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.
Nationality	Japanese
Born	September 4, 1979 Aichi, Japan
IndyCar Series
Years active	2004-2007, 2009
Teams	Conquest Aguri Panther Aguri Fernandez
Starts	65
Wins	0
Poles	0
Best finish	13th in 2006
Previous series
2003 2001-2002 2000	Formula Renault V6 Eurocup German Formula 3 Formula Dream
Championship titles
2000	Formula 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

External links

• Kosuke Matsuura official website