Cerumo

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ChampionshipsWebsitecerumo.co.jp

Cerumo Co., Ltd. (stylized as CERUMO) is a Japanese racing team headquartered in Oyama, Shizuoka Prefecture. The competed in Super Formula together with INGING Motorsport, and participated in Super GT GT500 Class. In January 2016, former Bridgestone Scuderia Ferrari engineer Hirohide Hamashima joined the team and became general manager in both the Super GT and Super Formula categories. At the shareholders' meeting in February 2019, founder Masayuki Sato resigned as president, and Hamashima also resigned as general manager. In his place, Haruhisa Urabe will become president and chairman, and Hiroaki Ishiura will become a director. After that Yuji Tachikawa picked as the director.

The founder, Masayuki Sato, is a famous engineer known as "Bate-san" in the domestic racing world. As Tadashi Sakai's chief mechanic, he was in charge of machines such as the Fuji GC, and in 1981 he took over Sakai Engineering and established Cerumo. The company name is derived from the Italian word for steady. While operating as a maintenance garage, then formed the team in 1991. Since then, he has competed in SUPER GT (formerly All Japan GT Championship JGTC) and Formula Nippon then the current Super Formula.

At the end of 2007, Haruhisa Urabe, the owner of INGING, became the new owner, and the integration of INGING and the factory is underway. The team has run with Roberto Streit, Yuji Tachikawa, Takuto Iguchi. In 2011 Project mu joined the team as the main sponsor for the team. Their success was during the Dallara SF14 era where Hiroaki Ishiura and Yuji Kunimoto won the drivers title from 2015 to 2017, with Ishiura won in 2015 & 2017 and Kunimoto in 2016. The team also won constructor champion in 2016 & 2017. Sho Tsuboi replaces Kunimoto in 2019.^[1] And he clinched third place in 2020 in which the highest position he achieved in the series to date. Hiroaki Ishiura stepped down from racing in Super Formula, and he worked with Tachikawa. His replacement was Sena Sakaguchi.^[2] For 2023, INGING acquired a new title sponsor in finance advisory firm Vertex Partners, with the team now named Vertex Partners Cerumo・INGING. Toshiki Oyu joined Toyota and drive for INGING, replacing Sho Tsuboi who moves to TOM'S.^[3]

Cerumo has competed in the All Japan GT Championship (JGTC) since 1995 and in SUPER GT since 2005, winning the Driver's Championship three times in 2001, 2005, and 2013 which Yuji Tachikawa won it all, with Hironori Takeuchi, Toranosuke Takagi, and Kohei Hirate each won respectively. Cerumo participating in SUPER GT under the entrant name "TGR Team ZENT Cerumo" from 2020, but already with sponsorship from the pachinko and amusement chain ZENT since 2009. The director was Takeuchi in 2008 and 2009, Takagi from 2010 to 2017, Hirohide Hamashima in 2018, and Tachikawa has been appointed general director since 2019. In 2021, Junichi Murata will remain the general manager of Tachikawa and become the team manager. Kotaro Tanaka will lead the team in 2022, and Junichi Murata will lead the team again from 2023. Tachikawa retired from the series after the 2023 season and he returns to the team as team director.^[4] Tachikawa's replacement at Cerumo will be Toshiki Oyu who moves from Honda. Cerumo's long time sponsor ZENT will not be the main sponsor and KeePer will replace it.

