Kyosuke Mineo

Kyosuke Mineo(峰尾 恭輔, Mineo Kyōsuke; born 16 December 1974) is a Japanese racing driver who last competed in the GT300 class of Super GT for Pacific Racing with Good Speed.

He was Super GT champion in 2012 in GT300 for Team Taisan Endless, and is also a three-time Super Taikyu champion.

Career

Mineo began his racing career in 1996, racing in the Nissan Saurus Junior Kanto Series. After winning the East Japan Series the following year, Mineo then spent two years in the Formula Toyota Main Series, before progressing to the Japanese Formula 3 Championship with DTM in 2000, scoring a lone podium at Fuji. Three seasons in the Netz Cup Altezza Series then followed, in which he clinched the title in 2003, before joining Autobacs Racing Team Aguri to race primarily in Super Taikyu for the following two seasons. During those two seasons, Mineo finished third in the Class N+ standings with five podiums and then scoring four ST-5 wins in 2005 en route to runner-up honours.

In 2006, Mineo joined Porsche-fielding Endless Sports to make his debut in the GT300 class of Super GT, taking a lone podium at Fuji as he ended the year 21st in points. In parallel, Mineo also raced for the team in the ST-2 class of Super Taikyu, in which he scored a class podium at Okayama. Two seasons with Toyota-affiliated apr then ensued, in which Mineo took his second series podium at Sugo in 2008, a year in which he finished 14th in points. During 2008, Mineo also raced for Endless Sports in the ST-2 class of Super Taikyu, scoring wins at Motegi and Fuji.

Staying with Endless for the 2009 Super Taikyu season, Mineo scored four wins and three other podiums to secure the ST-2 title and was given the Mitsubishi Motors/Ralliart Driver of the Year award at season's end. Towards the end of the year, Mineo reunited with apr to compete in the final five races of the 2009 Super GT Series. Remaining in ST-2 with Endless for the following two seasons, Mineo won three times in 2010 en-route to runner-up honours, before repeating the same feat a year later with four wins to his name. In the midst of this, Mineo finished on the podium at the 2010 Pokka GT Summer Special for ASL-affiliated Autobacs Racing Team Aguri, and raced for Team Taisan on a full-time basis in the 2011 Super GT Series.

Remaining with the Porsche customer team for 2012, now in a partnership with Endless, Mineo won the season-ending race at Motegi and scored three other podiums to clinch the GT300 title along with Naoki Yokomizo. In parallel, Mineo continued with Endless to make his debut in the ST-1 class of Super Taikyu, which he won after scoring four wins and standing on the podium in all seven races. Continuing with Team Taisan Endless for the following year, Mineo scored a best result of third at Sugo to finish 12th in the GT300 standings in his title defence season. During 2013, Mineo also made a one-off appearance for the team in the Asian Le Mans Series at Inje, and led Endless in the GT3 class of Super Taikyu.

After a season spent bouncing around teams in GT300 and scoring a lone overall win in Super Taikyu for Endless en route to second in ST-X, Mineo joined Ferrari-fielding Direction Racing for the 2015 Super GT season, in which he took a best result of fourth at Autopolis. In parallel, Mineo raced with Endless in Super Taikyu for his second consecutive season in the ST-X class, in which he scored three wins and two other podiums to seal the title. Remaining with Endless for another season in ST-X, Mineo won twice and finished on the podium in every race he started to secure runner-up in the ST-X standings. During 2016, Mineo also raced in the GT300 class of Super GT for Team Direction, in the then-new Lamborghini Huracán GT3.

In 2017, Mineo joined Porsche customer team Pacific Racing with Gulf Racing. In his eighth full-time season in Super GT, Mineo took a lone podium at Okayama as he ended the year eighth in GT300. One-off appearances in Super GT and Super Taikyu then followed in 2018, before Mineo returned to Pacific Racing for his full-time return in the former the following year, in which he took a best result of ninth at Sugo.

Personal life

In July 2021, Mineo opened up Supersonics, a sports car specialty story in his hometown of Hachioji.

Racing record

Racing career summary

† As Mineo was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

‡ Team standings.

Complete Super GT results

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

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

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

External links

• career summary at DriverDB.com