born , in Kakuda, Miyagi, Japan) is a Japanese retired professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.Shinichi Ito at MotoGP.com He has raced extensively in Japanese and International championships. Ito has competed in the All Japan Road Race Championship, and won the Japanese 500 cc Championship, and is also three-time Japanese Superbike Champion. In the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hour Endurance Race, he has qualified on pole five times and won the race four times.www.motoracing-japan.com Ito has also raced in Superbike World Championship. His considerable experience on different types of racing machine has earned him a reputation as a premier development rider.
Career Early career Ito competed in the All-Japan 500 cc Championship on a Honda NSR500 from 1988 to 1992, always finishing inside the top-seven and winning the title in 1990. He raced in the Suzuka 8 Hour for three of these years and had two seventh-place finishes in 1988 and 1991, partnered by Masumitsu Taguchi and Daryl Beattie respectively.1991 Suzuka 8 Hours results at www.motoracing-japan.com Ito has also competed in the 500 cc World Championships as an occasional wild card from 1989 to 1992. He showed impressive form, consistently finishing among the established Grand Prix riders. Ito scored a best finish of fourth at Suzuka in 1992.
500cc/MotoGP World Championship Ito's ability was rewarded in 1993 with a full-time ride from Honda in the 500 cc World Championship. This was the third bike alongside Mick Doohan and Beattie, and often had development parts - widely speculated to have included a fuel-injection system before anybody else got it. In his first full Grand Prix season, he scored four top-five finishes. Apart from three DNFs, he never finished outside the top-ten. His best result was at Hockenheim, Germany where he got pole position, followed by a third place in the race. He was also the first Grand Prix rider to break the 200 mph (321.86 km/h) barrier. He finished a creditable seventh in the Championship. He also raced in the All-Japan 500 cc Championship where he finished ninth.
In 1994, Ito continued to show impressive form in the 500s scoring points in 11 out of 14 races, nine of which were top-five placings. His best result was at Brno where after qualifying seventh, he finished second in the race, just three seconds behind teammate Mick Doohan, in what was otherwise a very strung-out race. Ito finished seventh in the Championship. He again competed in the Suzuka 8 Hour, where he qualified second and finished third on a Honda RC45, partnered by Shinya Takeishi.1994 Suzuka 8 Hours results at www.motoracing-japan.com
An elusive first 500 cc win still evaded Ito, until it seemed he might win his home race at Suzuka in 1995. In torrential rain, Ito used his vast experience of the Suzuka Circuit and pulled out a commanding lead in the race. With seven laps to go he was caught out by the treacherous conditions and crashed. This was to be his only non-score of what was to be a very consistent season. He visited the podium twice, his best finish was again 2nd, this time at the final round at Catalunya. His consistency of point scoring races meant he finished a career-best 5th in the 500 cc Championship. By now a regular top-runner in the Suzuka 8 Hour, he qualified sixsth and finished second on a Honda RC45, partnered by Satoshi Tsujimoto.
Ito's value as a development rider already recognised by Honda, in 1996 Ito moved from the Honda 500 V4 to their newly developed 500 cc V-twin Honda NSR500V in the World Championship. The V2 was underpowered compared to the V4 and Ito's best result was sixth at Catalunya. He was however regularly bringing the new bike home in the points, scoring in 12 of the 15 races. He finished in 12th place in what was to be his last full season in the Championship. In the Suzuka 8 Hour qualified second and finished 11th partnered by Satoshi Tsujimoto.
Ito returned to domestic racing, this time in the Japanese Superbike Championship on board a Honda RC45 and was one of the top riders in the series, winning the title in 1998 and finishing every other year in the top-five.1998 All Japan Road Racing Championship at motoracing-japan.com He also took his debut win at the Suzuka 8 Hour in 1997 partnered by Tohru Ukawa. This duo repeated the feat in 1998 from pole position. They again took pole position in 1999, but were to retire after 146 laps.1999 Suzuka 8 Hours results at www.motoracing-japan.com During this time, Ito had numerous more wild card rides in both the 500 cc World Championship and the World Superbike Championship, his best result being an impressive seventh place on a Honda 500 V4 at Suzuka in 1999.
In 2000, Ito was recruited by Kanemoto Racing, who had been contracted by the Bridgestone tyre company to conduct tyre testing for the company's foray into World Championship 500 cc racing. Alongside fellow Japanese rider Nobuatsu Aoki, Ito was responsible for the testing and development of Bridgestone tyres on Honda NSR500 machines. In the Suzuka 8 Hour, he qualified fifth and finished eighth in the race on a Honda VTR1000SPW, this time running in a three-man team with Tadayuki Okada and Alex Barros.
