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Kosuke Matsuura
Japanese racing driver From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
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Early career
After winning the Japanese Formula Dream Championship in 2001, Matsuura 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 second in the 2002 German Formula Three Championship winning two races and finished third in the 2003 European Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, winning three races before replacing Roger Yasukawa at Super Aguri Fernandez Racing in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series in 2004.
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IRL IndyCar Series
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In 2004, Matsuura was the Bombardier Rookie of the Year, finishing fourteenth 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 fourteenth 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 thirteenth 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 six of the first eleven races and finished no better than eighth 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 fourth 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, Matsuura 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 seventeenth for the part-time team.
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Motorsports career results
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American Open-Wheel racing results
(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
IndyCar Series
Indianapolis 500
Complete Formula Nippon Results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Super GT results
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References
External links
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