Tatsuki Sato to be Porsche Japan Junior Driver in 2025

Posted: Posted:March 19, 2025

Porsche Carrera Cup Japan (PCCJ)

On March 12, 2025, this year's Porsche Japan Junior Driver was announced.

The junior drivers for Porsche Japan in the 2025 season are:

Porsche Carrera Cup Japan (PCCJ) → Itsuki Sato

Congratulations ^^

Sato Itsuki's profile

■ Vehicle: Porsche Japan Junior Program (Number 91)
■ Date of birth: December 3, 2002 (22 years old)
■ Birthplace: Kanagawa Prefecture
■ Race history:
2024 FIA F4 Series Ranking: 12th
2023 FIA F4 Series Ranking: 13th
2022 JAF F4 Series Champion
2021 Motegi-Sugo Super FJ Championship Series Champion
■ SNS:
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/itsukisato1203
X(formerly Twitter): @itsukisato1203
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/18o5yQNt9S/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Sato started his career as a driver in karting in 2013 (he started karting at the age of 3!), and his racing history is as mentioned above. He is set to graduate from the Honda Racing School Suzuka in 2022.

Sato said:

"I'm grateful to have been selected as a Porsche Japan junior driver. This will be my first time racing in a touring car, so I think it's going to be a very challenging year, but I'll take advantage of this wonderful environment and do my best to win the series championship. I'll also be taking part in the Porsche audition in Germany, and my final goal is to become an international driver who can be active overseas. I appreciate your support."

He said,

There's something called a Porsche audition in Germany.

Apparently, talented drivers can take part in auditions held by Porsche headquarters, and if they pass the audition they will be given the opportunity to challenge in higher categories such as the Mobil One Super Cup.

To be eligible to apply, you must first pass an audition held by the PCCJ Secretariat, but you must also be under 24 years old as of November of the year you wish to join the PCCJ.

However, Sato is only 22 years old as of November this year. He still has a chance, so I hope he does his best.

The Porsche 911 GT3 CUP is a livery design selected from public entries.

The design of the No. 91 911 GT3 Cup that Sato will be racing this season was actually selected from a public competition.

The theme for this design competition is

PCCJ 25th Anniversary
Classic meets futuristic
The Essence of Japan

The reason this design was chosen was because it was evaluated as the design that best fit the theme, with stripes that represent "time" and coloring that uses traditional Japanese hues.

At a glanceDakar liveryIt does have a similar feel to it (perhaps the colours used?), but it also has a more chic image than the Dakar design.

I would have liked a little more explanation about the traditional Japanese colors, but I think it's wonderful in any case.

2025 Porsche Carrera Cup Japan Race Schedule

round	schedule	circuit	Held event
official test	March 18th (Tue) - 19th (Wed)	Fuji Speedway	PCCJ Official Joint Test
Rounds 1-2	April 4th (Fri) - 6th (Sun)	Suzuka Circuit	F1 World Championship (Japanese Grand Prix)
Rounds 3 - 5	May 24th (Sat) - 25th (Sun)	Okayama International Circuit	Okayama Challenge Cup Race
Rounds 6-7	July 19th (Sat) - 20th (Sun)	Fuji Speedway	SUPER FORMULA Rounds 6 and 7
Rounds 8 to 9	August 9th (Sat) - 10th (Sun)	Sportsland SUGO	SUPER FORMULA Round 8
Rounds 10-11	September 26th (Friday) - 27th (Saturday)	Fuji Speedway	FIA World Endurance Championship Round 7

2025 Porsche Sprint Challenge Japan Race Schedule

round	schedule	circuit	Held event
Round 1-2	May 11th (Sunday)	Sportsland SUGO	SUGO Champion Cup Race
Rounds 3-4	June 21 (Sat) - 22 (Sun)	Okayama International Circuit	Super Formula Lights
Rounds 5-6	October 4th (Sat) - 5th (Sun)	Suzuka Circuit	Suzuka Clubman Race
Rounds 7-8	Sunday, November 9	Fuji Speedway	Fuji Champion Race

*The dates and number of races for both series are subject to change.

Porsche returns to Super GT

In addition, "seven x seven Racing" will enter the GT300 class with a 911 GT3R in the 2025 season.

The drivers are Kiyoto Fujinami, a two-time GT300 champion, and Tsubasa Kondo, who holds four titles, the most in PCCJ history.

In addition to Super GT, seven x seven Racing will also be competing in the Super Taikyu ST-X class and the SRO Japan Cup (911 GT3R), as well as the PCCJ Pro and Pro-Am classes.

Porsche Team EBI, part of the EBI Group, which operates authorized Porsche dealerships (Porsche Centers Aoyama, Meguro, Takanawa, etc.), will be competing in the ST-Z class of the Super Taikyu Series with a 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.

The drivers are Shota Kitazono, who holds a Porsche professional license, Rintaro Kubo, who participated in the 2015 PCCJ with Porsche Team EBI and has experience driving a Porsche in the GT300 class of the Super GT, and Rintaro Kubo, who was active as a Porsche Japan junior driver in the 2023 PSCJ and 2024 PCCJ.Ryoma Heianyama..

