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Hibiki Taira

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Hibiki Taira
NationalityJapan Japanese
Born (2000-06-11) 11 June 2000 (age 24)
Okinawa, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan
Super GT Series - GT300 career
Debut season2020
Current teammuta Racing Inging
Car number2
Former teamsK-Tunes Racing, apr
Starts14
Wins0
Podiums4
Poles2
Fastest laps2
Best finish2nd in 2023
Super Formula Lights career
Debut season2021
Current teamTOM'S
Car number35
Starts49
Wins5
Podiums21
Poles4
Fastest laps4
Best finish2nd in 2023
Previous series
2019–20
2017–18		F4 Japanese Championship
Formula 4 South East Asia Championship
Championship titles
2020
2022
2023		F4 Japanese Championship
Super Taikyū - ST-2
Super Taikyū - ST-X

Hibiki Taira (平良響, Taira Hibiki, born 11 July 2000) is a Japanese racing driver who most recently competed in Super GT for muta Racing INGING and in Super Formula Lights for TOM'S. He is the champion of the 2020 F4 Japanese Championship, as well as a two-time class winner in the Super Taikyū Series.

Career

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Karting

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Taira began his karting career in 2009, and became champion in the Okinawa series the following year. He would remain at prefectural level competition until its cancellation in 2014 and travelled annually to compete in the national Rotax Max Challenge, claiming a best finish of eighth. In 2015, Taira made his international karting debut at the Rotax Max Grand Finals at the Algarve International Circuit, where he impressed against the likes of Caio Collet but crashed out in the grand final. Taira's karting career concluded in 2018 after two years racing in the All-Japan Karting Championship.[1]

Formula 4

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After making his formula racing debut by invitation in the final two rounds of the Formula 4 South East Asia championship in 2018, Taira began his first full season for Formula 4 in 2019, racing in the F4 Japanese Championship with TOM'S Spirit. He would go on to finish seventh in the standings, taking one podium. The following year, Taira remained in the series after gaining official Toyota junior status, graduating from the TGR-DC Racing School and joining its namesake team.[2] He would go on to win the championship in a crushingly dominant fashion, consecutively winning ten out of the twelve races contested that season and taking pole position in all but two qualifying sessions.[3]

Super Formula Lights

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For 2021, Taira was promoted to Super Formula Lights with TOM'S, partnering longtime teammate Seita Nonaka and former Formula 2 driver Giuliano Alesi.[4] He managed to claim 5th in the standings, finishing in the top six in every race, but never higher than third. Taira remained with TOM'S for 2022; despite claiming two race victories, he would finish fifth in the championship once again, one point behind teammate Nonaka.[5] In his third season in the category in 2023, Taira started off strongly and led the championship by the halfway mark after taking three victories, but would ultimately lose out on the championship, finishing runner-up to Honda junior Iori Kimura.[6]

Super GT

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Taira made his sports car racing debut in Super GT for the 2021 season, racing for K-Tunes Racing in the GT300 class alongside series veteran Morio Nitta as a stand-in for Sena Sakaguchi.[7] He continued his role as a replacement driver in 2022, competing for apr in three rounds in place of Hiroaki Nagai.[8] Taira began his first full season in Super GT in 2023, driving a Toyota GR86 GT300 for muta Racing INGING alongside Yuui Tsutsumi after Hiroki Katoh stepped back from a full-time driving role, becoming the director of the team.[9] Despite going winless, Taira and Tsutsumi finished in second on three occasions and claimed both pole position and the fastest race lap in the final two rounds of the season, earning enough points to finish second overall in the standings. Taira continues race with the same team, and pairing for 2024.[10]

Personal life

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Taira currently attends Aichi Toho University in Nagoya, studying international business administration.[11][12]

Racing record

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Career summary

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Season Series Team Races Wins Poles FLaps Podiums Points Position
2017-18 Formula 4 South East Asia Championship Meritus.GP 12 0 0 2 3 127 6th
2019 F4 Japanese Championship TOM'S Spirit 14 0 0 0 1 101 7th
2020 F4 Japanese Championship TGR-DC Racing School 12 10 6 4 12 270.5 1st
2021 Super Formula Lights TOM'S 13 0 0 0 4 41.5 5th
Super GT - GT300 K-Tunes Racing 3 0 0 0 0 5 24th
Super Taikyū - ST-2 Kobe Toyopet Motor Sports 6 4 0 1 4 100‡ 3rd‡
2022 Super Formula Lights TOM'S 18 2 0 1 6 62 5th
Super GT - GT300 apr 3 0 0 0 1 11 22nd
Super Taikyū - ST-2 KTMS Kobe Toyopet Motor Sports 6 5 0 1 6 173‡ 1st‡
2023 Super Formula Lights TOM'S 18 3 4 4 11 102 2nd
Super GT - GT300 muta Racing INGING 8 0 2 2 3 53 2nd
Super Taikyū - ST-X Zhongsheng ROOKIE Racing 7 3 2 1 5 136‡ 1st‡
TGR GR86/BRZ Cup Nine with ARN Racing 6 0 1 0 2 36 7th
2024 Super GT - GT300 muta Racing INGING 4 1 0 0 2 46* 1st*
Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP10 Toyota Gazoo Racing 2 0 0 0 0 (3)* NC*
Super Taikyu - ST-Z 2W Zoomies x GR Garage Yamaguchi-Shunan 1 0 0 0 0 7* 10th‡*
Super Taikyu - ST-2 KTMS
Super Formula Itochu Enex Team Impul 4 0 0 0 0 2 17th