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

Year	Car	Tyres	Class	No.	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Pos	Pts
1995	Toyota Supra	B	GT1	38	Érik Comas	SUZ 5	FUJ 14	SEN 15	FUJ Ret	SUG 11	MIN DSQ			12th	8
1996	Toyota Supra	B	GT500	37	Érik Comas Hidetoshi Mitsusada Hironori Takeuchi	SUZ 16	FUJ 4	SEN 1	FUJ Ret	SUG 4	MIN 2			2nd	68
1997	Toyota Supra	B	GT500	38	Hironori Takeuchi Katsutomo Kaneishi	SUZ 4	FUJ 9	SEN 4	FUJ 8	MIN 5	SUG 10			1st	79
				510	Bertrand Gachot Paul Belmondo	SUZ	FUJ	SEN 8	FUJ 5	MIN Ret	SUG 11			9th	11
1998	Toyota Supra	B	GT500	38	Hironori Takeuchi Takayuki Kinoshita	SUZ 9	FUJ C	SEN Ret	FUJ Ret	MOT 5	MIN 12	SUG 3		9th	22
1999	Toyota Supra	B	GT500	32	Masahiko Kondo Takayuki Kinoshita	SUZ 8	FUJ 6	SUG 8	MIN Ret	FUJ Ret	OKA 11	MOT 15		11th	12
				38	Hironori Takeuchi Yuji Tachikawa	SUZ 7	FUJ 2	SUG Ret	MIN 8	FUJ 6	OKA 8	MOT 12		8th	31
2000	Toyota Supra	B	GT500	32	Masahiko Kondo Takayuki Kinoshita	MOT 11	FUJ Ret	SUG 16	FUJ 19	OKA 13	MIN Ret	SUZ 10		15th	1
				38	Hironori Takeuchi Yuji Tachikawa	MOT 4	FUJ 3	SUG 12	FUJ Ret	OKA 1	MIN 6	SUZ 11		5th	48
2001	Toyota Supra	B	GT500	33	Masahiko Kondo Ukyo Katayama Shigekazu Wakisaka	OKA 12	FUJ 14	SUG 13	FUJ 14	MOT 9	SUZ Ret	MIN 13		3rd	58
				38	Hironori Takeuchi Yuji Tachikawa	OKA Ret	FUJ 2	SUG 3	FUJ 4	MOT 2	SUZ 6	MIN 16
2002	Toyota Supra	B	GT500	1	Hironori Takeuchi Yuji Tachikawa	OKA 4	FUJ 1	SUG 17	SEP 9	FUJ 1	MOT 13	MIN 9	SUZ 6	4th	69
				33	Masahiko Kondo Ukyo Katayama Hayanari Shimoda	OKA 15	FUJ	SUG 9	SEP 7	FUJ 16	MOT 12	MIN 11	SUZ 13
2003	Toyota Supra	B	GT500	38	Hironori Takeuchi Yuji Tachikawa	OKA DNS	FUJ DSQ	SUG 10	FUJ 3	FUJ 3	MOT 9	AUT 3	SUZ 13	7th	64
2004	Toyota Supra	B	GT500	38	Seiji Ara Yuji Tachikawa	OKA 5	SUG 1	SEP 7	TOK 14	MOT 10	AUT 11	SUZ 4		6th	45
	Toyota Celica	D	GT300	52	Hironori Takeuchi Seigo Nishizawa	OKA 17	SUG 20	SEP 8	TOK 23	MOT 8	AUT 18	SUZ 9		13th	9

Note: in 1996 and 1997 Cerumo and TOM's entered the Team's Championship together under the Toyota Castrol Team banner.

