is a Japanese racing driver who is currently competing in Super GT with ARTA, and in Super Formula for TCS Nakajima Racing as a substitute driver for Naoki Yamamoto.

Career

Early career Otsu started his motorsport career in karting in 2007, in which he remained active until 2010. In 2013, he switched to formula racing to participate in the Suzuka Circuit Racing School Formula, which is only intended to train drivers. In 2014, he competed in the JAP Japanese Formula 4 Championship and finished fifth in the FC class. In 2015, he made the move to the new Japanese Formula 4 Championship, where he raced as a Honda protégé for the Honda Formula Dream Project team. He took five podiums and finished third in the final standings with 108 points, behind Sho Tsuboi and Tadasuke Makino.

Japanese Formula 3 In 2016, Otsu made the move to the Japanese Formula 3 Championship, racing for the HFDP Racing team. He achieved five points finishes, with fifth place on the Okayama International Circuit as the best result. As a result, he finished tenth in the final standings with six points. In 2017, he made the move to the TODA Racing team within the class. During the season, he was on the podium six times before winning the season finale at the Sportsland SUGO. With 79 points, he finished fifth in the final standings behind Mitsunori Takaboshi, Sho Tsuboi, Álex Palou and Ritomo Miyata.

In 2019, Otsu returned to the series race with the ThreeBond Racing team. He took three podium finishes at Autopolis, Fuji Speedway and Twin Ring Motegi, finishing sixth in the standings with 36 points.

Super GT GT300 In 2018, Otsu made his Super GT debut, sharing a Honda NSX GT3 with Ryo Michigami in the GT300 class for the Modulo Drago Corse team that Michigami owned. They achieved a podium finish at Autopolis and were fourteenth in the championship with 24 points. In 2019, he took a podium place at Fuji with Michigami and finished seventeenth in the championship with 19 points.

GT500 In 2020, Otsu made the move to the GT500 class in Super GT, sharing a Honda NSX-GT GT500 with Takuya Izawa for the Modulo Nakajima Racing team. They achieved two pole positions at the Suzuka International Racing Course and Motegi, but were only on the podium at Motegi. With 31 points, the duo finished twelfth in the final standings.

For 2023, Otsu joined ARTA after the team expanded to two cars, he paired with Nirei Fukuzumi. Both pairs won a race and three podiums as they ended up fourth place. In 2024, Otsu stayed with the team, but was paired with Ren Sato.

Super Formula At the end of 2020, Otsu made his debut in the Super Formula season finale with the TCS Nakajima Racing team at Fuji, replacing Tadasuke Makino, who suffered from meningitis and needed rest. He finished thirteenth in the race.

In 2021, Otsu made his full-time debut in Super Formula with Team Mugen together with Team Goh under the Red Bull colours. He went on to get his first pole position in the series and win the race in the sixth round of the season at Motegi.

For 2022, Otsu moved to Dandelion Racing, but was underwhelming from his previous season. He ended up in ninth place with one podium. Otsu did not have a full time seat for 2023, but served as a replacement for drivers that were not available due to illness and injuries. He replaced Tomoki Nojiri, Toshiki Oyu, and Naoki Yamamoto at Mugen, TGM Grand Prix, and Nakajima Racing respectively. Otsu would race for six rounds in 2024 with TGM Grand Prix, as he replaced Nobuharu Matsushita.

