Kosuke Matsuura

Kosuke Matsuura (松浦 孝亮, Matsūra Kōsuke, born September 4, 1979 in Aichi, Japan) is a race car driver currently competing in the Super GT series. He previously competed in the Formula Nippon and IRL IndyCar Series.

Kosuke Matsuura
松浦孝亮
In 2010, Matsuura as a Super GT driver.
NationalityJapanese
Born (1979-09-04) September 4, 1979
Aichi, Japan
IndyCar Series
Years active2004-2007, 2009
TeamsConquest
Aguri Panther
Aguri Fernandez
Starts65
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish13th in 2006
Previous series
2003
2001-2002
2000
Formula Renault V6 Eurocup
German Formula 3
Formula Dream
Championship titles
2000Formula Dream
Awards
2004
2004
IndyCar Rookie of the Year
Indy 500 Rookie of the Year

Early career

After winning the Japanese Formula Dream Championship in 2001, Kosuke attracted the attention of former Formula One driver Aguri Suzuki as a teenager and was placed into Suzuki's driver development program, the ARTA Project. He went on to finish 2nd in the 2002 German Formula Three Championship winning 2 races and finished 3rd in the 2003 European Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, winning 3 races before replacing Roger Yasukawa at Super Aguri Fernandez Racing in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series in 2004.

IRL IndyCar Series

In 2004, he was the Bombardier Rookie of the Year, finishing 14th in points. He was also the 2004 Bank One Rookie of the Year for the 2004 Indianapolis 500.

Matsuura driving in the 2005 Indianapolis 500

In 2005, he again drove for Super Aguri Fernandez Racing, and again finished 14th in the Championship with a best place finish of 6th in the two road course races. He continued with the team in 2006 and finished a career best 13th in points with a best finish of 6th.

For 2007, Autobacs Racing Team Aguri switched allegiance to Panther Racing, teaming Matsuura with Vítor Meira.

During the 2007 IndyCar Series season, Matsuura retired from 6 of the first 11 races and finished no better than 8th in the others. His struggles prompted speculation from media and fans that he might be dropped by Panther Racing, culminating on July 20, 2007, when Speed TV posted an article on its website stating that Matsuura would be immediately replaced by Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Indy Pro Series driver Hideki Mutoh. While the report was incorrect[1] and the article has since been removed,[2] it did little to stop speculation that Matsuura would be replaced following the 2007 season.

On August 5, 2007, Matsuura matched a career best with a 4th-place finish at the Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan. This prompted Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network play-by-play Mike King to suggest that the finish may help him stay in IndyCar Series for the 2008 season. The finish, however, only came in the aftermath of his avoiding a major back straightaway incident involving most of the front half of the field.

For 2008 after longtime sponsors Panasonic switched their sponsorship to Hideki Mutoh of the Andretti Green Racing team in the IndyCar Series, Kosuke returned to Japan to compete in the Formula Nippon Series.

In August 2009, Conquest Racing announced that Matsuura would drive for them at the 2009 Indy Japan 300 in a car sponsored by CLICK Securities Inc.[3] Matsuura finished 17th for the part-time team.

Motorsports career results

American Open-Wheel racing results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

IndyCar Series

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points
2004 Super Aguri Fernandez Racing G-Force GF09B Honda HI4R V8 HMS
11
PHX
11
MOT
8
INDY
11
TXS
16
RIR
14
KAN
18
NSH
9
MIL
10
MIS
17
KTY
4
PPI
13
NZR
21
CHI
21
FON
13
TX2
19
14th 280
2005 Super Aguri Fernandez Racing Panoz GF09C Honda HI5R V8 HMS
12
PHX
10
STP
13
MOT
9
INDY
17
TXS
7
RIR
9
KAN
20
NSH
14
MIL
11
MIS
16
KTY
8
PPI
13
SNM
6
CHI
23
WGL
6
FON
19
14th 320
2006 Super Aguri Fernandez Racing Dallara IR-05 Honda HI6R V8 HMS
6
STP
7
MOT
7
INDY
15
WGL
18
TXS
8
RIR
12
KAN
8
NSH
13
MIL
17
MIS
9
KTY
19
SNM
13
CHI
11
13th 273
2007 Panther Racing Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 HMS
16
STP
17
MOT
18
KAN
18
INDY
16
MIL
11
TXS
9
IOW
15
RIR
17
WGL
8
NSH
16
MDO
12
MIS
4
KTY
11
SNM
10
DET
5
CHI
17
16th 303
2009 Conquest Racing Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 STP LBH KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL TOR EDM KTY MDO SNM CHI MOT
17
HMS 36th 13
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win)
Top 10s
(Non-podium)
Indianapolis 500
Wins
Championships
5 3 65 0 0 0 22 0 0

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2004 G-Force Honda 9 11 Super Aguri Fernandez Racing
2005 Panoz Honda 8 17 Super Aguri Fernandez Racing
2006 Dallara Honda 7 15 Super Aguri Fernandez Racing
2007 Dallara Honda 17 16 Super Aguri/Panther

Complete Formula Nippon Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points
2008 Dandelion Racing FUJ
12
SUZ
16
MOT
12
OKA
13
SUZ1
9
SUZ2
Ret
MOT1
10
MOT2
6
FUJ1
8
FUJ2
1
SUG
13
18th 3.5

Complete Super GT results

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Pts
2008 Team Kunimitsu Honda NSX GT500 SUZ OKA FUJ SEP SUG SUZ
2
MOT AUT FUJ 19th 19
2009 Team Kunimitsu Honda NSX GT500 OKA SUZ FUJ
11
SEP SUG SUZ FUJ AUT
6
MOT 17th 5
2010 apr Toyota Corolla Axio GT300 SUZ
Ret
OKA
5
FUJ
9
SEP
8
SUG
3
SUZ
Ret
FUJ
C
MOT
19
10th 22
2011 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri ASL Garaiya GT300 OKA
20
FUJ
6
SEP
5
SUG
3
SUZ
20
FUJ
12
AUT
13
MOT
7
12th 26
2012 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri ASL Garaiya GT300 OKA
6
FUJ
4
SEP
9
SUG
9
SUZ
4
FUJ
5
AUT
17
MOT
21
9th 33
2013 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda HSV-010 GT GT500 OKA
9
FUJ
8
SEP
8
SUG
1
SUZ
12
FUJ
8
AUT
14
MOT
15
11th 31
2014 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA
8
FUJ
Ret
AUT
Ret
SUG
15
FUJ
10
SUZ
4
BUR
Ret
MOT
12
16th 14
2015 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA
4
FUJ
13
CHA
Ret
FUJ
Ret
SUZ
10
SUG
12
AUT
14
MOT
11
14th 10
2016 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda NSX-GT GT500 OKA
Ret
FUJ
6
SUG
14
FUJ
6
SUZ
9
CHA
8
MOT
11
MOT
13
16th 16

References

  1. Mutoh gets an IndyCar (in September), Retrieved August 5, 2007
  2. So Long Kosuke Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved August 5, 2007
  3. Matsuura to race in Japan Archived 2009-08-07 at the Wayback Machine, Indianapolis Star, August 4, 2009
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Toranosuke Takagi
Indianapolis 500
Rookie of the Year

2004
Succeeded by
Danica Patrick
Preceded by
Dan Wheldon
IndyCar Series
Rookie of the Year

2004
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