(born August 7, 1994) is a Japanese racing driver. He currently competes for Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave in both the Super GT and Super Taikyu racing series.
Kawaai won the 2023 Super GT Championship in the GT300 class and the 2023 Super Taikyu Championship in the ST-Z class.
Racing career Early racing career In 2016, Kawaai started his formula racing career in F4 Japanese Championship racing with Le Beausset Motorsports. He raced in the same series until 2019, where he claimed third in the standings behind Ren Sato, and Atsushi Miyake.
Super GT
Kawaii moves up to Super GT - GT300 with Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave, paired up with Hiroki Yoshida. In his debut season, he managed to get a win and podiums which claimed him and Yoshida to second in the standings behind to Kondo Racing of Kiyoto Fujinami & João Paulo de Oliveira. Kawaai continued to race with the same team, claimed ninth in the standings despite missing one race after he tested positive for COVID-19, where he replaced by Taku Bamba. in 2022, with the same team Kawaai managed to clinch a win at Autopolis with also another podium, and gets fourtth in the standings.
In 2023, Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave retained both Kawaai & Hiroki Yoshida and they claimed two wins and four podiums. Kawaai went on to win the 2023 Super GT Championship in the GT300 class alongside Yoshida.
Super Formula Lights Kawaai returned to formula racing in 2022, competed in Super Formula Lights for Rn-Sports. He claimed his first pole in the series, and competed only three rounds where he claimed eighth in the final standings.
Racing record Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles FLaps Podiums Points Position 2016 F4 Japanese Championship Le Beausset Motorsports 14 0 0 0 1 56 11th 2017 F4 Japanese Championship Le Beausset Motorsports 14 0 0 0 0 78 8th 2018 F4 Japanese Championship Le Beausset Motorsports 14 0 0 1 2 135 4th 2019 F4 Japanese Championship Le Beausset Motorsports 14 0 0 1 4 1313rd2020 Super GT - GT300 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave 8 2 2 1 2 62 2nd Super Taikyu - ST-352114114‡2nd‡2021 Super GT - GT300 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave 7 0 0 0 2 34 9th Super Taikyu - ST-36214495.5‡4th‡ 2022 Super GT - GT300 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave 8 1 0 0 2 48 4th Super Taikyu - ST-363224134‡2nd‡ Super Formula Lights Rn-Sports 12 0 1 0 0 10 8th2023 Super GT - GT300 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave 8 2 0 1 4 74 1st Super Taikyu - ST-Z74207174‡1st‡2024 Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - VT2-R+4WD 2025Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - VT2-RWD 2026Porsche Carrera Cup Japan Starrise Racing100003.521stSuper GT - GT300JLOC ‡ Team standings
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 2017 Le Beausset Motorsports OKA1 OKA2 FUJ11 FUJ12 SUG1 SUG2 FUJ21 FUJ22 FUJ23 SUZ1 SUZ2 MOT1 MOT2 MOT3 11th 56 2017 Le Beausset Motorsports OKA1 OKA2 FUJ11 FUJ12 AUT1 AUT2 SUG1 SUG2 FUJ21 FUJ22 SUZ1 SUZ2 MOT1 MOT2 8th 76 2018 Le Beausset Motorsports OKA1 OKA2 FUJ11 FUJ12 SUZ1 SUZ2 FUJ21 FUJ22 SUG1 SUG2 AUT1 AUT2 MOT1 MOT2 4th 135 2019 Le Beausset Motorsports OKA1 OKA2 FUJ11 FUJ12 SUZ1 SUZ2 FUJ21 FUJ22 AUT1 AUT2 SUG1 SUG2 MOT1 MOT2 3rd 131
Complete Super Formula Lights results (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 2022 Rn-Sports FUJ1 FUJ2 FUJ3 SUZ1 SUZ2 SUZ3 AUT1 AUT2 AUT3 SUG1 SUG2 SUG3 MOT1 MOT2 MOT3 OKA1 OKA2 OKA3 8th 10
Complete Super GT results (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 Pts 2020 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave Toyota GR Supra GT300 GT300 FUJ FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ 2nd 62 2021 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave Toyota GR Supra GT300 GT300 OKA FUJ MOT SUZ SUG AUT MOT FUJ 9th 34 2022 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave Toyota GR Supra GT300 GT300 OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT 4th 48 2023 Saitama Toyopet GreenBrave Toyota GR Supra GT300 GT300 OKA FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT 1st 74
References
External links
http://www.kohtakawaai.com