# Kosuke Matsuura

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

## 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.
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 and the article has since been removed, 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. 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 | No. | 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 | 55 | 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 | 55 | 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 | 55 | 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 | 55 | 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 | 34 | 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 |
| 2017 | Nakajima Racing | Honda NSX-GT | GT500 | OKA 12 | FUJ 13 | AUT 12 | SUG 8 | FUJ 12 | SUZ 1 | BUR 8 | MOT 10 | | 11th | 32 |
| 2018 | Nakajima Racing | Honda NSX-GT | GT500 | OKA 15 | FUJ Ret | SUZ 10 | BUR 9 | FUJ 13 | SUG 13 | AUT 10 | MOT 12 | | 19th | 4 |
| 2019 | Team UpGarage | Honda NSX GT3 Evo | GT300 | OKA 11 | FUJ 12 | SUZ 15 | CHA 24 | FUJ 4 | SUG 9 | AUT 10 | MOT 19 | | 22nd | 13 |
| 2020 | Team UpGarage | Honda NSX GT3 Evo | GT300 | FUJ 1 22 | FUJ 2 18 | SUZ 1 2 | MOT 1 14 | FUJ 3 18 | SUZ 2 Ret | MOT 2 16 | FUJ 4 25 | | 15th | 15 |
| 2021 | JLOC | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo | GT300 | OKA 21 | FSW 15 | TRM Ret | SUZ 16 | SUG 4 | AUT 25 | TRM Ret | FSW 15 | | 20th | 8 |
| 2022 | JLOC | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo | GT300 | OKA 8 | FSW 12 | SUZ 16 | FSW 8 | SUZ 9 | SUG 19 | AUT 11 | TRM 2 | | 15th | 23 |
| 2023 | JLOC | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo | GT300 | OKA 7 | FSW Ret | SUZ 23 | FSW 16 | SUZ 2 | SUG 19 | AUT 19 | TRM 21 | | 14th | 19 |