Tsugio Matsuda

is a Japanese professional racing driver for Nissan and Kondo Racing in the Super GT Series, and a team ambassador for KCMG in the Super Formula Championship.

He is the Super GT Series' all-time career wins leader in the GT500 class, and a two-time GT500 class champion in 2014 and 2015. He raced in Super Formula from 1998 to 2013, and won back-to-back series titles in 2007 and 2008, when the series was known as Formula Nippon.

Matsuda has also represented Nissan in the FIA World Endurance Championship and Intercontinental GT Challenge.

Career

Early career

Matsuda began his karting career in 1993, and achieved a notable result by winning the 1996 CIK/FIA Asia-Pacific Championship ICA Class race at his home track, Suzuka Circuit. He enrolled in the Suzuka Circuit Racing School Formula (SRS-F) in 1997 and graduated alongside classmates Toshihiro Kaneishi and future two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato.

Matsuda made the step up to the All-Japan Formula Three Championship in 1998, driving for Satoru Nakajima. He won his first race at the new Twin Ring Motegi circuit and finished fourth in the championship. Matsuda remained in All-Japan F3 for 1999, and finished fifth in the championship. After the season, he finished fourth in that year's Macau Grand Prix.

Formula Nippon/Super Formula

During his rookie season in All-Japan F3, Matsuda was called on to drive for Nakajima Racing in the fifth round of the Formula Nippon Championship at Suzuka, replacing Koji Yamanishi. Just a few weeks after his 19th birthday, Matsuda finished sixth and scored a championship point on debut.

His first full-time ride in Formula Nippon came two years later when he joined Nakajima Racing alongside the returning Toranosuke Takagi. In just his fourth career race at Miné Circuit, Matsuda won the race, becoming the youngest Japanese driver to win a Formula Nippon race at 20 years, 11 months, and 3 days old.

Matsuda transferred from Nakajima Racing to Cerumo in 2003, then from Cerumo to Team 5Zigen in 2005. At the last race of the season, Matsuda talked with Team Impul founder Kazuyoshi Hoshino, who was seeking a driver to replace Yuji Ide at his team after his departure to Formula One. Matsuda joined Impul in 2006, and enjoyed his finest season to date - with a win at Autopolis, six podiums, and a pole position. He finished as runner-up in the championship to team-mate Benoît Tréluyer.

The following season, Matsuda won an unlikely first series championship in Formula Nippon, despite not winning a race. He was consistent throughout 2007, with eight top-five finishes in nine races. Matsuda was crowned the champion shortly after the final round at Suzuka after Takashi Kogure, who provisionally won the race and was champion-elect, was later disqualified when his car failed post-race technical inspection instead.

Matsuda would return in 2008, and had his best-ever season. He won three races in a row to open the season, four of the first five, with five straight pole positions in each. He clinched the championship at Fuji with two races remaining, and became the first driver since the formation of the Japan Race Promotion (JRP) to win back-to-back Formula Nippon Championship titles. Matsuda finished the season with five wins, six pole positions, and seven podiums.

Matsuda slumped the following season and finished 11th in the 2009 standings out of just 13 drivers. He was replaced by a returning João Paulo de Oliveira in 2010, while Matsuda joined Kondo Racing from the fourth round. A lack of sponsorship forced him to miss the 2011 season, but at the non-championship JAF Grand Prix round at Fuji Speedway, Matsuda returned to drive for KCMG in place of an absent Alexandre Imperatori.

Matsuda rejoined Impul in 2012 as Oliveira's team-mate. He returned to the podium with a second-place finish at Suzuka. Matsuda then opened the 2013 season, in what was now known as the Super Formula Championship, with another second-place finish, also at Suzuka.

Six years after his last race as a Super Formula driver, Matsuda was appointed team principal of KCMG in 2019. He continued in this role through 2023, then became a team ambassador

JGTC/Super GT

In the same year that Matsuda made his full-time Formula Nippon debut, he made his All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship GT500 class debut on 10 September at TI Circuit Aida, driving the number 30 McLaren F1 GTR for privateer Team Take One. Matsuda finished fourth in his debut race, and despite retiring from the final two races, he finished 19th in the championship standings.

