Masami Kageyama (影山 正美, Kageyama Masami, born May 2, 1967) is a Japanese racing driver from Kanagawa Prefecture.[1] His older brother is Masahiko Kageyama who was also a successful racing driver in similar categories.

Kageyama in 2011

Racing career

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Early career - Japanese formula and touring cars

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Kageyama began his career by winning the inaugural 1990 Formula Toyota championship. In 1991 he moved up to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship and finished fourth with one win. He embarked on a full-fledged touring car racing campaign in 1992, competing in the All Japan Touring Car Championship Class 3 in a Honda Civic, finishing 9th. He also continued in Japanese F3 but failed to finish in the points.

He continued in the same series and teams in 1993, finishing 11th in JTCC-C3 and 15th in F3 Japan. 1994 was his breakout year in Japanese F3 where he drove for the famous Tom's team and finished second in points with 2 poles, one win and six podium finishes. He also drove in the All Japan GT Championship (JGTC) and made two starts in Japanese Formula 3000 in 1994.

Formula Nippon and International GT cars

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In 1995 Kageyama raced full-time in both Japanese F3000, where he finished 13th in points with the Advan Sport Pal team, and in the Japanese Touring Car Championship where he finished 10th in points driving a Toyota. In 1996 Kageyama only raced in JGTC in a Nissan 300ZX and in JTCC in a Toyota Corona EXiV, however he also made his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut in a Toyota Supra.

However, the team failed to finish. In 1997 Kageyama finished second in JGTC-GT500 in a Supra fielded by Toyota Team SARD. He also returned to Formula Nippon (formerly Japanese F3000) and finished fifth in the 1997 championship.

1998 was a tremendously successful year for Kageyama, he finished second in Formula Nippon, finished tenth in the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans in a factory-backed Nissan R390 GT1 and was the JGTC-GT500 champion in a factory Nissan Skyline GT-R. In 1999 his fortunes turned as he only managed ninth in points in his JGTC-GT500 Skyline and only competed in one Formula Nippon race.

2000s

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In the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans Kageyama's Team Dragon squad finished sixth overall in their Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S. Kageyama also rebounded in JGTC and finished second in points in his Skyline GT-R. In 2001 Kageyama fell to seventh in JGTC and returned to Formula Nippon, finishing ninth in points. 2002 was a very disappointing JGTC season with Kageyama only finishing 28th in points. In 2003 however, he rebounded to fifth in points in his NISMO Skyline GT-R. In 2004 he stayed with the NISMO team as they switched cars to the new Nissan Fairlady Z. Kageyama finished ninth in points. In 2005 he dropped down to the GT300 class still driving a Fairlady Z, but switched teams to Endless Sports. He finished sixth in GT300. He improved to fourth in 2006 in the same car, team, and class. The same combination finished fifth in points in 2007.

Kageyama returned to Le Mans for the 2008 race but the Tōkai University Courage-Oreca LC70 he drove failed to finish. He switched teams in JGTC-GT300 to a Hankook-fielded Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and fell to 21st in points. The team improved to ninth in points in 2009 and also made two starts in the Asian Le Mans Series. The team and Kageyama fell back to 17th place in JGTC-GT300 in 2010, however they rebounded to finish third in 2011 and second in 2012. However, they fell back to 19th in 2013 and Kageyama left the team in 2014 for an APR Nissan GT-R GT3.

Racing record

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Complete Japanese Formula 3 results

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(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 DC Pts
1990 Tomei Sport Nissan SUZ FUJ
16
SUZ
20
TSU
Ret
SEN
16
SUG
11
TSU
16
SUZ
DNQ
MIN
22
TSU
Ret
NC 0
1991 Tomei Sport Mugen SUZ
2
FUJ
C
FUJ
5
SUZ
Ret
TSU
6
SEN
Ret
MIN
13
TSU
1
SUG
14
SUZ
10
SUZ
7
4th 18
1992 Tomei Sport Mugen SUZ
8
TSU
Ret
FUJ
15
SUZ
Ret
SEN AID
Ret
MIN
9
SUG
Ret
SUZ
7
SUZ
8
NC 0
1993 Tomei Sport Mugen SUZ
6
TSU
7
FUJ
13
SUZ
9
SEN TAI
9
MIN SUG
16
SUZ
8
SUZ
Ret
15th 1
1994 TOM'S Toyota SUZ
2
FUJ
5
TSU
2
SUZ
5
SEN
2
TOK
1
MIN
2
TAI
2
SUG
6
SUZ
DNS
2nd 41

