Tsugio Matsuda
Tsugio Matsuda ( Japanese 松田 次生 , Matsuda Tsugio ; born June 18, 1979 in Kuwana ) is a Japanese automobile racing driver . He won the Formula Nippon championship title in 2007 and 2008 .
Career
Matsuda began his motorsport career in 1994 in kart racing , which he practiced until 1997. In 1998 he switched to formula racing at Nakajima Racing and finished fourth in the Japanese Formula 3 championship with a win . He also made his debut in Formula Nippon that year , where he competed in a race for Nakajima Racing. In 1999 he stayed in the Japanese Formula 3 and improved to third place overall, even though he couldn't win a race. He finished fourth at the prestigious Macau Grand Prix .
In 2000 Matsuda switched to Formula Nippon and competed for Nakajima Racing. He achieved a race win and finished fourth overall at the end of the season. He also drove in the Japanese GT Championship , in which he finished 19th in the overall standings. In 2001 he stayed in both racing series and was tenth in Formula Nippon and 15th in the Japanese GT championship. In 2002 he improved in both championships. While he was fifth overall in Formula Nippon, he was third in the Japanese GT Championship with three wins.
In 2003, Matsuda stayed with Nakajima Racing in the Japanese GT Championship. He could not build on the performance of the previous season and finally finished 19th overall. In Formula Nippon, he switched to Racing Team Cerumo and finished eleventh in the drivers' championship. In 2004 he stayed with the same teams as in the previous season and finished eighth in the Japanese GT Championship and again finished eleventh overall in Formula Nippon. In 2005 he was only 17th in the championship, which has now been renamed Super GT. Things went better for him in Formula Nippon, in which he finished seventh for Team 5Zigen .
In 2006 he improved to sixth place overall in the Super GT with a win. Things went even better for the Japanese in Formula Nippon. After switching to Team Impul , he was runner-up behind his teammate Benoît Tréluyer with a win . A season later, he finished fifth in the Super GT and also managed to win Formula Nippon. He could not show a single race win this year, but only podium finishes. In 2008 he managed to defend the Formula Nippon title. In contrast to last year, he was able to win five of eleven races of the season. In the Super GT he was again fifth.
In 2009 Matsuda failed to build on his successes from previous years and he finished eleventh in both Formula Nippon and the Super GT. In 2010 , Matsuda joined Formula Nippon in the middle of the season. He finished 15th with one point. He was more successful in the Super GT, where he finished fifth with one win. In 2011 Matsuda again finished fifth in the Super GT with a victory. In the monoposto he only started one non-championship race of the Formula Nippon.
statistics
Career stations
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|
Le Mans results
| year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 |
 Nissan Motorsports
|
Nissan GT-R LM Nismo |
 Lucas Ordoñez
|
 Mark Schulschizki
|
failure | suspension |
| 2016 |
 KCMG
|
Oreca 05 |
 Richard Bradley
|
Matthew Howson
|
failure |
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Matsuda, Tsugio |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 松田 次生 (Japanese) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese automobile racer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 18, 1979 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kuwana , Japan |