born | 18 September 1993 Chiba Prefecture, Japan |
| Categorisation | FIA Silver |
| Championship titles | |
| 2020 2020 2013 | Super Taikyu – ST-4 Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup Super FJ Motegi Series |
A Super FJ champion in his early career, Kubo has been a mainstay in the Japanese sportscar scene since 2015, and a factory driver for Subaru since 2024. A podium finisher in Super GT's GT300 class, he was also Super Taikyu and TGR GR86/BRZ Cup champion in 2020, the first driver to do so in a Subaru BRZ.
Career
Kubo made his single-seater debut in 2013, racing in the Super FJ Motegi Series, which he won after scoring three wins.[1] During 2013, Kubo also made one-off appearances in the Super FJ Suzuka and Fuji Series,[2][3] as well as Formula Challenge Japan for Le Beausset Racing Academy.[4]
The following year, Kubo remained with Le Beausset Motorsports to step up to the Japanese Formula 3 Championship.[5] Racing in the National class in his only season in the series, Kubo took five class wins en route to runner-up honors in the standings,[6] 27 points behind Hiroshi Koizumi.[7] Switching to sportscars for 2015, Kubo joined Team KTouch to race in Porsche Carrera Cup Japan,[8] in which he scored a lone win at Suzuka, as well as eight other podiums to end the year third in points.[9]
In 2016, Kubo made his debut in Super GT, as he joined Arnage Racing to compete in the GT300 class alongside Hideto Yasuoka.[10] After scoring a best result of 12th at Fuji, Kubo returned to the series for the following year, as he switched to apr alongside Koki Saga.[11] In his only season with the team, Kubo scored points at Okayama and Sugo, before taking his only podium of the year at Fuji en route to a 16th-place points finish.[12] Continuing in Super GT for 2018, Kubo joined Pacific with Gulf Racing for his third season in the series,[13] in which he scored a best result of sixth at Autopolis to end the year 17th in points.[14]
Switching to Super Taikyu for 2019, Kubo joined C.S.I Racing to race in the ST-4 class alongside Shinya Hosokawa.[15] In his first season in the series, Kubo scored a class win at Suzuka and two other podiums to help the team end the year third in points.[16] Returning to Super GT for 2020, Kubo joined Tsuchiya Engineering-ran Max Racing alongside Atsushi Miyake, with whom he scored a best result of 13th at Fuji.[17] In parallel, Kubo returned to Super Taikyu and C.S.I Racing, taking three class wins and one other podium to secure the ST-4 title at season's end.[18] Kubo also raced in the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup, in which he became the first driver in series history to win the title driving a Subaru BRZ.[19]
Remaining with the team to continue in Super Taikyu the following year, Kubo mainly raced in the ST-Z class, scoring a lone win at Okayama as he helped the team end the year fifth in points.[20] Kubo then primarily raced in the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup the following year as he continued his affiliation with Subaru,[21] as well as racing part-time in Super Taikyu for Tracy Sports, winning at Okayama and Suzuka in ST-3.[22] Remaining in the former for 2023 with team Team Takuty, Kubo scored a lone win at Motegi and rounded out the season sixth in points.[23] During 2023, Kubo also raced part-time in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie for Team HAL.[24]
Continuing in the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup for Team Takuty in 2024, Kubo also raced with Subaru Tecnica International in select rounds of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, as well as the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.[25] In parallel, Kubo raced with Porsche Team Ebi to race in the ST-Z class of Super Taikyu, taking a lone win at Suzuka and helping the team secure third in the ST-Z standings.[26] The following year, Kubo remained with Team Takuty to once again race in the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup, as well as continuing his part-time program with Subaru in the NLS and the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.[27] Alongside that, Kubo remained with Porsche Team Ebi to continue racing in Super Taikyu in the ST-Z class.[28] Kubo scored his first podium by finishing third at Suzuka,[29] before following it up with a third-place finish at the Fuji 24 Hours and a second-place finish at the season-ending race at Fuji to end the year fifth in class.[30][31]
For 2026, Kubo remained in the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup with Team Takuty,[32] as well as racing in the ST-Z class of Super Taikyu for Kokusai Group Sports Team.[33] In addition, Kubo also remained with Subaru Tecnica International to race in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring,[34] as well as select races in the GT300 class of Super GT for Pacific Racing Team.[35][36]
Karting record
Karting career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | CIK-FIA Asia-Pacific Championship — KF2 | Sugiyama Racing | NC |
