Satoshi Sakeyama
Satoshi Sakeyama (born 7/4/1991 in Japan) is a Japanese driver who has competed in the F1RSTC series before retiring at age 24.
Career
Sakeyama went into motor racing at age 12 when he went entered the local kart championship. Immediately he struggled to gain any teams attention after failing in his first two years. The struggle in those early years was the motivation for the up coming years in kart and it delivered with a 8th place finish in the championship in 2005 giving the youngster hope.
After that season, Exceed Motorsports offered the Japanese driver a two year contract to compete in the Japanese Formula Three championship. Four rounds later, and he would be evently dropped from the team to be replaced by Satoru Okada who would come in 13th in the championship. Satoshi was once again without a race team to compete with.
After a brief appearance Team Cerumo in the Formula Nippon and Super GT for Cusco Racing, he was out of options. That was until a surprise offer from Wiechers-Sport in the WTCC gave him a shot in the Round of Japan. Satoshi delivered with a 14th and 12th in both races. Both results delivered the stay of his seat for the Asian rounds the next year in which he would deliver his first point in Macau after getting past Franz Engstler on the last lap in the second race.
After being dropped from Wiechers-Sport, DeTeam KK Motorsport picked him up for the local Japanese round. Unlike his first two attempts in Wichers-Sport, he struggled with the car. 2012 though he moved to Honda Racing Team JAS for the three Asian rounds of the calendar and he delivered with a 11th and 10th place finish in Japan. After Tiago Monteiro moved back to Tuenti Racing Team, Sakeyama potential continued to blossom with another 10th and a 8th. The final round in Macau, he would easy forget with a massive accident in Race 1 ending his season.
2013 was much like 2012 as Honda Racing Team JAS entered the Japanese driver for the race in Japan. A 11th and a 15th place finish in those races, but a replacment for Takayuki Aoki in the final round of the Super GT gave him a 8th place finish to finish 27th and would seal his spot for the next season.
Sakeyama partnered up with Koji Yamanishi for the 2014 season and they immitenaly struck with a 6th place finish in Okayama, then followed up with a 8th in Fuji. But a mistake at Autopolis payed the dream of a win away. But that was the only trouble before Suzuka with a 6th and a 2nd. Suzuka was a diaster for the pairing of Sakeyama and Yamanishi when on lap 36 he crashed at the hairpin to end the race. After another disapponting performance in Thailand they ended off the season with a 10th place to end the season in 8th place overall.
Results
F1RSTC
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | Massive Motorsport | Holden Commodore VL | BRA 8 |
BIR 3 |
GRO 25 |
LUX Ret |
HOL Ret |
AKR 13 |
AUC 15 |
CLY 22 |
BTH 14 |
20th | 15 |
Career Summary
| Year | Series | Team | Position |
| 2003 | Japanese Junior Kart Championship | Independent | 19th |
| 2004 | Japanese Junior Kart Championship | Independent | 17th |
| 2005 | Japanese Junior Kart Championship | Independent | 8th |
| 2006 | Japanese Formula Three | Exceed Motorsports | 15th |
| 2007 | Formula Nippon | Team Cerumo | NC |
| 2008 | Super GT | Cusco Racing | NC |
| 2009 | World Touring Car Championship | Wiechers-Sport | NC |
| 2010 | World Touring Car Championship | Wiechers-Sport | 22nd |
| 2011 | World Touring Car Championship | DeTeam KK Motorsport | NC |
| 2012 | World Touring Car Championship | Honda Racing Team JAS | 23rd |
| 2013 | World Touring Car Championship | Honda Racing Team JAS | NC |
| Super GT | JLOC | 27th | |
| 2014 | Super GT | JLOC | 8th |
| 2015 | F1RSTC | Massive Motorsport | 20th |
| 2016 |