Racing record

Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2015 F4 Japanese Championship Honda Formula Dream Project 14 0 1 0 5 108 3rd 2016 Japanese Formula 3 Championship Honda Formula Dream Project 17 0 0 0 0 16 10th 2017 Japanese Formula 3 Championship TODA Racing 20 1 2 0 7 64 5th 2018 Super GT - GT300 Drago Corse 8 0 0 0 1 24 14th Super Taikyu - ST-TCR Modulo Racing with Dome63006156‡ 1st‡ 2019 Japanese Formula 3 Championship ThreeBond Racing 20 0 0 0 3 36 6th Super GT - GT300 Drago Corse 8 0 0 0 1 19 17th Intercontinental GT Challenge Modulo Drago Corse100000NC Super Taikyu - ST-TCR Modulo Racing with Dome6212288‡ 2nd‡ 2020 Super GT - GT500 Modulo Nakajima Racing 8 0 2 0 1 31 12th Super Formula TCS Nakajima Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 25th Super Taikyu - ST-TCR Racer Dome Racing2000177.5‡4th‡ 2021 Super Formula Red Bull Mugen Team Goh 7 1 1 1 1 38.5 6th Super GT - GT500 Modulo Nakajima Racing 8 0 1 0 0 5 18th 2022 Super Formula Docomo Team Dandelion Racing100001339th Super GT - GT500 Modulo Nakajima Racing80000415th 2023 Super GT - GT500 ARTA81103534th Super Formula Team Mugen10000024th TGM Grand Prix10000 TCS Nakajima Racing10000 Super Taikyu - ST-Q Team HRC62114N/ANC‡ 2024 Super GT - GT500 ARTA800013512th Super Formula TGM Grand Prix60000022nd Super Taikyu - ST-Q Team HRC600030NC2025 Super GT - GT500 ARTA80211328thSuper Taikyu - ST-2Nihon Automobile CollegeSuper Taikyu - ST-QTeam HRC 2026 Super GT - GT500 Team HRC ARTA MugenSuper Taikyu - ST-QTeam HRCSuper Taikyu - ST-2Nihon Automobile College ‡ Team standings. * Season still in progress.

Complete F4 Japanese Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Pts 2015 Honda Formula Dream Project OKA1 OKA2 FUJ11 FUJ12 FUJ21 FUJ22 SUZ1 SUZ2 SUG1 SUG2 AUT1 AUT2 MOT1 MOT2 3rd 108

Complete Japanese Formula 3 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Pts 2016Honda Formula Dream ProjectMugen Honda SUZ1 SUZ2 FUJ1 FUJ2 OKA1 OKA2 SUZ1 SUZ2 FUJ1 FUJ2 MOT1 MOT2 OKA1 OKA2 SUG1 SUG2 SUG3 10th 6 2017 Toda Racing Toda OKA1 OKA2 OKA3 SUZ1 SUZ2 FUJ1 FUJ2 OKA1 OKA2 SUZ1 SUZ2 FUJ1 FUJ2 MOT1 MOT2 MOT3 AUT1 AUT2 SUG1 SUG2 5th 64 2019 ThreeBond Racing Tomei SUZ1 SUZ2 AUT1 AUT2 AUT3 OKA1 OKA2 OKA3 SUG1 SUG2 FUJ1 FUJ2 SUG1 SUG2 SUG3 MOT1 MOT2 MOT3 OKA1 OKA2 6th 36

Complete Super GT results Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points 2018 Modulo Drago Corse Honda NSX GT3 GT300OKARetFUJ8SUZ26CHA9FUJDNSSUG4AUT3MOT14 14th 24 2019 Modulo Drago Corse Honda NSX GT3 Evo GT300OKA9†FUJ26SUZ7CHA10FUJ3AUT11SUG13MOT29 17th 19 2020 Modulo Nakajima Racing Honda NSX-GT GT500 FUJ FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ 12th 31 2021 Modulo Nakajima Racing Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA FUJ MOT SUZ SUG AUT MOT FUJ 18th 5 2022 Modulo Nakajima Racing Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT 15th 4 2023 ARTA Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT 4th 53 2024 ARTA Honda Civic Type R-GT GT500 GT500 OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT 12th 35 2025 ARTA Honda Civic Type R-GT GT500 GT500 OKA FUJ SEP FS1 FS2 SUZ SUG AUT MOT 8th 32 2026 Team HRC ARTA Mugen Honda Prelude-GT GT500 OKA FUJ SEP FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. (Number) Driver did not take part in this sprint race, points are still awarded for the teammate's result. * Season still in progress.

Complete Super Formula results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year TeamEngine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points 2020 TCS Nakajima Racing Honda MOT OKA SUG AUT SUZ SUZ FUJ 25th 0 2021 Red Bull Mugen Team Goh Honda FUJ SUZ AUT SUG MOT MOT SUZ 6th 38.5 2022 Docomo Team Dandelion Racing Honda FUJ FUJ SUZ AUT SUG FUJ MOT MOT SUZ SUZ 9th 33 2023 Team Mugen Honda FUJ FUJ SUZ AUT SUG 24th 0TGM Grand Prix Honda FUJ MOTTCS Nakajima Racing Honda SUZ SUZ2024 TGM Grand Prix HondaSUZAUTSUG FUJ MOT FUJ FUJ SUZ SUZ22nd0 * Season still in progress.

References

External links