Taito Kato
Taito Kato | |
|---|---|
加藤 大翔 | |
Kato in 2025 | |
| Born | 25 November 2007 |
| Nationality |
|
| Formula Regional European Championship career | |
| Debut season | 2025 |
| Current team | ART Grand Prix |
| Starts | 20 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 2 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 7th in 2025 |
| Previous series | |
| 2024 | French F4 |
| Championship titles | |
| 2024 | French F4 |
Taito Kato (Japanese: 加藤 大翔, Hepburn: Katō Taito; born 25 November 2007) is a Japanese racing driver who is set to compete in the FIA Formula 3 Championship under the French flag as part of the Honda Formula Dream Project.
Born and raised in Taki, Mie, Kato is the 2024 French F4 champion. He moved up to the Formula Regional European Championship with ART Grand Prix in 2025, finishing seventh overall.
Career
Karting
Kato mainly karted in Japan, but made his debut overseas in 2022 by competing in a single round of the FFSA Karting Championship as a guest driver. He finished second in the finale but was not classified in the overall standings.[2][3] Kato also competed in the South Garda Winter Cup in 2023, finishing 12th in the finale of the OK category.[4]
Formula 4
In 2024, Kato appeared on the entry list of the 2024 French F4 Championship, under the wing of the Honda Formula Dream Project.[5][6] He scored two podiums from two races on his debut weekend at Nogaro, establishing himself as a title contender.[7][8] In the following weekend at Lédenon, Kato secured his first victory after starting race three from pole position.[9][10] Kato then scored his second win and finished all three races on the podium in round three at Spa-Francorchamps.[11][12] Kato continued to fight for the championship, and with three more victories following suit Kato was crowned French F4 champion after a controversial conclusion to the 2024 season.[13][14] Despite this intense battle for the title, Kato commented that himself and fellow title contender Yani Stevenheydens "respected each other" during the championship fight.[15]
Formula Regional
In 2024, after his successes in Formula 4, Kato was announced to be competing in the 2025 Formula Regional European Championship and 2025 Formula Regional Middle East Championship with ART Grand Prix.[16]
FIA Formula 3
In 2026, Kato is set to move up to Formula 3 for 2026 with ART Grand Prix, alongside Kanato Le and Maciej Gładysz.[17]
Karting record
Karting career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | SL Biwako Series - KID'S | HIGUCHI RT | 1st |
| 2016 | SL Rainbow Series - Cadets | HKC | 3rd |
| 2017 | SL Biwako Series - Cadets | HKC | 1st |
| 2018 | All-Japan Junior Karting Championship - FP-Jr Cadets | FA-KART RT+HKC | 5th |
| Suzuka Championship Series - FP-Jr Cadets | 1st | ||
| 2019 | JAF Junior Karting Championship - FP-Jr | FA-KART RT+HKC | 3rd |
| 2020 | Suzuka Championship Series - Junior Max | SRS Kotira Racing | 3rd |
| ROTAX Max Series - Junior Max | HRS JAPAN | 25th | |
| EXGEL NEXT CUP | ? | ||
| 2021 | All-Japan Karting Championship - FS-125 | HRS JAPAN | 2nd |
| 2022 | EXGEL OK CHAMP Series | HRS JAPAN | 1st |
| All-Japan Karting Championship - OK | PONOS HIROTEX RACING | 7th | |
| FFSA Karting Championship - Junior | NC† | ||
| 2023 | South Garda Winter Cup - OK | Ward Racing | 12th |
| Sources:[18][19][20][21][22][23] | |||
Racing record
Racing career summary
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | French F4 Championship | FFSA Academy | 20 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 280 | 1st |
| 2025 | Formula Regional Middle East Championship | ART Grand Prix | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 75 | 12th |
| Formula Regional European Championship | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 107 | 7th | ||
| Macau Grand Prix | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/a | 5th | ||
| 2026 | FIA Formula 3 Championship | ART Grand Prix | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | TBD |
Complete French F4 Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | NOG 1 2 |
NOG 2 C |
NOG 3 3 |
LÉD 1 2 |
LÉD 2 5 |
LÉD 3 1 |
SPA 1 2 |
SPA 2 1 |
SPA 3 3 |
NÜR 1 8 |
NÜR 2 4 |
NÜR 3 4 |
MAG 1 3 |
MAG 2 8 |
MAG 3 2 |
DIJ 1 1 |
DIJ 2 11 |
DIJ 3 1 |
LEC 1 1 |
LEC 2 5 |
LEC 3 9 |
