# Kosho smashes keirin earnings record with second Grand Prix success

*By Simon | December 30, 2024*

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![Screenshot](https://globalkeirin.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/12/furu140b.jpg)

## 󠀁[Kosho smashes keirin earnings record with second Grand Prix success](https://globalkeirin.com/2024/12/kosho-smashes-keirin-earnings-record-with-second-grand-prix-success/)󠁿

30 December 2024

Former BMX racer **Yusaku Kosho** 1 won his second Keirin Grand Prix, and with
it a prize of 140 million yen – almost US$ 900,000 – in Japan’s traditional
end-of-year highlight event.

The 33-year-old was brought to the front by 2020 world silver medallist
**Yuta Wakimoto** 9 as the bell began to ring. As they entered the home
straight, the fading Wakimoto moved aside, leaving the door open for Kosho to
claim the biggest prize in the sport, repeating his success at the same Shizuoka
track three years earlier.

Having followed the pair’s initial attack, **Hirotomo Shimizu** 6 was on Kosho’s
wheel as the line neared, but couldn’t get around him: he wins over 28 million
yen (US$ 183,000) for his efforts. Wakimoto held on for third, and a consolation
prize of over 17 million yen (US$ 112,000).

It closes another remarkable season for Kosho, who had finished top of the
annual prize money ranking, having won two G1 titles – August’s All Star Keirin,
and October’s Prince Tomohito Cup. He has won at least two G1 events each year
since 2021.

His 243 million yen (US$ 1.54 million) winnings in 2024 _before_ the Grand Prix
put him more than 100 million yen ahead of second-ranked Wakimoto.

More Cadence [calculates](https://morecadence.jp/keirin/190493) that the Grand
Prix prize takes his total for the year to more than 383 million yen (US$ 2.4
million), smashing the record of 305.84 million yen set by Wakimoto in 2022.

UCI world champion **Kento Yamasaki** 5 rode in the day’s penultimate race, for
the Daikichi Terauchi Memorial Cup.

Riding in the ‘senko’ or leadout role, he positioned himself at the front of the
line, and attacked with a full two laps remaining. But he ran out of legs with
200m to go, eventually trailing in a distant ninth, with **Souma Ito** 2 taking
the win.

_**Editor’s note**: It’s almost impossible to find daily content about Japanese keirin in anything but Japanese; so GK relies heavily on services like Google Translate. We initially named race winner 古性優作 as Yusaku Furusei, as that was the translation consistently offered by online services – but the [furigana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furigana) pronunciation guide on his [keirin.jp profile](https://keirin.jp/pc/racerprofile?snum=014838) confirms that it is read as Yusaku Kosho. Thanks and apologies to the Japanese readers who corrected us! I now know a lot more about Japanese than I did a month ago… 😊_

**Categories:** Original
**Tags:** japan