‡ Team standings

* Season still in progress

Complete F4 Japanese Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points
2019 TOM'S Spirit OKA
1
4 		OKA
2
8 		FUJ1
1
7 		FUJ1
2
4 		SUZ
1
5 		SUZ
2
5 		FUJ2
1
23 		FUJ2
2
4 		AUT
1
12 		AUT
2
32 		SUG
1
5 		SUG
2
3 		MOT
1
5 		MOT
2
Ret 		7th 101
2020 TGR-DC Racing School FUJ1
1
3 		FUJ1
2
1 		FUJ1
3
1 		SUZ
1
1 		SUZ
2
1 		SUZ
3
1 		MOT
1
1 		MOT
2
1 		MOT
3
1 		FUJ2
1
1 		FUJ2
2
1 		FUJ2
3
2 		1st 270.5

Complete Super Formula Lights results

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

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Points
2021 TOM'S FUJ
1
4 		FUJ
2
DNS 		FUJ
3
4 		SUZ
1
5 		SUZ
2
4 		SUZ
3
3 		AUT
1
4 		AUT
2
4 		AUT
3
C 		SUG
1
3 		SUG
2
3 		SUG
3
3 		MOT
1
WD 		MOT
2
WD 		MOT
3
WD 		MOT
1
6 		MOT
2
4 		MOT
3
5 		5th 41.5
2022 TOM'S FUJ
1
3 		FUJ
2
3 		FUJ
3
1 		SUZ
1
7 		SUZ
2
4 		SUZ
3
5 		AUT
1
4 		AUT
2
Ret 		AUT
3
5 		SUG
1
2 		SUG
2
4 		SUG
3
2 		MOT
1
10 		MOT
2
1 		MOT
3
7 		OKA
1
6 		OKA
2
6 		OKA
3
5 		5th 62
2023 TOM'S AUT
1
2 		AUT
2
6 		AUT
3
2 		SUG
1
1 		SUG
2
1 		SUG
3
12 		SUZ
1
2 		SUZ
2
2 		SUZ
3
1 		FUJ
1
3 		FUJ
2
3 		FUJ
3
2 		OKA
1
5 		OKA
2
4 		OKA
3
4 		MOT
1
4 		MOT
2
5 		MOT
3
3 		2nd 102

Complete Super GT results

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

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points
2021 K-Tunes Racing Lexus RC F GT3 GT300 OKA
6 		FUJ
14 		MOT
13 		SUZ SUG AUT MOT FUJ 25th 4
2022 apr Toyota GR86 GT300 OKA FUJ
18 		SUZ FUJ
15 		SUZ
3 		SUG AUT MOT 22nd 11
2023 muta Racing Inging OKA
18 		FUJ
2 		SUZ
2 		FUJ
11 		SUZ
7 		SUG
Ret 		AUT
2 		MOT
9 		2nd 53
2024 OKA
12 		FUJ
6 		SUZ
23 		FUJ
8 		SUZ
 SUG
 AUT
 MOT

* Season still in progress.

Complete Super Formula results

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Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points
2024 Itochu Enex Team Impul SUZ
 AUT
 SUG
17 		FUJ
9 		MOT
 FUJ
 FUJ
 SUZ
 SUZ
 15th* 2*

References

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  1. ^ "Profile | Hibiki Taira". Hibiki Taira Official Fan Site (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Toyota junior Hibiki Taira starts Japanese F4 season on top at Fuji". Formula Scout. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Toyota junior Hibiki Taira takes Japanese F4 crown at Fuji". Formula Scout. 29 November 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Toyota promotes Japanese F4 champion Hibiki Taira to SF Lights". Formula Scout. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  5. ^ "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing、2022年のドライバー育成計画を発表".
  6. ^ "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing announced its 2023 motorsport team setups". Toyota Gazoo Racing. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Fenestraz, Makino forced to miss Super GT opener". motorsport.com. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  8. ^ "43 Car Entry List For Fuji GT 450km Race | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Teams & Drivers". Super GT. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Saitama Toyopet Gets New Lineup Amid Toyota Reshuffle". sportscar365.com. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Ｆ４参戦の平良さん　ルーキートップ年間7位でシーズン終了" [Taira finishes the F4 championship as top rookie in seventh]. 愛知東邦大学 (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  12. ^ "サーキット場のない沖縄から初のＦ４参戦！ 沖縄モータースポーツ界の第一人者・平良響の挑戦「世界で戦うレーサーになる」". 琉球新報 (in Japanese). 21 June 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
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