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

Year	Car	Tyres	Class	No.	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pos	Points
2005	Toyota Supra	B	GT500	38	Toranosuke Takagi Yuji Tachikawa	OKA 14	FUJ 1	SEP 11	SUG 11	MOT 12	FUJ 1	AUT 7	SUZ 1		4th	67
	Toyota Celica	K	GT300	52	Hironori Takeuchi Katsuyuki Hiranaka	OKA 11	FUJ 14	SEP 12	SUG 8	MOT 14	FUJ Ret	AUT 8	SUZ 18		12th	7
2006	Lexus SC430	B	GT500	1	Toranosuke Takagi Yuji Tachikawa Ronnie Quintarelli	SUZ 5	OKA 5	FUJ Ret	SEP 12	SUG 1	SUZ 7	MOT 3	AUT 5	FUJ Ret	7th	58
	Toyota Celica	K	GT300	52	Hironori Takeuchi Koki Saga Keita Sawa	SUZ 11	OKA 12	FUJ 12	SEP	SUG 11	SUZ 1	MOT Ret	AUT 13	FUJ 21	13th	25
2007	Lexus SC430	B	GT500	38	Toranosuke Takagi Yuji Tachikawa	SUZ 1	OKA 11	FUJ 6	SEP 4	SUG 11	SUZ 7	MOT 14	AUT Ret	FUJ 4	7th	61
2008	Lexus SC430	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Richard Lyons	SUZ 4	OKA 7	FUJ 1	SEP Ret	SUG 3	SUZ 9	MOT 9	AUT 4	FUJ 2	2nd	93
2009	Lexus SC430	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Richard Lyons	OKA 6	SUZ 1	FUJ 9	SEP 10	SUG 10	SUZ 3	FUJ 10	AUT 11	MOT 13	9th	63
2010	Lexus SC430	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Richard Lyons	SUZ 9	OKA 2	FUJ 4	SEP 6	SUG 9	SUZ 6	FUJ C	MOT Ret		9th	52
2011	Lexus SC430	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Kohei Hirate	OKA 5	FUJ 8	SEP 5	SUG 11	SUZ 14	FUJ 1	AUT 3	MOT 10		6th	68
2012	Lexus SC430	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Kohei Hirate	OKA 1	FUJ 8	SEP 2	SUG 5	SUZ 9	FUJ 8	AUT 7	MOT 1		2nd	95
2013	Lexus SC430	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Kohei Hirate	OKA 4	FUJ 2	SEP 14	SUG 11	SUZ 11	FUJ 1	AUT 2	MOT 3		1st	89
2014	Lexus RC F	B	GT500	1	Yuji Tachikawa Kohei Hirate	OKA 14	FUJ 2	AUT 12	SUG 1	FUJ 14	SUZ 8	BUR 11	MOT 7		7th	61
2015	Lexus RC F	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura	OKA 3	FUJ Ret	CHA Ret	FUJ 2	SUZ 2	SUG 10	AUT 4	MOT 5		5th	75
2016	Lexus RC F	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura	OKA 6	FUJ 14	SUG 3	FUJ 7	SUZ 1	CHA 15	MOT 6	MOT 9		6th	72
2017	Lexus LC500 GT500	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura	OKA 4	FUJ 1	AUT 10	SUG 13	FUJ 3	SUZ 10	CHA 4	MOT 3		4th	81
2018	Lexus LC500 GT500	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura	OKA 8	FUJ 3	SUZ 8	CHA 4	FUJ 8	SUG 5	AUT 4	MOT 2		4th	82
2019	Lexus LC500 GT500	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura	OKA 8	FUJ 1	SUZ 6	BUR 7	FUJ Ret	AUT 4	SUG 11	MOT 4		4th	65.5
2020	Toyota GR Supra GT500	B	GT500	14	Kazuya Oshima Sho Tsuboi	FUJ 3	FUJ 3	SUZ 9	MOT 4	FUJ 2	SUZ 12	MOT 12	FUJ Ret		6th	68
				38	Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura	FUJ 4	FUJ 7	SUZ Ret	MOT 2	FUJ 9	SUZ 5	MOT 10	FUJ 8		9th	60
2021	Toyota GR Supra GT500	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura	OKA 6	FUJ Ret	MOT 8	SUZ 8	SUG Ret	AUT 2	MOT 9	FUJ 5		12th	52
2022	Toyota GR Supra GT500	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura	OKA 4	FUJ 12	SUZ Ret	FUJ Ret	SUZ 15	SUG 4	AUT 15	MOT 10		14th	29.5
2023	Toyota GR Supra GT500	B	GT500	38	Yuji Tachikawa Hiroaki Ishiura	OKA 5	FUJ 13	SUZ 10	FUJ 5	SUZ 6	SUG Ret	AUT 4	MOT 11		12th	46
2024	Toyota GR Supra GT500	B	GT500	38	Hiroaki Ishiura Toshiki Oyu	OKA 4	FUJ 5	SUZ Ret	FUJ 3	SUG	AUT	MOT	SUZ		6th*	34*

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. * Season still in progress.

• Official website in Japanese