Two-Time World Endurance Champion · Endurance

Kamui Kobayashi

Two world endurance titles, two wins at Le Mans and five second places there, and a Formula One podium at Suzuka. Since 2022 he has run Toyota's WEC team as well as driving for it.

Nationality
Japanese
Born
13 September 1986 · Amagasaki, Hyōgo, Japan
Teams
Toyota · AF Corse · Sauber · Caterham
WEC titles
2 (2019–20, 2021)
Le Mans starts
12 · winner in 2021 and 2026
Also
Team principal, Toyota's WEC team, since 2022
Shop the Collection Watch highlights
Two-Time World Endurance Champion
2009 — Present
2
FIA World Titles
2
Le Mans Victories
19
WEC Race Wins
49
WEC Podium Finishes

Who is Kamui Kobayashi?

Kamui Kobayashi (born 13 September 1986) is a Japanese racing driver who has won the FIA World Endurance Championship twice, in 2019–20 and 2021, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021 and 2026, all with Toyota. He raced in Formula One from 2009 to 2014, taking a podium at Suzuka in 2012, and has been Toyota's WEC team principal since 2022.

Full name
Kamui Kobayashi · 小林 可夢偉
Nationality
Japanese
Career
2009–present
Best known for
Two world endurance titles and two Le Mans wins with Toyota

By KozmozInspire Editorial Published Updated 9 sources

Rider Profile

Kamui Kobayashi: Full Biography

Kamui Kobayashi is a Japanese racing driver who has won the FIA World Endurance Championship twice, in 2019–20 and 2021, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, in 2021 and 2026, all with Toyota. Since December 2021 he has also been team principal of Toyota’s world championship programme.

Formula One He came through Formula Renault, winning both the Italian and the European championships in 2005, and took the GP2 Asia Series title before Toyota gave him a Formula One debut in 2009. Three seasons with Sauber followed, and at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix he finished third — the first Japanese driver to stand on a Formula One podium at home in twenty-two years.

Toyota Toyota signed him as an LMP1 driver in February 2016 and he won at Fuji in his first season. The car was often the fastest at Le Mans without winning it: second in 2016, 2018 and 2019, third in 2020. The championships came first, in 2019–20 and 2021, and he won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2019 and 2020 as well.

Two Roles He won Le Mans from pole in 2021 with Mike Conway and José María López, and was named team principal that December. Running the team has not stopped him driving it: Toyota took three consecutive manufacturers’ titles from 2022 to 2024, and in June 2026 the No. 7 car won Le Mans a second time.

The Career

Three Chapters That Defined Kamui Kobayashi

Chapter 01

Suzuka, 2012

He was named after Kamuy, a divine being in Ainu mythology, with the kanji chosen to cite a phrase about enabling great dreams. He came up through Formula Renault, winning both the Italian and the European championships in 2005, and through GP2, where he took the GP2 Asia Series title. Toyota gave him a Formula One debut at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix, and when the team withdrew he moved to Sauber for three seasons. At Suzuka in 2012 he qualified and raced his way to third, holding off Jenson Button through the closing laps — the first Japanese driver on a Formula One podium at home in twenty-two years, since Aguri Suzuki in 1990, and only the third Japanese driver to reach a Formula One podium at all. Sauber let him go that November; a final season with Caterham in 2014 closed a Formula One career of seventy-six races, 125 points and that one podium.

Kamui Kobayashi in the white and grey Sauber C31 exiting turn nine at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve during first practice for the 2012 Canadian Grand Prix. Sauber C31 · first practice, Canadian Grand Prix, 2012 Photo: Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber C31, first practice, Canadian Grand Prix (2012) by Nic Redhead / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped and resized) · licence
Chapter 02

Second, Five Times

Toyota confirmed him as an LMP1 driver in February 2016 and he won the 6 Hours of Fuji that first season, ahead of an Audi and a Porsche. In 2017 he put a lap of 3:14.791 on the Circuit de la Sarthe. What followed at Le Mans was a decade of nearly: second in 2016, out in 2017, second again in 2018 and 2019, third in 2020. The No. 7 car he shared with Mike Conway and José María López was frequently the quickest thing in the race and kept finding ways not to win it. The championships came anyway — the 2019–20 title and then 2021 — and he won the 24 Hours of Daytona with Wayne Taylor Racing in 2019 and 2020 alongside them.