Complete Japanese Touring Car Championship (1994-) results

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Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Pts
1994 Toyota Team Tom's Toyota Corona AUT
1
AUT
2
SUG
1

2
SUG
2

Ret
TOK
1
TOK
2
SUZ
1
SUZ
2
MIN
1
MIN
2
AID
1
AID
2
TSU
1
TSU
2
SEN
1
SEN
2
FUJ
1
FUJ
2
21st 12
1995 Tsuchiya Engineering Toyota Corolla Ceres FUJ
1

4
FUJ
2

Ret
TOK
1

9
TOK
2

13
10th 34
Toyota Corona EXiV SUG
1

Ret
SUG
2

DNS
SUZ
1

Ret
SUZ
2

18
MIN
1

Ret
MIN
2

Ret
AID
1

9
AID
2

5
SEN
1

11
SEN
2

10
FUJ
1

4
FUJ
2

3
1996 Tsuchiya Engineering Toyota Corona EXiV FUJ
1

9
FUJ
2

9
SUG
1

9
SUG
2

6
SUZ
1

16
SUZ
2

5
MIN
1

3
MIN
2

7
SEN
1

9
SEN
2

14
TOK
1

9
TOK
2

6
FUJ
1

Ret
FUJ
2

DNS
11th 39
1997 Tsuchiya Engineering Toyota Corona EXiV FUJ
1

C
FUJ
2

C
AID
1

5
AID
2

6
SUG
1

9
SUG
2

8
SUZ
1

3
SUZ
2

3
MIN
1

5
MIN
2

7
SEN
1

5
SEN
2

7
TOK
1

6
TOK
2

11
FUJ
1

4
FUJ
2

13
6th 61

Japanese Top Formula Championship results

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Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points
1994 Team Le Mans SUZ
FUJ
MIN
SUZ
SUG
FUJ
SUZ
14
FUJ
FUJ
SUZ
11
NC 0
1995 Advan Sport Pal SUZ
12
FUJ
C
MIN
Ret
SUZ
Ret
SUG
Ret
FUJ
Ret
TOK
3
FUJ
14
SUZ
Ret
13th 4
1996 Advan Pal Checkers SUZ
10
MIN
5
FUJ
Ret
TOK
2
SUZ
17
SUG
15
FUJ
9
MIN
11
SUZ
Ret
FUJ
Ret
11th 8
1997 Navi Connection Racing Team SUZ
11
MIN
9
FUJ
11
SUZ
5
SUG
6
FUJ
4
MIN
7
MOT
2
FUJ
3
SUZ
4
5th 19
1998 Shionogi Team Nova SUZ
2
MIN
10
FUJ
Ret
MOT
3
SUZ
3
SUG
1
FUJ
C
MIN
6
FUJ
4
SUZ
1
2nd 38
1999 Be Brides Impul SUZ
Ret
MOT
Ret
MIN
6
FUJ
12
SUZ
1
SUG
Ret
FUJ
Ret
MIN
Ret
MOT
4
SUZ
4
6th 17
2001 Cosmo Oil Racing Team Cerumo SUZ
4
MOT
5
MIN
6
FUJ
5
SUZ
Ret
SUG
11
FUJ
6
MIN
4
MOT
8
SUZ
7
9th 12
2002 Team LeMans SUZ
14
FUJ
Ret
MIN
SUZ
MOT
SUG
FUJ
MIN
MOT
SUZ
NC 0
2004 Cosmo Oil Racing Team Cerumo SUZ
SUG
MOT
SUZ
SUG
MIN
Ret
SEP
11
MOT
Ret
SUZ
15
NC 0

