B-Max Racing Team

B-Max Racing Co., Ltd also known as B-Max Racing Team and B-Max Engineering is a Japanese race car constructor and racing team headquartered in Ayase, Kanagawa, Japan.

B-Max Racing

Founded	2010
Base	Ayase, Kanagawa
Founder(s)	Ryūji Kumita
Current series	Super Formula Super Formula Lights F4 Japanese Championship
Former series	Japanese Formula 3 Championship F3 Asian Championship Formula Regional Japanese Championship GT World Challenge Asia
Current drivers	Super Formula: Iori Kimura Super Formula Lights: Kaylen Frederick Syun Koide Nobuhiro Imada "Dragon" Makoto Fujiwara Yasuhiro Shimizu Rin Arakawa F4 Japanese Championship: Ryota Horachi Yuto Nomura

History

Byobugaura Kogyo Co., Ltd. established the race division "B-Max Engineering" in 2009, and started participating in Super FJ and Porsche Carrera Cup Japan in 2010. Since then, the participation category has been expanded. Ryūji Kumita, the president and team representative, competes in the race himself under the pseudonym "Dragon".

In 2014, the team name was changed to "B-Max Racing Team" (Vehicle Division). In addition, B-Max Racing participate in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship.^[1] In November 2017, spun off from Byobugaura Kogyo Co., Ltd. as B-MAX RACING Co., Ltd.^[2]

Super Formula

The team have also participated in Super Formula Championship from 2017 with Takashi Kogure their first driver.^[3] In 2019, they participated in Super Formula with two cars, in collaboration with the German racing team Motopark Academy.^[4] For 2021, B-Max & Motopark ended their partnership, and the team did not race for first round of the season. Nobuharu Matsushita: joined B-Max Racing from the second round at Suzuka. He was initially denied an engine lease from Honda, after signing a factory racing contract with Nissan in the Super GT Series. This prevented him from racing in the opening round at Fuji. Honda would reverse their decision after Masaya Nagai replaced Hiroshi Shimizu as the Director of Motorsport at Honda.^[5] They planned to enter two cars, after running just one car for Nobuharu Matsushita in 2021. They confirmed on 4 March that they would continue to run one car, after a failed attempt to enter a non-Japanese driver in their second car, as 2021 Formula Regional Americas Championship champion Kyffin Simpson declined the opportunity offered by Honda Performance Development (Honda's United States motorsport operation, which supplies engines to the Formula 4 United States and Formula Regional Americas championships) to the series champion because of pandemic-related restrictions. ^[6] Raoul Hyman was awarded a Honda Super Formula scholarship for winning the 2022 Formula Regional Americas Championship title, and drove for B-Max Racing. The team is currently scheduled to downsize from running two cars in 2023 to a single-car entry in 2024, to be piloted by reigning Super Formula Lights champion Iori Kimura.^[7]

Super GT

B-Max Racing venture in Super GT started in 2014 where they are set up with NDDP Racing which is the NISMO Nissan Driver Academy as they discontinued their partnership with Nova Engineering. Kazuki Hoshino as the leading senior driver, he has partnered up with Lucas Ordóñez, and Jann Mardenborough who won the Nissan Gran Turismo Academy. Mitsunori Takaboshi raced as well for two seasons.

In 2018 NDDP Racing moved up to the GT500 class, entering as NDDP Racing with B-Max. They take the place of MOLA, who withdrew from the series at the end of 2017.^[8][9] B-Max formed an all-new driver lineup: Kohei Hirate transferred to Nissan and secured his return to GT500 after a seventeen-year association with Toyota, while former Honda GT500 driver Frédéric Makowiecki returned to the series for the first time since 2014.^[10] For 2020 Katsumasa Chiyo, who raced full-time in the Intercontinental GT Challenge for Nissan in 2019, returns to GT500 on a full-time basis at NDDP Racing with B-Max, replacing Makowiecki.^[11] In 2022, NISMO takes over the NDDP Team, thus ends B-Max Racing program in Super GT.

B-MAX NDDP GT-R in 2017.

