Yuta Wakimoto made history in Japanese keirin on Monday, with victory in the G1 final at Toyohashi.

The win in one of the racing calendar’s six highlights guarantees him a place once again in December’s big-money Keirin Grand Prix. He has participated in six of the last seven Grand Prix, winning in 2022.

Monday’s race, the All Japan Selection Keirin, was the last of the six G1 events which Wakimoto had yet to win. He becomes one of only five riders in history to complete a career ‘Grand Slam’ – and the first to win six G1s plus a Keirin Grand Prix, to complete a ‘Grand Prix Slam’. (There were only 5 G1s until the mid-1990s.)

Wakimoto had said he felt tired and not in good condition going into Monday’s race.

He went into the final lap sitting a patient 8th out of 9. He followed fellow Fukui rider Kohei Terasaki’s move with half a lap left, coming around the top of the bunch, and powering out of the final bend to take the win.

He collects a prize of 41,900,000 JPY (US$ 280,000).

Earlier in the day, UCI world champion Kento Yamasaki ended the event on a high, after a disappointing 5th on Sunday. Much like Wakimoto an hour later, he attacked from 8th with half a lap remaining in his undercard race, and sailed past the field – narrowly avoiding a crash on the inside.