Profile Of A Pro Racer: Tsugio Matsuda

30-year-old Tsugio Matsuda, two-time Formula Nippon champion and Super GT driver, was in town last weekend for a guest appearance during the mega Nissan roadshow at VivoCity. But he looked like he was about to step into his Impul Calsonic GTR and compete up north in Sepang instead. He was decked out in a smart red and white Nismo race suit, replete with Alpinestars shoes.

His PR lady explained, "It's for the photo taking sessions and it's really hot for him to wear this for the whole of today and yesterday."

Looking at Tsugio though, you immediately get the impression that this guy is a real professional, always smiling and accommodating to requests.

I commented to Tsugio that I for one don't enjoy wearing a race suit during my infrequent track outings. The translator conveyed my words and he replied with a humble smile that he is used to it.

For someone who started his motor sports career with kart racing in 1993, he is indeed accustomed to the rigours involved.

"I grew up watching F1 and was inspired by the driving feats of (Aryton) Senna," he reminisces. "My favourite driver now is (Fernando) Alonso."

I wonder if Tsugio sees some parallels between Alonso and himself. The former achieved two F1 championships in 2005 and 2006, but was subsequently mired into two difficult years, with a controversial 2007 season at McLaren and a rather insipid 2008 performance after returning to Renault.

Tsugio-san himself, after a heady two years of back-to-back championships for 2007 and 2008, had two DNFs in as many races for the 2009 Formula Nippon season due to brake problems. This leaves him with 6 remaining races to catch up with arch-rival and series leader Benoît Tréluyer's 19 points, whom he defeated narrowly with a single point to ascend the throne in 2007.

"In 2007, the set up of our car was fantastic and given that a Nissan-backed team has never won before in Formula Nippon, our desire for victory was overwhelming. This resulted in our inaugural victory for Impul (which exclusively produce aftermarket parts for Nissan) and Nissan."

"For 2008, we further refined our car, with all aspects including dampening, brakes and tires close to perfection. It was a great season. This year, we haven't had sufficient testing time for the new Swift Engineering chassis and the brake failures added to our problems."


I almost felt embarrassed asking Tsugio about his difficult start for 2009 but he shrugged it off and continued, "We are constantly testing and the new car will get better and better. I am still confident about the rest of this season." Spoken like the seasoned veteran he is.

Just to be safe anyway, I switched gears to his views on Super GT versus single-seater racing.

"Formula cars are lightweight and more precise in handling whereas GT cars are more heavy duty bruisers. The GTR we are currently campaigning is a good example."

On his favourite Super GT circuit among the seven (Okayama, Suzuka, Fuji, Sepang, Sugo, Autopolis and Motegi), he replied without hesitation "Suzuka because I was born there!"

"Also, it's the biggest Japanese track and F1 is held there," Tsugio added with visible pride and a wide smile.

I took a glance at his official bio and it listed his hobbies as golf, cycling and collecting train models. It's actually rather common for professional drivers not to list driving and cars as a hobby so I asked the other question that will reveal his passion for driving, if any.

What is his daily driver?

A quick response. "A Nismo Type 380RS, limited edition (only 300 copies) and for sale in Japan only." Yes, he is a driving enthusiast and a discerning one at that.

As if he can have anything but hi-octane fuel coursing through his veins when he already knew at the grand age of fourteen that "I have always wanted to be a 'pro racer'."