Matsuura, Kosuke

Kosuke began his racing career in 1994: in karting competitions. For several years in such races, Matsuura proved to be a very fast and stable pilot, and in 1997 he won the World Cup in Formula A and took second place in the World Cup, where, among others, ahead of the future champion of the International Formula 3000 Vitantonio Luzzi .

The progress of the young compatriot was noticed by the management of the Honda motorsport program, which invited Kosuke to tests in the supported semi-amateur championship Formula Dream . Matsuura worked well in testing, being able to sign a combat pilot contract for the 1999 season. In this championship, he spends two full years, gradually gaining experience with the technology of the formula type . In 2000, Kosuke won seven of 13 races of the season, winning the title.

Having appreciated the skill of his protégé, Honda transfers it to the European motorsport series, for a start having agreed with Prema Powerteam on the place of a combat pilot in the German F3 . In an alliance with one of the strongest teams in the championship, the Japanese quickly get used to the new conditions and already in the debut season wins their first race in the series, and after a season wins the title of vice champion, second only to Gary Puffett , but ahead of Timo Glock and Ryan Briscoe . Then the Japanese spends the season in the Formula Renault V6 European Cup , where he immediately fights in the leading group of the Peloton, wins three victories and takes the third place in the individual standings, losing only to Jose Maria Lopez and Neil Yani .

The high cost of more high-status European series forced the driver’s management to turn their attention to North America, where after agreeing with Aguri Suzuki Kosuke became a combat pilot of the joint team of Aguri and Adrian Fernandez , replacing Roger Yasukawa in the cockpit. In this series, Matsuura spends four seasons, periodically demonstrating good speed and occasionally marking the finishes in Top5: in 2004 finished fourth at the Kentucky Speedway , and in 2007 became fourth at the stages in Brooklyn and fifth at the stage in Detroit . For the time being, Kosuke’s positions in the series did not threaten anything, but in 2007 another Honda protector showed good performance in IRL Indy Lights : Hideki Muto , who immediately became the vice champion of this IRL IndyCar preparatory championship, and at the end of the season he had a good debut race and in the main championship. A local burst of his own results did not save Matsuura: not only did he have good results for Mutou, but also the offer of one of the leading teams in the series - Andretti Green Racing - to set up a separate car for Hideki for the full season.

Having lost his place in the IRL IndyCar, Kosuke was forced to return to his homeland, where he tried to participate first in Formula Nippon , and then focusing on performances in the Super GT , where in 2011 he again joined forces with Aguri Suzuki . In 2013, Matsuura won his first race in the series: in a carriage with Ralph Furman, he won the 300-km competition in Murat .

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•   Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kosuke Matsuura
• Official Website (English) (Japanese)
• Profile (English) on Driver Database
• Profile (English) on the Racing Reference website
• Profile (German) on Speedsport magazine website