American Kensei Matsudaira Makes Racing Debut in Thailand with Top 5 Finish Japanese-American Kensei Matsudaira represented the US as a wildcard rider in the most recent Yamaha bLU cRU R3 Cup championship race held at Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand. He was joined as a wildcard in the race by four Yamaha R3 racers from Japan. Switching from the GP bikes he has been racing in Spain, Kensei rode the Yamaha R3 production bike for the first time in the sole free practice session of the weekend before qualifying in ninth place, 2.2 seconds behind pole position. Despite the change in riding style required for production bikes, Kensei got up to speed quickly and felt confident for the races. In Race One, Kensei got a great launch off the line and was up to P4 by the first corner, and from there he fought his way up to the top of the leading group and raced in the first