Current series results

Super Formula

Year	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	D.C.	T.C.	Pts
2017	Dallara SF14	Honda HR-414E I4 t	Takashi Kogure	7	0	0	0	0	0	18th	11th	0
2018	Dallara SF14	Honda HR-414E I4 t	Katsumasa Chiyo	6	0	0	0	0	0	18th	11th	0
2019	Dallara SF19	Honda HR-417E I4 t	Lucas Auer	7	0	0	1	1	14	9th	8th	20
			Harrison Newey	7	0	0	0	1	6	15th
2020	Dallara SF19	Honda HR-417E I4 t	Nobuharu Matsushita	4	0	0	0	1	16	15th	9th	16
			Sérgio Sette Câmara	1	0	1	0	0	3	20th
			Charles Milesi	3	0	0	0	0	0	21st
			Mitsunori Takaboshi	1	0	0	0	0	0	26th
			Teppei Natori	0	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2021	Dallara SF19	Honda HR-417E I4 t	Nobuharu Matsushita	6	0	1	0	2	33.5	8th	8th	29.5
2022	Dallara SF19	Honda HR-417E I4 t	Nobuharu Matsushita	10	1	0	0	1	21	13th	9th	21
2023	Dallara SF23	Honda HR-417E I4 t	Nobuharu Matsushita	9	0	0	0	0	4	19th	12th	4
			Raoul Hyman	9	0	0	0	0	0	25th

In detail

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	T.C.	Points
2017		SUZ	OKA	OKA	FUJ	MOT	AUT	SUG	SUZ	SUZ		11th	0
	Takashi Kogure	15	18	15	13	17	12	14	C	C
2018		SUZ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	MOT	OKA	SUZ				11th	0
	Katsumasa Chiyo	14	C	Ret	17	19	15	10
2019		SUZ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	MOT	OKA	SUZ				8th	20
	Lucas Auer	7	11	3	Ret	7	5	11
	Harrison Newey	Ret	17	Ret	16	19	3	20
2020		MOT	OKA	SUG	AUT	SUZ	SUZ	FUJ				9th	16
	Teppei Natori	DNS
	Mitsunori Takaboshi		14
	Sérgio Sette Câmara			Ret
	Nobuharu Matsushita				6	Ret	14	3
	Charles Milesi				15	11	13	DNS
2021		FUJ	SUZ	AUT	SUG	MOT	MOT	SUZ				8th	29.5
	Nobuharu Matsushita		13	3‡	4	3	7	12
2022		FUJ	FUJ	SUZ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	MOT	MOT	SUZ	SUZ	9th	21
	Nobuharu Matsushita	Ret	19	1	10	Ret	Ret	11	11	17	Ret
2023		FUJ	FUJ	SUZ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	MOT	SUZ	SUZ		12th	4
	Nobuharu Matsushita	13	12	12	Ret	Ret	13	Ret	13	7
	Raoul Hyman	16	18	18	17	18	Ret	15	21	18

Super Formula Lights

Year	Car	Drivers	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	D.C.	T.C.
2020	Dallara 320-Volkswagen	Sena Sakaguchi	17	4	5	2	16	116	2nd	N/A
		Yoshiaki Katayama	5	0	0	0	1	10	6th
		Mitsunori Takaboshi	3	0	0	0	0	8	7th
		Mizuki Ishizaka	2	0	0	0	0	3	11th
		"Dragon"	17	0	0	0	0	2	12th
		Kiyoto Fujinami	3	0	0	0	0	2	13th
		Masami Kageyama	2	0	0	0	0	1	14th
		Sakon Yamamoto	3	0	0	0	0	0	16th
		Satoshi Motoyama	3	0	0	0	0	0	17th
		Nobuhiro Imada	9	0	0	0	0	0	18th
		Motoyoshi Yoshida	8	0	0	0	0	0	19th
		Takashi Hata	6	0	0	0	0	0	20th
2021	Dallara 320-Spiess	Nobuhiro Imada	17	0	0	0	0	1	10th	2nd
		"Dragon"	17	0	0	0	0	0	12th
		Miki Koyama	3	0	0	0	0	0	13th
		"Syuji"	8	0	0	0	0	0	14th
		Takashi Hata	6	0	0	0	0	0	17th
2022	Dallara 320-Spiess	Iori Kimura	18	3	2	6	9	85	3rd	3rd
		Togo Suganami	18	0	0	0	1	25	7th
		"Dragon"	18	0	0	0	0	1	11th
		Nobuhiro Imada	18	0	0	0	0	1	12th
		Roberto Merhi	3	0	0	0	0	0	14th
2023	Dallara 320-Spiess	Iori Kimura	18	6	4	8	12	113	1st	1st
		Igor Fraga	18	1	1	1	7	62	4th
		Togo Suganami	9	2	0	1	4	39	6th
		David Vidales	15	0	0	0	1	19	9th
		Nobuhiro Imada	15	0	0	0	0	0	12th
		Takashi Hata	10	0	0	0	0	0	14th
	Dallara 320-TOMEI	"Dragon"	18	0	0	0	0	0	13th
2024	Dallara 324-TOM'S	Syun Koide	18	8	6	7	11	115	1st	2nd
		Kaylen Frederick	18	1	1	0	4	46	5th
		Rin Arakawa	9	0	0	0	3	44	6th
			6	0	0	0	2			4th
		"Dragon"	18	0	0	0	0	0	11th
		Makoto Fujiwara	12	0	0	0	0	0	14th
		Nobuhiro Imada	14	0	0	0	0	0	10th	6th
		Togo Suganami	3	0	0	0	0	0	13th
		Yasuhiro Shimizu	18	0	0	0	0	0	15th	8th

