Shintaro Kawabata

Shintaro Kawabata is a Japanese racing driver currently racing for Hitotsuyama Racing in Super Taikyu. He is the 2013 JAF Formula 4 West champion.
Kawabata is mentored by Juichi and Shigekazu Wakisaka and was also Keiji Matsumoto's last protégé.

Early career

Junior formulae

Following a karting career where he won the 2007 JAF Junior Kart Championship, Kawabata stepped up to single-seaters in 2011, earning a scholarship from the Formula Toyota Racing School to compete in Formula Challenge Japan. Kawabata spent two years in the championship, where he only scored two podiums, both of which coming at the last round of the 2012 season at Suzuka.
In parallel to his Carrera Cup Japan commitments, Kawabata also raced in the JAF Formula 4 West Championship for Succeed Sports, which he would win ahead of Tairoku Yamaguchi.
Having spent 2014 on the sidelines, Kawabata returned to single-seaters in 2015, returning to Succeed Sports to race in the inaugural season of the [2015 F4 Japanese Championship|F4 Japanese people|Japanese Championship]. Having been spun out of podium contention at Okayama, Kawabata scored his first top-five finish in the series at the following round in Fuji. After not scoring points in the following four rounds, Kawabata scored two top-five finishes in the last round of the season at Motegi and ended the season 13th in points.
Returning to the F4 Japanese Championship for the 2016 season and staying with Succeed Sports, Kawabata won both races of the opening round at Okayama to kick off the season. Despite the two wins, Kawabata's best result over the rest of the season was sixth, scored at both Sugo and Fuji, ending his sophomore season 9th in the standings.

Porsche Carrera Cup Japan

In early 2013, Kawabata was selected by Porsche Japan for their PCCJ Young Driver Development Program, which saw the Osaka-born driver compete in that year's Carrera Cup Japan season. In his only season in the category, Kawabata scored two wins, both at the final round of the season at Suzuka and ended the season sixth in points.

Super GT

In early 2017, Kawabata made his Super GT debut, racing for Team UpGarage with Bandoh alongside Yuhki Nakayama. Kawabata scored his first points at the second round of the season at Fuji by taking ninth and scored further points at Chang, finishing seventh and ending the season 20th on six points.
Ahead of the 2018 season, Kawabata joined Team Taisan for his sophomore season in GT300, partnering Shinnosuke Yamada. Kawabata finished ninth in the season opener at Okayama, which would be the team's only points finish of the season as they finished 21st in the standings.
In 2020, Kawabata returned to Super GT, joining Audi Team Hitotsuyama alongside Christopher Mies. With Mies unable to enter Japan due to the pandemic, Kawabata was joined by Tsubasa Kondo on the eve of the season opening round at Fuji. After scoring points at Fuji and Motegi, the pair scored their only win of the season at Suzuka and concluded the season 11th in points.
Kawabata returned to Audi Team Hitotsuyama for 2021, partnering Takuro Shinohara for his fourth season in Super GT. At the penultimate round of the season at Motegi, he scored his second win in GT300 and ended the season 15th in points.
Following Satoshi Motoyama's departure from Super GT after the opening round of the 2022 Super GT season, Kawabata joined Team LeMans as a third driver for the first Fuji round of the season. Kawabata finished 14th in the Golden Week endurance. For the second Fuji round, Kawabata joined Pacific Racing Team as a third driver alongside Kei Cozzolino and Takeshi Kimura. In his second one-off appearance of the season, Kawabata finished 12th.　In early 2023, it was announced that Kawabata would return to Pacific Racing Team as a third driver alongside Liang Jiatong and Ryohei Sakaguchi. In his four starts, Kawabata finished 11th at the second Suzuka round, which would turn out to be the team's best finish of the season.

Other racing

In 2025, Kawabata returned to Hitotsuyama Racing to compete in the SRO Japan Cup alongside Akihiro Tsuzuki. In his maiden season in the series, Kawabata won race two at Fuji and stood on the podium in all but two races to clinch overall and Pro-Am titles at the season-ending round at Suzuka.