Four American riders competed in the Moto4 Latin Cup, which was held in conjunction with the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Grand Prix of Brazil in Goiânia, Brazil, this past weekend.

Among the U.S. riders competing were MotoAmerica Mini Cup Champions Kensei Matsudaira and Mahdi Salem, along with fellow Mini Cup rider Ulises Weyrauch. A fourth rider, Aidan Hancock, who was one of the Americans chosen to participate in last year’s Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Selection Event, was also on track in the Moto4 Latin Cup.

Matsudaira, who is participating in his first full season of the MotoAmerica Talent Cup Championship as the rider for Team Roberts, carded a podium finish in his Moto4 Latin Cup debut.

The California-based rider topped Free Practice 1 on Friday and was the only rider to record a 1:39 lap time on a semi-wet track where he was nearly half a second faster than any other rider in the session. Free Practice 2 was held in mixed conditions, and Matsudaira continued to show strong pace as he finished the session third-fastest.

Unfortunately, due to the track requiring repairs after a sinkhole appeared on the main straight following MotoGP’s qualifying session, final qualifying and race one for the Moto4 Latin Cup were cancelled. The grid for Sunday’s race was set based on the combined lap times from Friday’s Free Practice sessions, which put Matsudaira in the pole position.

Wet weather continued to be a factor on Sunday, causing the race to be red flagged after rain started falling in the final sector of the circuit. Matsudaira was in third position on lap four prior to the red flag, and the race was ultimately unable to be restarted due to scheduling, so he ended up with a third-place podium result.

“I was in the top group of six riders with a lot of passing going on,” Matsudaira said. “I was mostly in the top three positions, but I knew I had the pace to fight and win in the end. It started raining on lap three, but it was manageable, and I felt the conditions would be an advantage for me. I honestly didn’t expect that they would red flag it so soon. This is not the way I wanted to finish the weekend, but I’m happy to stand on the podium here in Brazil.”

The three other Americans, Salem, Weyrauch, and Hancock, finished fifth, ninth, and 14th, respectively.

The next round of the Moto4 Latin Cup Championship will be held at Interlagos Circuit in São Paulo, Brazil, on April 10 through 12.

But, prior to that, Matsudaira will be in action at the MotoGP Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, this coming weekend for the opening round of the MotoAmerica Talent Cup Championship, where he will be aboard the #74 Team Roberts Krämer APX-350 MA.