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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.

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.^[5] 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.^[6]

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. ^* 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

More information Year, Team ...

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2015	Nissan Motorsports	Mark Shulzhitskiy Lucas Ordóñez	Nissan GT-R LM Nismo	LMP1	115	DNF	DNF
2016	KCMG	Richard Bradley Matthew Howson	Oreca 05-Nissan	LMP2	116	DNF	DNF

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