F4 Japanese Championship

Year	Car	Drivers	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	D.C.	T.C.
2016	Dome F110	Shinji Sawada	14	0	1	0	5	106	7th	5th
		Motoyoshi Yoshida	12	0	0	0	0	0	38th
		"Syuji"	2	0	0	0	0	0	48th
2017	Dome F110	Shinji Sawada	14	0	0	0	2	85	6th	4th
		Ayumu Iwasa	2	0	0	0	0	0	28th
		Chia Wing Hoong	14	0	0	0	0	0	31st
		Motoyoshi Yoshida	4	0	0	0	0	0	45th
2018	Dome F110	"Syuji"	8	0	0	0	0	0	40th	NC
		Motoyoshi Yoshida	2	0	0	0	0	0	43rd
		"Dragon"	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2019	Dome F110	"Dragon"	12	0	0	0	0	0	22nd	NC
		"Syuji"	14	0	0	0	0	0	39th
2021	Dome F110	Nobuhiro Imada	7	0	0	0	0	0	28th	NC
		"Syuji"	7	0	0	0	0	0	42nd
2022	Dome F110	Yuki Mishima	4	0	0	0	0	2	21st	12th
		"Dragon"	14	0	0	0	0	0	35th
		Nobuhiro Imada	3	0	0	0	0	0	46th
2023	Dome F110	Nobuhiro Imada	12	0	0	0	0	0	37th	NC
		"Dragon"	14	0	0	0	0	0	40th
		Makoto Fujiwara	14	0	0	0	0	0	36th
2024	Toray Carbon Magic MCSC-24	"Dragon"	13	5	5	4	9	202	1st	1st[a]
		Nobuhiro Imada	12	4	4	1	10	199.5	2nd
		Yuto Nomura	13	7	3	4	10	236	1st	1st
		Ryota Horachi	13	1	6	4	8	167	2nd

Former series results

Super GT

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Car	Class	No.	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pos	Points
2012	Nissan GT-R	GT300	3	Yuhi Sekiguchi Katsumasa Chiyo Daiki Sasaki	OKA 19	FUJ 18	SEP 4	SUG 1	SUZ 2	FUJ 9	AUT 19	MOT 6		4th	53
2013			3	Kazuki Hoshino Daiki Sasaki Lucas Ordóñez	OKA Ret	FUJ Ret	SEP 10	SUG 9	SUZ 9	FUJ 5	FUJ	AUT Ret	MOT 9	17th	14
2014			3	Kazuki Hoshino Lucas Ordóñez Wolfgang Reip	OKA 4	FUJ 5	AUT 4	SUG 9	FUJ 10	SUZ 19	BUR 1	MOT 8		4th	48
2015			3	Kazuki Hoshino Mitsunori Takaboshi Wolfgang Reip	OKA 8	FUJ 2	CHA 1	FUJ Ret	SUZ 14	SUG 8	AUT 1	MOT Ret		4th	61
2016			3	Kazuki Hoshino Jann Mardenborough	OKA 10	FUJ 1	SUG 5	FUJ 6	SUZ 10	CHA 2	MOT 13	MOT 6		4th	52
2017			3	Kazuki Hoshino Mitsunori Takaboshi	OKA 7	FUJ 6	AUT 9	SUG 8	FUJ Ret	SUZ 14	CHA 9	MOT 10		17th	17
2018		GT500	3	Satoshi Motoyama Katsumasa Chiyo	OKA 7	FUJ 10	SUZ 7	CHA 13	FUJ 15	SUG 8	AUT 13	MOT 9		17th	14
2019			3	Kohei Hirate Frederic Makowiecki	OKA 4‡	FUJ 6	SUZ 9	CHA 6	FUJ 11	AUT 11	SUG 1	MOT DNS		9th	36
2020			3	Kohei Hirate Katsumasa Chiyo	FUJ 7	FUJ 8	SUZ 6	MOT 7	FUJ Ret	SUZ 4	MOT 15	FUJ 6		13th	29
2021			3	Kohei Hirate Katsumasa Chiyo	OKA 9	FUJ 5	MOT 6	SUZ 2	SUG Ret	AUT 4	MOT 14	FUJ 8		10th	39

