| Kosuke Matsuura 松浦孝亮 | |
|---|---|
 Matsuura in 2010 | |
| Nationality |  Japanese |
| Born | (1979-09-04)September 4, 1979 (age 45) Aichi, Japan |
| IndyCar Series | |
| Years active | 2004-2007, 2009 |
| Teams | Conquest Aguri Panther Aguri Fernandez |
| Starts | 65 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Best finish | 13th in2006 |
| 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 |
Kosuke Matsuura (松浦 孝亮,Matsūra Kōsuke, born September 4, 1979) is a Japanese race car driver currently competing in theSuper GT series. He previously competed in theFormula Nippon andIRLIndyCar Series.
After winning the Japanese Formula Dream Championship in 2001, Kosuke attracted the attention of former Formula One driverAguri Suzuki as a teenager and was placed into Suzuki's driver development program, theARTA Project. He went on to finish 2nd in the 2002German Formula Three Championship winning 2 races and finished 3rd in the 2003 EuropeanFormula Renault V6 Eurocup, winning 3 races before replacingRoger Yasukawa atSuper Aguri Fernandez Racing in theIndy Racing LeagueIndyCar Series in 2004.
In 2004, he was theBombardier Rookie of the Year, finishing 14th in points. He was also the 2004Bank One Rookie of the Year for the2004Indianapolis 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 toPanther Racing, teaming Matsuura withVítor Meira.
During the2007 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 byPanther Racing, culminating on July 20, 2007, whenSpeed TV posted an article on its website stating that Matsuura would be immediately replaced byAutobacs Racing Team AguriIndy Pro Series driverHideki 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 theFirestone Indy 400 atMichigan. This promptedIndianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Networkplay-by-playMike 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 toHideki Mutoh of theAndretti Green Racing team in the IndyCar Series, Kosuke returned to Japan to compete in theFormula Nippon Series.
In August 2009,Conquest Racing announced that Matsuura would drive for them at the 2009Indy Japan 300 in a car sponsored by CLICK Securities Inc.[3] Matsuura finished 17th for the part-time team.
(key) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Chassis | No. | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Super AguriFernandez Racing | G-Force GF09B | 55 | HondaHI4RV8 | 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 | [4] | |
| 2005 | Panoz GF09C | HondaHI5RV8 | 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 | [5] | ||
| 2006 | Dallara IR-05 | HondaHI6RV8 | 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 | [6] | |||||
| 2007 | Panther Racing | HondaHI7RV8 | 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 | [7] | ||
| 2009 | Conquest Racing | 34 | STP | LBH | KAN | INDY | MIL | TXS | IOW | RIR | WGL | TOR | EDM | KTY | MDO | SNM | CHI | MOT 17 | HMS | 36th | 13 | [8] |
| 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 |
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | G-Force | Honda | 9 | 11 | Super AguriFernandez Racing |
| 2005 | Panoz | Honda | 8 | 17 | Super AguriFernandez Racing |
| 2006 | Dallara | Honda | 7 | 15 | Super AguriFernandez Racing |
| 2007 | Dallara | Honda | 17 | 16 | Super Aguri/Panther |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics 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 |
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year 2004 | |