Kohei Gunji claimed his first Keirin Grand Prix title at the sixth time of asking, and with it the year’s biggest cash prize, with a bold solo ride in Tuesday’s showpiece event at Hiratsuka.
It was the 35-year-old’s first major success since a G1 win in February 2024: he was one of the riders to earn his place in the big race through the year-end prize money ranking, rather than having won a G1 title.
Speculation ahead of the event had centred on the tactics of the four riders from Japan’s south-central region of Kinki – also known as Kansai – which includes the cities of Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe.
With riders in Japanese men’s keirin generally collaborating in ‘lines’ based on riders’ home regions, much hangs on how the lines will work together to deliver the race win; and strategies must be communicated in advance.
Since the Grand Prix lineup is settled several weeks beforehand, plans are often known well ahead of race week. But a serious elbow injury for Yuta Wakimoto, suffered in practice at October’s Prince Tomohito G1 event, left the normally dominant Kinki line’s intentions in doubt until the last minute.
The four Kinki riders took up their expected positions directly behind the pacer as the race got underway. When he exited, the two riders from the Kanto region initiated the battle from behind – leaving the three unaligned riders, including the eventual winner, at the rear.
Gunji 1 wisely allowed a gap to open as the two lines jostled at the front, with body contact that would certainly see them disqualified in a UCI event. Then, as the bell began to sound, Taito Kanaga 8 made his move from last place – and Gunji knew his moment had come.
As Kanaga inserted himself into the action, disrupting the Kinki-Kanto tussle, Gunji claimed the lead, with the unaligned Takuma Abe 6 following – as he had done from the very first corner.
Gunji gave it everything, struggling to hold his line down the home straight as Abe finally emerged from his shadow. But he had enough to hold on to the end, winning by about half a bike-length.
The official prize of 140 million yen more than doubled Gunji’s earnings for the year. It was enough to move him to the top of the annual prize-money standings, with 257,691,644 yen (US$ 1.645 million).
Three riders this year earned more than US$ 1 million, with a fourth falling just short. For context: Mina Sato, the top ranked woman earned just over US$ 300,000 from a year in which she totally dominated the sport.
Official prize money, 2025 Keirin Grand Prix
| Position | JP¥ | US$ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 140,000,000 | 897,000 |
| 2 | 29,800,000 | 191,000 |
| 3 | 18,200,000 | 116,650 |
| 4 | 12,490,000 | 80,000 |
| 5 | 10,360,000 | 66,400 |
| 6 | 9,650,000 | 61,850 |
| 7 | 9,330,000 | 59,800 |
| 8 | 9,130,000 | 58,500 |
| 9 | 9,010,000 | 57,750 |
With additional prizes, the total win for first place is 146,000,000 yen (US$ 935,000).