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

F3 Asian Championship

Year	Car	Drivers	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	D.C.	T.C.
2018	Tatuus F3 T-318	"Dragon"	9	0	0	0	0	0	23rd	11th
		Tairoku Yamaguchi	3	0	0	0	0	0	24th
2019 Summer	Tatuus F3 T-318	Miki Koyama†	6	0	0	0	0	18	15th	9th
		Kiyoto Fujinami	3	0	0	0	0	14	16th
		"Dragon"	3	0	0	0	0	0	21st
		Tairoku Yamaguchi	3	0	0	0	0	0	22nd
2019 Winter	Tatuus F3 T-318	Motoyoshi Yoshida	6	0	0	0	0	11	14th	6th
		Tairoku Yamaguchi	9	0	0	0	0	7	15th
		"Dragon"	3	0	0	0	0	0	16th
		Miki Koyama	3	0	0	0	0	0	NC‡

† Koyama drove for BlackArts Racing Team in round 3. ‡ Guest driver

Formula Regional Japanese Championship

Year	Car	Drivers	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	D.C.	T.C.
2020	Dome F111/3	"Dragon"	11	0	0	0	0	76	6th	N/A
		"Syuji"	12	0	0	0	0	41	10th
		Motoyoshi Yoshida	5	0	0	0	0	0	22nd
2021	Dome F111/3	Nobuhiro Imada	10	0	0	0	0	54	10th	5th
		"Takumi"	13	0	0	0	0	44	11th
		"Dragon"	10	0	0	0	0	20	18th
		"Syuji"	8	0	0	0	0	10	19th
2022	Dome F111/3	Nobuhiro Imada	5	0	0	0	0	40	11th	9th

Formula 4 South East Asia Championship

Year	Car	Drivers	Races	Wins	Poles	F.Laps	Podiums	Points	D.C.	T.C.
2023	Tatuus F4-T421	"Dragon"	3	0	0	0	0	2	27th	10th

Timeline

Current series
F4 Japanese Championship	2016–2019, 2021–present
Super Formula Championship	2017–present
Super Formula Lights	2020–present
Former Series
Japanese Formula 3 Championship	2011–2019
Super GT	2012–2021
Formula Challenge Japan	2013
Super Taikyu Series	2018
F3 Asian Championship	2018–2019
Formula Regional Japanese Championship	2020–2022
Formula 4 South East Asia Championship	2023

Notes

1. Independent class

References

1. 2014年B-MAX with NDDP 参戦概要を発表しました Archived 2015-11-02 at the Wayback Machine - B-MAX Racing Team・2014年3月14日
2. "新会社設立のご案内". Archived from the original on 2017-11-12. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
3. B-MAX RACING TEAMが2017年 全日本スーパーフォーミュラ選手権に参戦を表明 - スーパーフォーミュラ・2016年10月27日
4. B-MAXとモトパークがコラボを発表。2019年のスーパーフォーミュラに2台体制で参戦へ - auto sport web・2018年11月14日
5. "Super Formula: Honda boss explains Nobuharu Matsushita saga". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
6. "B-Max Racing Team 2022 Race Structure". B-Max Racing Team (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-03-03.
7. O’Connell, RJ (12 December 2023). "Honda Announces 2024 GT500 Drivers". dailysportscar.com. Dailysportscar. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
8. "Nissan & NISMO Announce 2018 Super GT Programmes". dailysportscar.com. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
9. 日産/ニスモ、2018年のモータースポーツ活動を発表 - 日産自動車ニュースルーム・2018年2月12日
10. "Nissan Announces Super GT Programme From Yokohama". dailysportscar.com. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
11. "Rossiter loses Super GT seat as Nissan reveals 2020 drivers". motorsport.com. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.

External links

• Official website Archived 2021-06-15 at the Wayback Machine