Honda (2001-2005)

Matsuda began racing full-time in GT500 in 2001. He spent the following five seasons driving for Nakajima Racing and scored his first career win at Twin Ring Motegi.

His most successful season during this time was in 2002, partnered with Ralph Firman. They won three races that season, but Matsuda and Firman lost the Drivers' Championship by one point to Toyota Team LeMans' Akira Iida and Juichi Wakisaka.

For most of the next three seasons, Matsuda drove alongside future three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner André Lotterer. Matsuda and Lotterer won the 2004 round at Motegi, and finished second in the 2005 summer race at Fuji following an intense battle for the lead between Matsuda and eventual series champion, Yuji Tachikawa.

Nissan (2006-)

Concurrent to his move to Team Impul in Formula Nippon, and after rejecting an offer to stay with Honda for what he described as a "mid-tier team", Matsuda transferred from Honda to Nissan for the 2006 season. He drove for the flagship NISMO team through 2007. Joined by Satoshi Motoyama, Matsuda won his first race as a Nissan driver at Autopolis in 2006.

After two seasons, Matsuda transferred from Nismo to Team Impul, the team for which he already drove for in Formula Nippon. Driving the Calsonic Nissan GT-R (R35), Matsuda missed the fifth round at Sportsland Sugo due to illness, but came back in the following round and won the 2008 Suzuka 1000km alongside Sébastien Philippe. Matsuda and Philippe also won the season finale at Fuji, and finished fifth and fourth in the championship standings respectively. Team Impul's form dipped in 2009, managing just one podium finish in the Suzuka 300km.

Matsuda and Team Impul rebounded in 2010 with the addition of new co-driver Ronnie Quintarelli. Matsuda and Quintarelli won their first race together at Sepang Circuit. Quintarelli left for the new MOLA team in 2011 and won back-to-back GT500 championships, while Matsuda remained at Team Impul, partnered with newly-crowned Formula Nippon champion João Paulo de Oliveira. Matsuda and Oliveira won one race in each of their three seasons together but could never win the championship title. Matsuda and Oliveira entered the seventh round of the 2013 season tied for the championship lead with two races remaining, but after a crash at Autopolis and a non-scoring finish at Motegi, they dropped to ninth in the final standings.

Matsuda rejoined NISMO for the 2014 season, reuniting with Quintarelli aboard the number 23 Motul Autech Nissan GT-R and driving with Michelin tyres for the first time in his career. NISMO had not won a race in GT500 since 2011, but Matsuda and Quintarelli ended the team's winless drought and led a Nissan 1-2-3 finish at Autopolis. Entering the final round at Motegi, Matsuda and Quintarelli were six points behind championship leader James Rossiter. Matsuda and Quintarelli won the race from pole position, and after a first-lap collision between Rossiter and Oliveira, Matsuda won his first GT500 championship after 15 years.

Matsuda and Quintarelli's championship defence kicked off with a win at the Fuji 500km race on Golden Week, and the duo remained consistent throughout the season. In the penultimate round at Autopolis, Matsuda won a fierce battle with Team Impul driver Hironobu Yasuda and went on to win the race, allowing Matsuda and Quintarelli to close within two points of Yasuda and Oliveira before the season finale at Motegi. Matsuda and Quintarelli finished in second place, two places ahead of Yasuda and Oliveira, to clinch back-to-back GT500 championships.

At the opening round of the 2016 season at Okayama, Matsuda and Quintarelli won the race. It was Matsuda's 17th career win, which put him ahead of Tachikawa and Motoyama for sole possession of the all-time wins record in GT500. They won the following race, the Fuji 500km, for Matsuda's 18th career win. Despite winning back-to-back races to open the season, Matsuda and Quintarelli fell short of an unprecedented triple championship,and finished third in the final standings.