Kamui Kobayashi turning the white and red Toyota TS050 Hybrid, car 7, into Abbey corner during the 2018 6 Hours of Silverstone. Toyota TS050 Hybrid · 6 Hours of Silverstone, 2018 Photo: Kamui Kobayashi, Toyota TS050 Hybrid, 6 Hours of Silverstone (2018) by John Chapman / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized) · licence
Chapter 03

Two Wins, and the Team

The 2021 Le Mans win came from pole, with Conway and López, and made him the fourth Japanese driver to win the race — the first was Masanori Sekiya — and only the second to win it for a Japanese manufacturer. That December Toyota named him team principal of its world championship programme in succession to Hisatake Murata, and he has run the team while continuing to drive for it, a combination almost nobody in modern top-level motorsport attempts. Toyota won the manufacturers' championship in each of 2022, 2023 and 2024. Two more Le Mans second places came in 2022 and 2024, and then in June 2026, with Conway and Nyck de Vries in the new TR010 Hybrid, the No. 7 car won again by 10.913 seconds after an early puncture, ending three straight years of Ferrari victories.

The red and white Toyota TR010 Hybrid, car 7, racing at Spa-Francorchamps in 2026, with Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries named on the door. Toyota TR010 Hybrid · 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, 2026 Photo: Toyota TR010 Hybrid No. 7, 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (2026) by MarcelX42 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized) · licence
Career Timeline

Kamui Kobayashi Career Timeline: 1986–Present

Born in Amagasaki

Kamui Kobayashi is born on 13 September in Amagasaki, Hyōgo, and named after Kamuy of Ainu mythology.

Two Titles in One Year

Wins the Italian and the European Formula Renault championships.

GP2 Asia, Then Formula One

Takes the GP2 Asia Series title and debuts in Formula One for Toyota in Brazil.

Sauber

Joins Sauber, where he races for three seasons.

Suzuka Podium

Third at the Japanese Grand Prix, ahead of Jenson Button.

Le Mans Debut

Contests Le Mans for the first time, with AF Corse in GTE Pro.

Caterham

A final Formula One season, and a seventy-sixth grand prix.

Toyota

Signed for LMP1, and wins the 6 Hours of Fuji in his first season.

Daytona

Wins the 24 Hours of Daytona with Wayne Taylor Racing, and again in 2020.

World Champion

Takes the 2019–20 World Endurance title with Conway and López.

Le Mans, and a Second Title

Wins the 24 Hours of Le Mans from pole and the championship again.

Team Principal

Succeeds Hisatake Murata in charge of Toyota's WEC team, and keeps driving.

Le Mans Again

A second Le Mans victory, with Conway and Nyck de Vries in the TR010 Hybrid.

By the Numbers

Kamui Kobayashi World Endurance Record, Season by Season

Kamui Kobayashi season-by-season record: team, wins, poles, podiums, points and final standing.
SeasonTeam Wins Poles Podiums Points Pos.
2013 AF Corse · LMGTE Pro 0 0 4 98 7
2016 Toyota · LMP1 1 0 6 145 3
2017 Toyota · LMP1 0 4 3 103.5 5
2018–19 Toyota · LMP1 2 4 6 157 2
2019–20 Toyota · LMP1 4 3 8 207 1
2021 Toyota · Hypercar 3 4 6 173 1
2022 Toyota · Hypercar 2 1 5 133 3
2023 Toyota · Hypercar 4 3 5 145 2
2024 Toyota · Hypercar 1 1 3 113 3
2025 Toyota · Hypercar 1 1 1 89 6
2026 Toyota · Hypercar 1 0 2 75 2*

