Rei Wakamatsu

is a Japanese motorcycle racer who competes in the J-GP3 class of the All Japan Road Race Championship for Japan Post NTT docomo Business.

He made his Grand Prix debut in the Moto3 World Championship in 2024, acting as a replacement rider for MLav Racing. He is also an Asia Talent Cup graduate, having participated in the 2019, 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Early life Wakamatsu was born in the Katsushika ward of Tokyo, Japan. He started riding bikes at the age of 5, influenced by his father Hiroki, who was an All Japan Road Race 125cc rider at the time. He was a student of the MFJ Road Race Academy and Musashi HARC-Pro Scholarship, where he was mentored by former 125cc world champion Kazuto Sakata, who sponsored him for a wildcard appearance in the 2018 All Japan Road Race Championship at Tsukuba Circuit.

Career Asia Talent Cup Wakamatsu was selected to compete in the 2019 Asia Talent Cup season, at the age of 13. His best result in his debut year was a 12th place at Sepang. He was set to start his second Cup season in 2020 but the championship was cancelled after just one round at Qatar due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wakamatsu faced his second full-time Asia Talent Cup season in 2021, where his best results were two fourth-place finishes at Lusail.

In 2022, Wakamatsu would participate in his third and final Asia Talent Cup season. He earned his maiden podium with a second-place finish at Sepang, only milliseconds off first, and finished in ninth place overall.

All Japan Road Race Championship J-GP3 (2020–present) In October 2020, Wakamatsu made a wildcard appearance in the J-GP3 class of the All Japan Road Race Championship at Motegi, where he claimed a tenth-place finish. In 2021, Wakamatsu competed part-time in the J-GP3 class, where he achieved a fifth best place finish at Suzuka.

In 2022, Wakamatsu entered his first full-time J-GP3 season, where he scored his first class podium at Sportsland Sugo. He ended the season in seventh place in the standings, despite missing two rounds due to his participation in the Asia Talent Cup. Wakamatsu signed with Kohara Racing TP for the 2023 J-GP3 season. He clinched three podiums in total, one being his maiden win at Okayama, and finished third in the overall standings. In 2024, he stayed with the same team. He won the opening round at Motegi, in front of Ryota Ogiwara, and claimed a second win at Okayama later that season. He finished on the podium in every round except for the final one at Suzuka, which placed him as runner-up in the final standings.

Wakamatsu won the opening round of the 2025 J-GP3 championship in front of Hiroki Ono at Sportsland Sugo, where he scored his first class podium in 2022. However, due to an injury, he missed the final round at Suzuka and finished the season in fourth place.

Moto3 World Championship MLav Racing (2024) Wakamatsu made his Grand Prix debut at the 2024 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix in Moto3, riding aboard a Honda NSF250RW, similar to the one in J-GP3, as a replacement rider for MLav Racing. He finished the race in 20th place.

Career statistics

Asia Talent Cup

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 2019 Honda QAT QAT THA THA MAL MAL THA THA JPN JPN SEPSEP 21st 13 2021 Honda QAT QAT DOH DOH INA INA MAN MAN 9th 44 2022 Honda QAT QAT INA INA JPN JPN THATHA MAL MAL MAN MAN 9th 85

All Japan Road Race Championship

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pos Pts 2020 J-GP3 HondaSUGOKAAUTMOTSUZ NC - 2021 J-GP3 Honda MOT SUG TSU1 TSU2 SUZ OKA AUT 11th 36 2022 J-GP3 Honda MOT SUG TSU AUT OKA SUZ 7th 43 2023 J-GP3 Honda MOT SUG TSU AUT OKA SUZ 3rd 93 2024 J-GP3 Honda MOT SUG TSU AUT OKA SUZ 2nd 114 2025 J-GP3 Honda SUG TSU1 TSU2 MOT AUT OKA SUZ 4th 71.5 2026 J-GP3 Honda SUG AUT TSU MOT OKA SUZ 4th* 40* Season still in progress. – Rider did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 75% of the race distance. – Half points were awarded based on the qualifying results.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing By season Season Class Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd Moto3 Honda MLav Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 31st Total 1 0 0 0 0 0

By class Class Seasons 1st GP 1st pod 1st win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp Moto3 2024 2024 Japan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 2024 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Pts Moto3 Honda QAT POR AME SPA FRA CAT ITA NED GER GBR AUT ARA RSM EMI INA JPN AUS THA MAL SLD 31st 0