In their native country, Matsuda (35 years old) and Nakajima (30 years old) were big players in the main Japanese single-seaters series (Formula Nippon, today Super Formula, with two titles each) and in Super GT (as opposed to his fellow countryman, Nakajima never won in Super GT). It was on the international stage that their paths crossed: though Matsuda essentially raced at home, Nakajima rolled in Formula 1 as of the age of 22, from 2007 to 2009, before 2012 when he became one of the spearheads of the Toyota endurance program.

Kazuki Nakajima and Tsugio Matsuda had a particularly auspicious 2014 season. Nakajima made a mark on the 24 Hours of Le Mans by becoming the first Japanese driver to score the pole position, before winning the next-to-last race of the season in Bahrain. Matsuda shined in LM P2 with the KCMG team with a win in the class at the 6 Hours of the Circuit of the Americas. They both won at home in 2014: Nakajima in Super Formula and Matsuda (along with Italian driver Ronnie Quintarelli) in Super GT. In 2015, they'll battle in the LM P1 class with Toyota and Nissan respectively, with whom they have been through most of their journeys. They share a dream: to be come the first citizen of their country to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the wheel of a Japanese car.

With French driver Olivier Pla and the Brit Harry Tincknell, Tsugio Matsuda was one of three drivers of the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO present in Paris on February 5th for the press conference of the 24 Hours of Le Mans which he describes in this video as the "goal of his career as a driver" (comments in Japanese with English subtitles).
 

The 83rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will take place Saturday and Sunday, June 13-14, 2015.

Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO