Ritomo Miyata, the newest young driver to join the Toyota Gazoo Racing WEC Challenge programme, will indeed make his FIA World Endurance Championship debut as a substitute at Kessel Racing this weekend at the 6 Hours of Fuji.
As announced by CarGuy Racing owner/driver Takeshi Kimura on social media, Miyata will drive the #57 CarGuy-sponsored Kessel Ferrari 488 GTE Evo alongside Kimura and Scott Huffaker, replacing Daniel Serra – who was unable to enter Japan.
On short notice, Kimura sought a replacement who is familiar with Fuji Speedway – and was granted permission from Toyota to bring in arguably the manufacturer’s best young racing driver, with Kimura referring to Miyata as “the fastest driver in Japan.”
Miyata currently drives for Toyota Gazoo Racing and TOM’s in the Autobacs SUPER GT Series GT500 class, where he is currently second in the standings alongside co-driver Sho Tsuboi with a win in this year’s Fuji GT 450km Race during the Golden Week holiday.
He is also driving for Toyota and TOM’s in the Super Formula Championship, where he leads the championship over current AlphaTauri F1 driver Liam Lawson and two-time defending champion Tomoki Nojiri with just two races remaining.
The 24-year-old was selected to the Toyota Gazoo Racing WEC Challenge on 30 May and began working alongside Toyota Gazoo Racing’s WEC team at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the aim of promoting him to the Hypercar ranks in the near future.
Prior to his successes at the highest levels of Japanese motorsport, Miyata won back-to-back FIA F4 Japanese Championships in 2016 and 2017, won the Super Formula Lights championship (formerly All-Japan F3) in 2020, and was a race winner in SUPER GT’s GT300 class. He has also made cameo appearances in the FIA World Touring Car Cup and also drives in the Super Taikyu Series.
Feature image © Japan Race Promotion (JRP)
