At only the age of 24, Ritomo Miyata is already at the top of the Japan’s motorsports Mount Olympus. His way to the top was filled with many challenges and hardships – including those from society itself. Now he wants to be a role model for many others with autism.
There have been many young champions in the past. But every so often, a prodigy is among them, who’s set to achieve success on the world stage. Formula One has seen it with Max Verstappen recently. In Japan, Ritomo Miyata is such an exceptional talent. At the age of only 24, he already won the Super Formula championship, making him one of the youngest title holders the series has seen in recent years. Already being part of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s WEC challenger program, his step up to the world stage seems imminent. It certainly raises the question if this could put the eyes of the rest of the world on Japan and especially Super Formula again, something Ritomo Miyata wants to achieve. But this is only the competitive side of things. Ritomo Miyata is so much more. He’s one of only a very few professional athletes worldwide, who’s openly talking about his autism condition.
Ritomo Miyata got diagnosed with autism at a very young age. “At first I didn’t even notice until my parents told me“, Miyata told me at Suzuka Circuit following his championship win last Sunday. His condition didn’t allow him to attend school normally. Instead, he received a lot of home tutoring and spent his early childhood years attending the National Children’s Hospital for counseling. “As a kid I got bullied by the other kids quite a bit, so I had to find my own way of doing things.“ Since his parents were already big lovers of motorsports (his first name is in honor of the Fiat Ritmo for example), Miyata eventually picked up go-karting. Motorsports became his own way of escapism. “I was really satisfied with doing my own things. It didn’t bother me. Then I started racing, and I think it really helped me. It helped me having something to concentrate on.
Miyata quickly showed the knack he has for racing. Since 2004, he won multiple championships in karting. After finishing as runner-up in the KF2 class of the All-Japan Karting Championship and taking the title just a year later in the KF1 category, he also received a scholarship from Racing Service Serizawa (RSS), a young driver development project. Despite making his debut with an astonishing fourth place finish in September of 2015 in the FIA-certified Japanese F4 Championship, Miyata never stopped racing in karts. In fact, when the motorsports world shifted away from the KF to the OK class, Miyata became the very last champion in the KF class in 2016 after winning the All-Japan Karting Championship on Suzuka Circuit’s south course. The same year, he also won the Japanese F4 title after breaking the record of being the youngest race winner in the series at the age of 16 a year prior.
In 2017, the Kanagawa Prefecture-born Miyata did double duty in both F3 and F4, finishing fourth in the former and taking his second consecutive championship in the latter. In the following years, Miyata made his debut in both SUPER GT’s GT300 and GT500 classes while continuing to compete in the later to be renamed Super Formula Lights, becoming the series‘ first champion since the name change from the Japanese F3 Championship in 2020. The same year he also filled in twice at TOM’S in Super Formula for Kazuki Nakajima, who couldn’t participate in all rounds due to clashes with WEC. This earned him a full-time drive a year later, succeeding 2019 champion Nick Cassidy in the #37 machine. From there Miyata climbed up the ranks: 10th in his first full-time season, fourth the following year and now series champion in 2023.
Unlike traditional team sports, in disciplines with individual athletes, such as motorsports, the fans tend to support the athletes with whom they can build a special connection. This may be because of their achievements, but also for example because of the values that the individual drivers represent. Especially with a fanbase as diverse as the one in motorsports, some voices might not be heard as much as others. But when Ritomo Miyata crowned himself the 2023 Super Formula champion last Sunday, many went on to social media to express their happiness, that a driver with a similar condition as them has won the title. That day, many who haven’t even heard of Miyata before, immediately became his fans. People, who may have been too scared to open up about this, now have someone to look up to. Ritomo Miyata has become a role model.
“To be honest, I’m not overthinking this condition. However, it is as you mentioned an incentive for children and anybody to know that I’m very open about it.“ Since this year, Super Formula is supporting a very innovative project called Out of KidZania, which gives children the opportunity to look closely and very realistically at various professions. In case of Super Formula, they get to look behind the scenes of the TV production, get to take part of the qualifying press conference as journalists and even get to ask their own questions and much more. Especially with this project in mind, Ritomo Miyata’s words hold a very special meaning.
“Racing was my platform to open up about this. I’m happy to help any time if needed.“
Going as the GT500 points leader into this weekend’s SUPER GT finale, Ritomo Miyata has now the chance to become only the fifth driver in Japanese motorsport history, to win both the Super Formula and SUPER GT championships the same year.
Copyright Photos: Own Archive, Japan Race Promotion (JRP)