The team began as "B-Max Engineering" in 2009 and first competed in Super FJ and the Porsche Carrera Cup Japan in 2010. In 2014, the vehicle racing division was renamed B-Max Racing Team and the team entered the Japanese Formula 3 Championship. In November 2017, the operation was formally spun off from Byobugaura Kogyo as B-MAX RACING Co., Ltd. That same year, B-Max made its Super Formula Championship debut with driver Takashi Kogure.
In November 2018, B-Max Racing announced a technical partnership with Motopark, the German Formula 3 outfit based in Oschersleben. The collaboration was announced ahead of that year's Macau Grand Prix, where Motopark provided engineering support for B-Max's Formula 3 entries as a joint kick-off for the alliance. The combined entity was named B-Max with Motopark.
The partnership entered two Honda-powered cars in the 2019 Super Formula season using the new Dallara SF19 chassis — a timing that both sides acknowledged was advantageous, since all teams were starting fresh with the new car. Motopark team principal Timo Rumpfkeil described Super Formula as second only to Formula 1 in lap-time terms at circuits such as Suzuka, with cars weighing 660 kilograms and producing more than 550 bhp. Motopark's contribution centred on engineering manpower and simulation and coaching expertise — areas the German team had honed during years working with drivers such as Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas, Sébastien Buemi, and Bruno Senna in European formulae. B-Max provided the Japanese infrastructure, operational base in Ayase, and long-standing relationships within the Japanese motorsport ecosystem.
Ryūji Kumita stated he viewed the Macau tie-up as the start of a long-term relationship with one of Europe's established top teams. The partnership also extended to the Japanese Formula 3 Championship.
The B-Max with Motopark arrangement concluded at the end of 2020. For 2021, B-Max returned to operating alone and did not participate in the Super Formula season opener at Fuji while resolving its driver lineup.
Following the Motopark split, B-Max signed Nobuharu Matsushita for the 2021 season, though Honda initially declined to lease the team an engine after Matsushita signed a Nissan factory contract in Super GT. Honda reversed that decision after a change in motorsport leadership. The team had planned a two-car entry for 2021 but ultimately ran a single car after a candidate for the second seat, Formula Regional Americas champion Kyffin Simpson, declined the opportunity.
In 2023, Raoul Hyman — who had won the 2022 Formula Regional Americas Championship and earned a Honda Super Formula scholarship — drove for B-Max Racing. For the 2024 season, the team downsized to a single car for Iori Kimura, the reigning Super Formula Lights champion.
B-Max entered Super GT in 2014 in partnership with NDDP Racing, the Nissan Driver Development Program. The GT300 entry featured senior driver Kazuki Hoshino alongside Gran Turismo Academy winner Jann Mardenborough and later Lucas Ordóñez. Mitsunori Takaboshi also raced for the partnership over two seasons.
In 2018, NDDP Racing with B-Max stepped up to the GT500 class, replacing the MOLA squad that had withdrawn. The team assembled a new driver lineup featuring Kohei Hirate, who transferred to Nissan after a long Toyota association, and Frédéric Makowiecki. For 2020, Katsumasa Chiyo returned to GT500 on a full-time basis, replacing Makowiecki. The Super GT programme ended in 2022 when NISMO assumed direct control of the NDDP team.
B-Max Racing remains active in Super Formula, Super Formula Lights, and the F4 Japanese Championship. The team's willingness to partner with Motopark exemplified the internationalisation of Japanese top-level single-seater racing as foreign teams and drivers increasingly sought access to what Rumpfkeil called "a very fascinating and highly competitive championship."
Gallery · 4 related images



