American Kensei Matsudaira with Another Top 10 Finish in ESBK Moto4 Race at Jerez After two consecutive rounds at circuits where American Kensei Matsudaira, age 12, rode for the first time during the race weekend, it was back to familiar territory for the penultimate round of the RFME ESBK Moto4 championship at Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto in Andalusia, Spain. Being the second round at the venue this season, all the riders were up to pace quickly and the competition was fierce. Kensei endured the worst qualifying result of the season in 20th after a difficult session in wet but drying conditions. In Saturday s Race One, Kensei s bike stalled at the start but Kensei was able to bump start the engine and continue the race, albeit several seconds behind the entire grid. He was able to quickly catch the pack and by the fifth lap, had worked his way to the leaders and was fighting for the lead in
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
American Kensei Matsudaira to Represent USA at FIM Speedway World Championship SGP4 Race at Malilla, Sweden Japanese-American road racer Kensei Matsudaira will make his international speedway racing debut on July 15, 2023 at the FIM Speedway GP of Sweden - Malilla. Kensei, age 12, was selected to represent the US in the FIM Speedway World Championship in the launch of the SGP4 youth category on a new entry-level world championship bike for 11 to 13 year old racers. 18 riders from around the world have been invited to race in this special one-time event at one of World Speedway s most famous venues. I ve always wanted to race speedway in Europe, so I m very excited to have this opportunity to race at a FIM Speedway World Championship race, Kensei said. I m proud to represent the US and American speedway, and hoping to do as well as I can to make Team USA Speedway proud. Team USA Speedway manager Steve Evans added,
American Kensei Matsudaira Takes Another Top 5 Finish at Estoril, Portugal for ESBK Moto4 Championship Round 4 In his first outing to Circuito Estoril in Portugal, 12-year-old American Kensei Matsudaira began the race weekend with tricky conditions with intermittent rain making the first three practice sessions wet. However, Kensei showed his strong pace after a single dry free practice by topping the qualifying charts for most of the session and finally qualifying in second place just 0.05 second off pole, his best qualifying result of the season. In Race One held on Saturday, Kensei finished in fifth place only 0.5 second from the winner after fighting through a race-long battle in the 15-rider top group. However, he was demoted to sixth after a one-position penalty for exceeding track limits on the final lap was applied. Sunday morning was another tricky affair with a wet warmup session, but Kensei again demonstrated strong pace in Race Two held in the afternoon in
American Kensei Matsudaira Masters Mixed Conditions to Take Podium in Valencia, Spain for ESBK Moto4 Championship Round 3 On Saturday [May 13], 12-year-old American Kensei Matsudaira scored a second-place finish at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain, his first official podium in the RFME ESBK (Campeonato de España de Superbike) Moto4 Championship. Starting from 10th on the grid, Kensei worked his way forward as rain started falling on the second lap. Even as the rain grew stronger and other riders crashed out, by lap five Kensei had moved into third position and began closing in on the lead rider. By lap eight, Kensei had moved into second position and closed the gap to the top from over six seconds to just two seconds, but the race was red-flagged after the eighth lap due to worsening weather conditions and the race was called, securing Kensei s second place finish in the race. Sunday saw clear skies and for Race Two, Kensei started from