| 2010 | CIK-FIA Asia-Pacific Championship — KF2 | Sugiyama Racing | 17th |
| Macau International Karting Grand Prix — SKF | Robot Racing | 17th | |
| 2011 | Karting World Championship — KF1 | Sugiyama Racing | 34th |
| 2012 | Karting World Championship — KF1 | Sugiyama Racing | 42nd |
| Sources:[37][38] | |||
Racing record
Racing career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Super FJ Motegi Series | Robot Tochigi Le Beausset PFC | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 82 | 1st |
| Super FJ Suzuka Series | Robot Le Beausset Formula Academy | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 9th | |
| Super FJ Fuji Series | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Formula Challenge Japan | Le Beausset Racing Academy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| 2014 | Japanese Formula 3 Championship – National | Tochigi Le Beausset Motorsports | 15 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 10 | 97 | 2nd |
| 2015 | Porsche Carrera Cup Japan | Team KTouch Porsche | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 166 | 3rd |
| 2016 | Super GT – GT300 | Arnage Racing | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2017 | Super GT – GT300 | apr | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 16th |
| 2018 | Super GT – GT300 | Pacific with Gulf Racing | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 17th |
| 2019 | Super Taikyu – ST-4 | C.S.I Racing | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 90.5‡ | 3rd‡ |
| 2020 | Super GT – GT300 | Max Racing | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup | 1st | ||||||||
| Super Taikyu – ST-4 | C.S.I Racing | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 129‡ | 1st‡ | |
| 2021 | Super Taikyu – ST-Z | C.S.I Racing | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 73.5‡ | 5th‡ |
| Super Taikyu – ST-4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 129.5‡ | 2nd‡ | ||
| 2022 | Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup | Recaro Racing Team | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24th |
| Team Takuty | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Super Taikyu – ST-1 | Tracy Sports | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 128‡ | 3rd‡ | |
| Super Taikyu – ST-3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 99‡ | 3rd‡ | ||
| 2023 | Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup | Team Takuty | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 6th |
| Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie – SP3 | Team HAL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | NC | |
| Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie – VT2-R+4WD | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | ||
| 2024 | Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup | Team Takuty | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 16th |
| Super Taikyu – ST-Z | Porsche Team EBI | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 82‡ | 3rd‡ | |
| Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie – SP4T | Subaru Tecnica International | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | NC | |
| 24 Hours of Nürburgring – SP4T | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/a | 1st | ||
| 2025 | Super Taikyu – ST-Z | Porsche Team EBI | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 76.5‡ | 5th‡ |
| Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup | Team Takuty | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 11th | |
| Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie – SP4T | Subaru Tecnica International | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | |
| 24 Hours of Nürburgring – SP4T | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/a | 2nd | ||
| 2026 | Super Taikyu – ST-Z | Kokusai Group Sports Team | ‡ | ‡ | |||||
| Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86/BRZ Cup | Team Takuty | ||||||||
| Super GT – GT300 | Pacific Racing Team | ||||||||
| 24 Hours of Nürburgring – SP4T | Subaru Tecnica International | N/a | |||||||
| Sources:[39][37] | |||||||||
† As Kubo was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
‡ Team standings.
Complete Formula Challenge Japan results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Japanese Formula 3 results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Super GT results
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Arnage Racing | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 | GT300 | OKA 18 |
FUJ 12 |
SUG Ret |
FUJ 16 |
SUZ 16 |
CHA 15 |
MOT 26 |
MOT 19 |
NC | 0 |
| 2017 | apr | Toyota Prius apr GT | GT300 | OKA 10 |
FUJ 12 |
AUT Ret |
SUG 10 |
FUJ 3 |
SUZ Ret |
CHA 11 |
MOT 12 |
16th | 17 |
| 2018 | Pacific with Gulf Racing | Porsche 911 GT3 R | GT300 | OKA 16 |
FUJ1 17 |
SUZ 15 |
BUR 16 |
FUJ2 15 |
AUT 6 |
SUG 11 |
MOT 12 |
17th | 5 |
| 2020 | Max Racing | Lexus RC F GT3 | GT300 | FUJ 16 |
FUJ 13 |
SUZ 20 |
MOT 26 |
FUJ 19 |
SUZ WD |
MOT 15 |
FUJ | NC | 0 |
| 2026 | Pacific Racing Team | BMW M4 GT3 Evo | GT300 | OKA | FUJ |
SEP |
FUJ |
SUZ |
SUG |
AUT |
MOT |