Championship seasons are highlighted. This table is his World Endurance Championship record only: career totals of 19 wins · 21 pole positions · 49 podiums from 81 starts, and wins, poles and podiums all sum to those totals. His Formula One career (76 races, 125 points, one podium, 2009–2014), 85 Super Formula starts, two Super GT seasons, four IMSA seasons including two 24 Hours of Daytona wins, a Formula E season and two NASCAR Cup outings are covered in the biography and timeline rather than here. Points are not comparable across the table, as the scoring system, the class structure and the number of rounds all changed over his career. The 2026 row is marked with an asterisk because the season is in progress. Figures verified 3 September 2026.

Kamui Kobayashi in his own words

In His Own Words
Car #7 has had a lot of second places at Le Mans but finally we got our second win.
Kamui Kobayashi · after winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans, June 2026
Frequently Asked

Kamui Kobayashi: Frequently Asked Questions

What has Kamui Kobayashi won?

Two FIA World Endurance Championships, in 2019–20 and 2021, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2021 and 2026, and the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2019 and 2020. He has 19 world championship race wins and 49 podiums, and won the GP2 Asia Series in 2008–09.

Did Kamui Kobayashi race in Formula One?

Yes, seventy-six races between 2009 and 2014, for Toyota, BMW Sauber, Sauber and Caterham, scoring 125 points and one podium — third at the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix. In June 2025 he drove a Haas VF-23 at Circuit Paul Ricard, eleven years after his last grand prix.

Is Kamui Kobayashi a team principal?

Yes. Toyota named him team principal of its World Endurance Championship programme in December 2021, in succession to Hisatake Murata, and he has combined the job with driving ever since. The team won the manufacturers' championship in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

How many times has Kamui Kobayashi raced at Le Mans?

Twelve — in 2013 with AF Corse, then every year from 2016 to 2026 with Toyota. He has won twice, finished second five times and third once.

Which Japanese drivers have won Le Mans?

Kobayashi was the fourth, the first having been Masanori Sekiya, and he is only the second Japanese driver to win the race for a Japanese manufacturer. His 2021 victory came from pole position.

What does the name Kamui mean?

He is named after Kamuy, a divine being in Ainu mythology. The kanji chosen to write it cite a phrase about enabling great dreams.

Who are Kamui Kobayashi's co-drivers?

Mike Conway has shared the No. 7 car with him at Le Mans in ten of his twelve starts. José María López was the third driver from 2018 to 2024, and Nyck de Vries has taken that seat since 2024.

Has Kamui Kobayashi raced in NASCAR?

Twice, both for 23XI Racing. He made his Cup Series debut on the Indianapolis road course in 2023, finishing 33rd, and returned at Circuit of the Americas in 2024, finishing 29th.

Shop His Gear

Kamui Kobayashi Collection

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References

Sources & Further Reading

Every statistic on this page is drawn from the following records.

  1. Le Mans victory for TOYOTA RACING · Toyota (official)
  2. Toyota Gazoo Racing — World Endurance Championship · Toyota Gazoo Racing (official)
  3. FIA World Endurance Championship · FIA WEC, official championship site
  4. Former F1 drivers de Vries and Kobayashi win Le Mans 24 Hours · Formula 1 (official)
  5. 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans · Wikipedia
  6. 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans · Wikipedia
  7. 2012 Japanese Grand Prix · Wikipedia
  8. Kamui Kobayashi · Wikipedia
  9. Kamui Kobayashi (Q82798) · Wikidata entity record

How this page is made

Rider profiles are compiled from official series records and cross-checked against independent statistical databases before publication.

Commercial disclosure. This page links to merchandise sold by KozmozInspire. Products are fan-made tributes inspired by motorsport history and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or licensed from the rider, their estate, or any team.

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