While the Nissan GT-R languished behind its rivals from Toyota and Honda over the ensuing years, Matsuda and Quintarelli continued to fight for wins and championships. They finished second in the 2017 championship, and third in 2019 despite not winning any races. Matsuda became the first GT500 driver to win 20 races at the 2018 Fuji 500km. The duo swept both 300km races at Suzuka during the 2020 season, and in 2021, Matsuda won his 23rd career race in car number 23, while NISMO won its third straight race at Suzuka.

At the third round of the 2023 season in Suzuka, Matsuda was involved in a multi-car accident that saw his car spin off at 130R, get airborne, and crash into the protective catch fence. Matsuda escaped serious injuries. He won the season-opening race at Okayama and finished second at Sugo and Motegi, and finished third in points.

After ten years at NISMO alongside Quintarelli, Matsuda was moved to Kondo Racing for the 2024 season, where he is set to join GT500 rookie Teppei Natori.

International sports car racing

Matsuda's affiliation with KCMG and Nissan eventually led him to his first opportunities to race in the FIA World Endurance Championship. His first start in the series was at the rain-shortened 2013 6 Hours of Fuji, driving a Morgan LMP2. He made two more starts in 2014, aboard the team's new Oreca 03. He finished second in class at the 6 Hours of Silverstone, and captured his first LMP2 class win at the 2014 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas.

As a reward for winning the GT500 championship in Super GT the previous year, Matsuda earned a drive in the new Nissan GT-R LM Nismo LMP1 car at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sharing the car with GT Academy graduates Lucas Ordoñez and Mark Shulzhitskiy, Matsuda's race ended after 115 laps due to a terminal suspension failure. It would be Matsuda's only LMP1 appearance following the collapse of the ill-fated GT-R LM Nismo project.

However, Matsuda would return to Le Mans in 2016, this time driving for KCMG, now the reigning LMP2 race winners, in their new Oreca 05. Unfortunately, Matsuda's second outing at Le Mans also ended before the chequered flag when the number 47 Oreca suffered multiple mechanical failures including a power steering failure which ultimately ended the race for Matsuda, Richard Bradley, and Matthew Howson.

KCMG began a customer racing programme with the new Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in 2018 and recruited Matsuda as one of its drivers. He raced part-time in GT World Challenge Asia alongside Yukinori Taniguchi, and drove for KCMG in the inaugural Suzuka 10 Hours, the successor to the Suzuka 1000km. He also returned to Macau for the first time in nearly 20 years, taking part in the FIA GT World Cup race.

Matsuda's international racing in 2019 included first appearances in the Bathurst 12 Hour, 24 Hours of Spa, and Dubai 24 Hour with KCMG, and the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with Kondo Racing, where he finished ninth overall. He also returned to the Suzuka 10 Hours and finished sixth overall. Matsuda appeared as a guest driver in the 2019 DTM championship finale at Hockenheimring, driving a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 in advance of the upcoming Super GT x DTM Dream Race at Fuji.

Due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic limiting travel into and out of Japan for an extended period of time, and the gradual shuttering of Nissan's GT3 racing activities outside of Japan, Matsuda's last race abroad was the 2020 Bathurst 12 Hour - but his car was withdrawn from the race after an incident in the first practice session.

Racing record

Complete Japanese Formula 3 results

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

Complete Formula Nippon/Super Formula results

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

Complete JGTC/Super GT results

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

^‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
^† Driver did not finish, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
^* Season still in progress.

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

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

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Official website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsuda, Tsugio
1979 births
Living people
Japanese racing drivers
Formula Nippon drivers
Japanese Formula 3 Championship drivers
Super GT drivers
Sportspeople from Mie Prefecture
Super Formula drivers
21st-century Japanese sportsmen
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
Asian Le Mans Series drivers
24H Series drivers
Nismo drivers
Nakajima Racing drivers
KCMG drivers
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers
Kondō Racing drivers
Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers
24 Hours of Spa drivers