Now one of the most experienced top level development riders, Ito was given a Honda RC211V for the inaugural round of the new four-stroke MotoGP series at Suzuka. He qualified in third (0.2 seconds behind polesitter Valentino Rossi) and crossed the line in fourth. He made another appearance at the penultimate round in Australia, this time with the Kanemoto Racing team on an NSR500 two-stroke machine testing Bridgestone tyres. He qualified 13th but retired midway through the race. In the Japanese Superbike Championship, he made one appearance in the domestic series scoring a fourth at Suzuka.2002 All Japan Road Racing Championship, Round 7 at motoracing-japan.com
Ito returned to the Japanese Superbike Championship full-time and won the title in 2005 and 2006 on a Honda CBR1000RR.2005 All Japan Road Racing Championship at motoracing-japan.com 2006 All Japan Road Racing Championship at motoracing-japan.com Still a top rider in endurance racing, he was to take three more pole positions in the Suzuka 8 Hour.2004 Suzuka 8 Hours Special Stage at www.motoracing-japan.com 2005 Suzuka 8 Hours Special Stage at www.motoracing-japan.com 2006 Suzuka 8 Hours Special Stage at www.motoracing-japan.com This equalled Wayne Gardner's record of five Suzuka 8 Hour poles. He won the race for the third time in 2006, partnered by Takeshi Tsujimura. Ito was still in demand at international level, and in 2005 was drafted in to ride a Ducati Desmosedici GP5 in a new Ducati-Bridgestone Tyre Test Team, which was specifically created for MotoGP tyre development. This role was to expand further when works Ducati rider Loris Capirossi was injured and unable to race in Round 16 at the Turkish Grand Prix. Ito took the seat, becoming the first Japanese rider to pilot the Ducati. He qualified 15th, but during the race was subjected to a pit lane ride through penalty for jumping the start. Ito failed to enter the pits and was black-flagged from the race, and thence excluded from the results.
Ito continued to work with the Ducati-Bridgestone Tyre Test Team during the off-season. He crashed during pre-season testing at Motegi and suffered a fractured thighbone, putting his 2007 season plans on hold. He returned for the Suzuka 8 Hour race in July and finished in third place having set the fastest lap of the race. He was partnered by Yusuka Teshima. Ito was given a ride on a Pramac d'Antin Ducati in the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi following Alex Hofmann's release from the team.
At the Motegi GP in Japan in 2011, Ito and countryman Kousuke Akiyoshi were given wildcard rides in order to "bring courage and show support for the East Japan area", which has been suffering greatly in the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Ito, who came out of retirement that year to win the Suzuka 8 Hours and start the role as a HRC test rider, rode for a specially-formed HRC team at the age of 44.
Career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Points system from 1988 to 1992: Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Points 20 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Points system from 1993 onwards: Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Points 25 20 16 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year Class Team Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts 1988 500cc Seed Honda NSR500 JPNRet USA ESP EXP NAT GER AUT NED BEL YUG FRA GBR SWE CZE BRA NC 0 1989 500cc HRC Honda NSR500 JPN10 AUS USA ESP NAT GER AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE CZE BRA 32nd 6 1990 500cc Pentax Honda NSR500 JPN9 USA ESP NAT GER AUT YUG NED BEL FRA GBR SWE CZE HUN AUS 26th 7 1991 500cc Pentax Honda NSR500 JPN16 AUS USA ESP ITA GER AUT EUR NED FRA GBR RSM CZE VDM MAL NC 0 1992 500cc HRC Honda NSR500 JPN4 AUS MAL ESP ITA EUR GER NED HUN FRA GBR BRA RSA 16th 10 1993 500cc Rothmans Honda NSR500 AUS7 MAL6 JPN4 ESPRet AUT6 GER3 NED6 EURRet RSM4 GBR5 CZE7 ITA8 USA6 FIMRet 7th 119 1994 500cc HRC Honda NSR500 AUS5 MAL3 JPN3 ESPRet AUT4 GER6 NEDRet ITA5 FRA5 GBR9 CZE2 USA4 ARG4 EURRet 7th 141 1995 500cc Repsol Honda NSR500 AUS10 MAL7 JPNRet ESP8 GER3 ITA4 NED8 FRA4 GBR6 CZE5 BRA10 ARG9 EUR2 5th 127 1996 500cc Repsol Honda NSR500V MAL Ret INA 13 JPN 11 ESP 9 ITA 8 FRA Ret NED 10 GER 9 GBR 10 AUT Ret CZE 10 IMO 9 CAT 6 BRA 11 AUS 9 12th 77 1999 500cc Lucky Strike Honda NSR500 MAL JPN 7 ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE IMO VAL AUS RSA BRA ARG 21st 92002MotoGP Team HRC RC211V JPN 4 RSA ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR BRA PAC MAL 21st13 Kanemoto Honda NSR500 AUS Ret VAL 2005 MotoGP Marlboro Ducati GP5 ESP POR CHN FRA ITA CAT NED USA GBR GER CZE JPN MAL QAT AUS TURDSQ VAL NC 0 2007 MotoGP Pramac d'Antin Ducati GP7 QAT ESP TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT GBR NED GER USA CZE RSM POR JPN 15 AUS MAL VAL 26th 1 2011 MotoGP Honda Racing Team RC212V QAT SPA POR FRA CAT GBR NED ITA GER USA CZE INP RSM ARA JPN13 AUS MAL VAL 22nd 3
Suzuka 8 Hours results Year Team Co-Rider Bike Pos 1997 Hori-Pro Honda with HARC Shinichi Itoh Tohru Ukawa Honda RC45 1st 1998 Lucky Strike Honda & Iwaki Shinichi Itoh Tohru Ukawa Honda RC45 1st 2006 -TSR Racing Shinichi Ito Takeshi Tsujimura Honda CBR1000RR 1st 2011 -TSR Honda Ryuichi Kiyonari Kousuke Akiyoshi Shinichi Itoh CBR1000RRW 1st
References
External links
Shinichi Ito’s Official Site