1st | 280 |
Complete Formula Regional Middle East Championship 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 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | ART Grand Prix | YMC1 1 6 |
YMC1 2 14 |
YMC1 3 7 |
YMC2 1 3 |
YMC2 2 22 |
YMC2 3 18 |
DUB 1 9 |
DUB 2 12 |
DUB 3 10 |
YMC3 1 11 |
YMC3 2 12 |
YMC3 3 6 |
LUS 1 7 |
LUS 2 6 |
LUS 3 13 |
12th | 75 |
Complete Formula Regional European 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 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | ART Grand Prix | MIS 1 5 |
MIS 2 17 |
SPA 1 10 |
SPA 2 3 |
ZAN 1 15 |
ZAN 2 8 |
HUN 1 12 |
HUN 2 9 |
LEC 1 3 |
LEC 2 13 |
IMO 1 6 |
IMO 2 8 |
RBR 1 14 |
RBR 2 14 |
CAT 1 6 |
CAT 2 8 |
HOC 1 9 |
HOC 2 6 |
MNZ 1 4 |
MNZ 2 4 |
7th | 107 |
Complete Macau Grand Prix results
| Year | Team | Car | Qualifying | Quali Race | Main Race |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | ART Grand Prix | Tatuus F3 T-318 | 4th | 5th | 5th |
Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship 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 | 19 | 20 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | ART Grand Prix | MEL SPR |
MEL FEA |
BHR SPR |
BHR FEA |
MON SPR |
MON FEA |
CAT SPR |
CAT FEA |
RBR SPR |
RBR FEA |
SIL SPR |
SIL FEA |
SPA SPR |
SPA FEA |
HUN SPR |
HUN FEA |
MNZ SPR |
MNZ FEA |
MAD SPR |
MAD FEA |
TBD | TBD |
Notes
- ^ Kato is Japanese but competes under a French licence.
References
- ^ "デビュー戦、いきなり２位 フランスＦ４ 三重・多気町の加藤君（16）". YoMotto (in Japanese). 16 April 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
- ^ "Championnat de France". Kartcom. 2022-07-03. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ "Championnat de France". Kartcom. 2022-07-03. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ "Winter Cup". Kartcom. 2023-01-22. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ "Pilotes F4 – FFSA Academy". Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2024-01-12). "French F4 publishes entry list and calendar for 2024 season". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ Gascoigne, Roger (2024-03-31). "Stevenheydens takes lights-to-flag win in French F4 opener at Nogaro". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2024-04-01). "Jules Caranta takes French F4 points lead with Nogaro win". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2024-05-12). "Honda junior Kato gets French F4 lead with Ledenon race three win". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2024-05-10). "Taito Kato and Chester Kieffer share French F4 poles at Ledenon". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2024-06-22). "Kieffer and Kato claim French F4 wins in mixed conditions at Spa". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2024-06-23). "Jules Caranta wins safety car-filled race to boost French F4 title hopes". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ "Results F4 – FFSA Academy". Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ "Taito Kato becomes French F4 Champion". honda.racing. 8 October 2024.
- ^ Wolff-Taffus, Perceval (2024-11-25). "Kato: Stevenheydens and I 'respected each other' despite French F4 title drama". Feeder Series. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "Japanese Driver Taito Kato Joins ART Grand Prix for 2025". ART Grand Prix. 11 December 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ "Taito Kato joins ART Grand Prix for 2026 season". FIA_Formula 3® - The Official F3® Website. 11 November 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ^ "Driver: Taito Kato | Driver Database". www.driverdb.com. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ "Kato Taito". Kartcom. July 2022. Retrieved 2024-07-12.
- ^ "EXGEL OK CHAMP 2022 – ファイナルレポート" [EXGEL OK CHAMP 2022 - Final Report]. EXGEL Motorsport. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ "2022 全日本カート選手権 OKクラス ポイントランキング" [2022 All-Japan Karting Championship OK Class Point Ranking] (PDF). kart.jp. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ "2020 ROTAX MAX SERIES POINT RANKING" (PDF). festika-mizukami.com. 22 November 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
- ^ "2019年 ジュニアカート選手権" [2019 Junior Karting Championship]. JAF (Japan Automobile Federation). Retrieved 11 December 2024.
External links
- Taito Kato career summary at DriverDB.com