Roger Yasukawa

Roger Yasukawa (born October 10, 1977) is a Japanese-American auto racing driver.

Roger Yasukawa
Yasukawa in 2008
Nationality	American/ Japanese
Born	October 10, 1977 Los Angeles, California
Related to	Minoru Yasukawa, worked for McLaren and Leyton House F1 teams.[1][2]
IRL IndyCar Series career
Debut season	2003
Current team	Conquest Racing
Car number	36
Former teams	Super Aguri Fernandez Racing Rahal Letterman Racing Playa Del Racing Dreyer & Reinbold Racing CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports
Starts	40
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	12th in 2003
Previous series
2002 2000-2001 1999 1998 1997	Toyota Atlantic Championship Barber Dodge Pro Series Formula Palmer Audi Skip Barber Formula Dodge Formula Vauxhall Junior

He was born in Los Angeles, California. He is of Japanese-American descent. He holds dual nationality of Japan and United States of America.

Yasukawa started karting in Southern California, winning the California State Championship in 1991 in Junior Sportsman. He then moved to Italy to compete in JICA. He moved to car racing in 1997 in the Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship in England, before winning the West Coast Skip Barber Formula Dodge 2-Liter Championship in 1998. He moved back to the UK to compete in the inaugural Formula Palmer Audi Championship, before driving several years in the Barber Dodge Pro Series before moving up to the Toyota Atlantic championship in 2002 as a teammate to Ryan Hunter-Reay. He finished 10th in points.

Yasukawa signed to drive for former Formula One driver Aguri Suzuki's new Indy Racing League team in 2003. He was second to future series champion Dan Wheldon in the rookie-of-the-year standings and 12th overall, with 8 top-10 finishes. He ran only two races for Rahal Letterman Racing in 2004 but finished 10th both times. He struggled on a return to a full-time seat in 2005 for the underfunded Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

Yaskuawa has only made occasional IRL appearances since 2006. He drove in the 2006 Indianapolis 500 for Playa Del Racing and finished 16th. He was a late entry for the 2007 event, running in Dreyer and Reinbold's third car, alongside 2004 Indianapolis 500 champion Buddy Rice and Sarah Fisher. In 2008 he contested the Motegi round as well as the 2008 Indianapolis 500, for Beck Motorsports, however he failed to qualify for Indy.

In 2007, Yasukawa drove the #11 SAMAX Motorsport Daytona Prototype at Infineon Raceway, finishing 17th.

Motorsports Career Results

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Barber Dodge Pro Series

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
1999	SEB 10	NAZ 11	LRP 15	POR 11	CLE 10	ROA 11	DET 6	MDO 7	GRA 6	LS 6	HMS 6	WGI 6	9th	81
2000	SEB 4	MIA 25	NAZ 5	LRP 11	DET 5	CLE 5	MDO 8	ROA 4	VAN 11	LS 25	RAT 5	HMS 8	7th	94
2001	SEB 4	PIR 7	LRP1 3	LRP2 10	DET 2	CLE 6	TOR 4	CHI 8	MDO 5	ROA 2	VAN 1	LS	4th	128

Atlantic Championship

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2002	Hylton Motorsports	MTY	LBH 7	MIL 1	LS 3	POR 8	CHI 2	TOR Ret	CLE 21	TRR Ret	ROA 10	MTL	DEN	10th	73

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Rank	Points
2003	Fernandez Racing Super Aguri	Dallara IR-03	Honda HI3R V8	HMS 14	PHX 17	MOT 21	INDY 10	TXS 9	PPI 17	RIR 11	KAN 7	NSH 15	MIS 8	STL 18	KTY 12	NZR 8	CHI 8	CAL 7	TX2 10			12th	301
2004	Rahal Letterman Racing	G-Force GF09B	Honda HI4R V8	HMS	PHX	MOT 11	INDY 10	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIL	MIS	KTY	PPI	NZR	CHI	CAL	TX2			26th	39
2005	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI5R V8	HMS 17	PHX 18	STP 11	MOT 18	INDY 18	TXS 15	RIR 16	KAN 22	NSH 11	MIL 15	MIS 18	KTY 17	PPI 15	SNM 11	CHI 15	WGL 15	CAL 16		17th	246
2006	Playa Del Racing	Panoz GF09C	Honda HI6R V8	HMS	STP	MOT	INDY 16	WGL	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIL	MIS	KTY	SNM	CHI					28th	14
2007	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI7R V8	HMS	STP	MOT	KAN	INDY 21	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	MIS	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI		30th	12
2008	CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI7R V8	HMS	STP	MOT^1 14	LBH^1 DNP	KAN	INDY DNQ	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	EDM	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI	35th	16
2009	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI7R V8	STP	LBH	KAN	INDY	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	TOR	EDM	KTY	MDO	SNM	CHI	MOT 20	HMS		39th	12
2010	Conquest Racing	Dallara IR-05	Honda HI7R V8	SAO	STP	ALA	LBH	KAN	INDY	TXS	IOW	WGL	TOR	EDM	MDO	SNM	CHI	KTY	MOT 20	HMS		40th	12

¹ Run on same day.

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums (Non-win)	Top 10s (Non-podium)	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
8	6	41	0	0	0	9	0	0

Indy 500 results

Practicing for the 2007 Indianapolis 500.

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2003	Dallara	Honda	11th	10th	Fernández
2004	G-Force	Honda	12th	10th	Rahal Letterman
2005	Dallara	Honda	17th	18th	Dreyer & Reinbold
2006	Panoz	Honda	28th	16th	Playa Del
2007	Dallara	Honda	23rd	21st	Dreyer & Reinbold
2008	Dallara	Honda	Failed to Qualify		Beck

References

1. "Champ Car Atlantic Drivers: Roger Yasukawa". Champ Car Atlantic official website. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
2. "Success at home and a world of experience - Rising Star: Roger Yasukawa". BNET. Archived from the original on 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2008-08-21.

External links

• Roger Yasukawa official website - in Japanese