Race Car Maintenance was launched this February.Porsche Service Center Tokyo Bay TatsumiThe EBI mechanics will be in charge of the Porsche Service Center Tokyo Bay Tatsumi. It's going to be a very busy season.

This will mark the EBI Group's fifth season participating in the Super Taikyu series.

Porsche Centre Okazaki will continue to compete in the GT World Challenge Asia with two 911 GT3Rs, as it did last year.

The No. 18 car (Nine Racing) will see 2012 PCCJ Gentleman Class Champion Hiroaki Nagai teaming up with Kazuto Kodaka, and will also feature Takuro Shinohara as the third driver in the Suzuka 1,000km.

The No. 25 car (NK Racing) will continue to be driven by the 2020 and 2021 PCCJ Pro-Am class champion, Kiyoshi Uchiyama, and Tsubasa Kondo, who will also be driving the 911 GT3R in this season's Super GT. In the Malaysian and Chinese rounds, former Porsche Japan junior driver Yuta Uemura, who drove the No. 18 car until last season, will compete in place of Kondo.

I hope you all have a safe and successful 2025 season!

Source:
◆(Official) Tatsuki Sato Selected as Porsche Japan Junior Driver
◆(Official) Porsche Carrera Cup Japan Instagram

Rika (911supercars.com)

I'm Rika, the author of this article. Ever since Porsche 911 became my favorite car, I've become totally addicted to Porsche, and I can't stop loving Porsche, so I started this blog. My favorite cars are 911 Carrera (991.2), 911 Carrera Cabriolet (992.1), and 911 Carrera T (992.1).

911Supercars in the article

-Race: Race, Porsche: Porsche

Kaz amigo says:

2025年3月19日 at 9:35 PM

As expected, young race drivers are being developed thanks to the increasing number of people starting out with kart racing, which does not require a driver's license.

In the past, the process was to get a driver's license and then participate in domestic freshman races, so even if everything went smoothly, it took until your late 20s to improve your performance and move up to a higher category.

Recently, many circuit driving events have been held, making it easier to participate in motorsports. Many famous drivers have come up through mountain passes. Satoru Nakajima is one of those who honed his skills at the Suzuka Pass (laughs).

Porsche Sprint Challenge Japan, ah, I think Ueda from the Porsche Center was in it as part of the NTP Group.

Reply
- Rika (911supercars.com) says:
  
  2025年3月20日 at 11:59 PM
  
  Kaz amigo
  It seems like a lot of people start with the cart!
  
  However, unless your family can provide you with that kind of environment from an early age, it is not common for people to start karting before they are old enough to understand (compared to lessons such as swimming), so I think there may still be a lot of people with hidden talents out there.
  
  Reply
カート好きの還暦 says:

2025年3月20日 at 6:12 PM

Being a professional driver is tough.
You can step up from karts to four-wheelers and buy five to ten 911s before you get a seat. Even if you graduate from the Suzuka Racing School at the top of your class, Honda won't keep you there forever.
Tsunoda-kun, who went to F1, was not the top of the SRS team, but one word from Satoru Nakajima changed his life. Liam Lawson, who got the Red Bull seat before Tsunoda-kun, had a terrible opening race and is likely to be replaced if he does not get good results in the next few races.
In Japan, even the GT300 champion will have a tough time without a sponsor if he is unable to maintain a contract with a domestic manufacturer.

Still, those obsessed with racing can't quit.
Good luck, Sato Tatsuki.

Reply
- Rika (911supercars.com) says:
  
  2025年3月21日 at 12:00 AM
  
  60th birthday who likes carts
  That's true... I once supported a driver who was taking a test to participate in a certain race, and I was surprised to learn that just taking the test costs a considerable amount of money.
  
  For young drivers, this could mean that they may find themselves in a situation where they can't even take the test (no matter how skilled they are), so I think it's a tough world.
  
  However, I think that in any world, there are times when you need more than just the ability to do one thing, but the ability to do all sorts of things well (finding sponsors, networking, etc.), so I also think that to a certain extent it can't be helped...
  
  Reply
カート好きの還暦 says:

2025年3月21日 at 1:04 PM

It's really tough to become a professional driver.
Even in tests, if the settings don't suit your style, you won't get good results, but chances don't come often. The overwhelming majority of mechanics are stubborn and end up choosing versatile and average drivers.
Nowadays, most people start out in karting, but due to the declining birthrate, karting itself is shrinking. Basically, only children from well-off families remain. Even if you achieve results in karting, you cannot become a professional. On the other hand, there are many cases where a slow karting driver became a professional because his parent was a Super GT mechanic.

I understand RIKA's sponsors and connections, but I feel uncomfortable with the history and current situation of Daiki Sasaki, who competed on equal terms with Max Verstappen at Suzuka in his karting days. Sasaki's father runs a karting team, so he has been karting for too long. He still competes in the All Japan Karting Championship. On the other hand, Tsunoda's father gave up karting early and switched to four-wheelers.

Motorsports is a world swirling with politics and vested interests, so it is difficult to succeed unless you outsource management from a young age.

Reply

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