Complete JGTC/Super GT Results

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(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 9 DC Pts
1997 Toyota Team Sard Toyota Supra GT500 SUZ
2
FUJ
1
SEN
5
FUJ
1
MIN
13
SUG
7
2nd 67
1998 Nismo Nissan Skyline GT-R GT500 SUZ
1
FUJ
C
SEN
1
FUJ
10
MOT
4
MIN
4
SUG
6
1st 67
1999 Impul Nissan Skyline GT-R GT500 SUZ
10
FUJ
3
SUG
5
MIN
6
FUJ
5
TAI
10
MOT
7
7th 40
2000 Nismo Nissan Skyline GT-R GT500 MOT
1
FUJ
6
SUG
Ret
FUJ
4
TAI
3
MIN
3
SUZ
5
2nd 68
2001 Nismo Nissan Skyline GT-R GT500 TAI
13
FUJ
4
SUG
10
FUJ
2
MOT
Ret
SUZ
3
MIN
2
4th 53
2002 Nismo Nissan Skyline GT-R GT500 TAI
12
FUJ
6
SUG
4
SEP
16
FUJ
14
MOT
17
MIN
Ret
SUZ
8
19th 19
2003 Nismo Nissan Skyline GT-R GT500 TAI
8
FUJ
1
SUG
5
FUJ
2
FUJ
11
MOT
13
AUT
6
SUZ
4
3rd 65
2004 Nismo

Nissan Fairlady Z

GT500 TAI
9
SUG
Ret
SEP
6
TOK
1
MOT
8
AUT
9
SUZ
Ret
9th 39
2005 Endless Sports Nissan Fairlady Z GT300 TAI
1
FUJ
9
SEP
3
SUG
5
MOT
4
FUJ
5
AUT
Ret
SUZ
10
6th 58
2006 Endless Sports Nissan Fairlady Z GT300 SUZ
16
TAI
4
FUJ
13
SEP
18
SUG
2
SUZ
16
MOT
2
AUT
11
FUJ
3
4th 62
2007 Endless Sports Nissan Fairlady Z GT300 SUZ
1
TAI
7
FUJ
4
SEP
6
SUG
12
SUZ
5
MOT
23
AUT
3
FUJ
5
5th 59
2008 Hankook Ktr Porsche 996 GT3-RS GT300 SUZ
11
TAI
7
FUJ
17
SEP
11
SUG
9
SUZ
Ret
MOT
6
AUT
5
FUJ
Ret
21st 18
2009 Hankook Ktr Porsche 996 GT3-RS GT300 TAI SUZ
1
FUJ SEP SUG
1
SUZ FUJ
6
AUT MOT 9th 45
2010 Hankook Ktr Porsche 996 GT3-RS GT300 SUZ
6
TAI
8
FUJ
Ret
SEP
16
SUG SUZ FUJ
C
MOT 17th 8
2011 Hankook Ktr Porsche 996 GT3-RS GT300 TAI
14
FUJ
1
SEP
9
SUG
5
SUZ
2
FUJ
11
AUT
17
MOT
2
3rd 58
2012 Hankook Ktr Porsche 911 GT3-R GT300 TAI
5
FUJ
Ret
SEP
1
SUG
4
SUZ
6
FUJ
1
AUT
3
MOT
7
2nd 75
2013 Hankook Ktr Porsche 911 GT3-R GT300 TAI
8
FUJ
16
SEP
Ret
SUG
17
SUZ
10
FUJ
15
FUJ AUT
5
MOT
11
19th 11
2014 Apr Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 GT300 TAI
Ret
FUJ
10
AUT
23
SUG
7
FUJ
13
SUZ
11
CHA
12
MOT
Ret
32nd 5
2015 Apr Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 GT300 TAI FUJ
16
CHA FUJ SUZ SUG AUT MOT NC 0
2016 Team Mach Toyota 86 MC GT300 TAI FUJ
22
SUG
Ret
FUJ
14
SUZ
Ret
CHA MOT
Ret
MOT
23
NC 0
2017 Dijon Racing Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 GT300 TAI FUJ AUT SUG FUJ SUZ
Ret
CHA MOT NC 0

24 Hours of Le Mans results

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Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1996   Team SARD Toyota Co. Ltd.   Masanori Sekiya
  Hidetoshi Mitsusada
Toyota Supra LM GT1 205 DNF DNF
1998   Nissan Motorsports
  TWR
  Satoshi Motoyama
  Takuya Kurosawa
Nissan R390 GT1 GT1 319 10th 9th
2000   TV Asahi Team Dragon   Toshio Suzuki
  Masahiko Kageyama
Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S-Élan LMP900 340 6th 6th
2008   Tōkai University
  YGK Power
  Toshio Suzuki
  Haruki Kurosawa
Courage-Oreca LC70-YGK LMP1 185 DNF DNF

References

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  1. ^ Masami Kageyama biography, Speedsport Magazine, Retrieved 2014-09-18
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