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Hiroshi Aoyama

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Hiroshi Aoyama
Aoyama at the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix
NationalityJapanese
Born (1981-10-25) October 25, 1981 (age 43)
Ichihara, Chiba, Japan
Websitehiro-aoyama.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics
MotoGP World Championship
Active years2010–2017
ManufacturersHonda, BQR, FTR
Championships0
2017 championship position30th (0 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
70 0 0 0 0 241
250cc World Championship
Active years2000–2009
ManufacturersHonda, KTM
Championships1 (2009)
2009 championship position1st (261 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
104 9 27 8 11 1112
Superbike World Championship
Active years2012
ManufacturersHonda
Championships0
2012 championship position18th (61.5 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
27 0 0 0 0 61.5

Hiroshi Aoyama (青山 博一, Aoyama Hiroshi, born October 25, 1981) is a Japanese retired Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, and current team principal of Honda Team Asia. Aoyama is best known for winning the 2009 250cc World Championship title. He is the older brother of former 250cc and World Superbike rider, Shuhei Aoyama.

In his six seasons in the 250cc World Championship, he raced Honda and KTM machinery in an Aprilia-dominated class. He took nine victories and never finished lower than seventh overall. By winning the 2009 250cc World Championship, Aoyama become the last winner of this class before its replacement by the Moto2 class in 2010. In 2010 he moved up to the premier class with Interwetten Racing. He stopped competing in MotoGP after the 2014 season and took on the role of HRC test rider and advisor to riders in the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup.

Career

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Early career

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Born in Ichihara, Chiba, Aoyama first raced in MiniMoto at the age of 4, racing against Yuki Takahashi, who he has raced against for most of his career. In 2008 he referred to Takahashi as a "respected rival".

He rode in the All-Japan Road Racing Championship until 2003, when he won the 250cc championship with Honda. He also rode a couple of events as wildcard rider in the Grand Prix World Championships, finishing 2nd in the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

125cc, 250cc & MotoGP World Championship

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Aoyama, riding a KTM, at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix.

In 2004 he joined the 250cc World Championship full-time, still racing for Honda. His debut season gave him two third places and 6th place in the championship. In the following year he scored his maiden victory in his home race at Motegi and finished the championship in 4th place.

However, he was not able to stay on at Honda, so he moved to KTM for 2006 season. He brought them victories in Istanbul and Motegi, the first two for the manufacturer in the class. For the second year in row, he was 4th in overall standings.

Aoyama ended the 2007 season in sixth place in the 250 championship with victories in Germany and Malaysia. He remained with KTM for the 2008 season and finished the season in seventh place with two second-place finishes.

After KTM's withdrawal from 250cc class, Aoyama returned to Honda with Team Scot replacing his rival Yuki Takahashi who briefly moved up to MotoGP class. The 2009 season went well as he scored 4 wins, 3 second places and finished every other race in the points. At last race of the season Aoyama became the world champion.

Aoyama stepped up to MotoGP in 2010 on board the Emmi-Caffè Latte Team Honda RC212V. In initial testing the team (which is itself new to MotoGP) opted not to use the electronic rider aids, despite the bikes being designed around them. The team's technical director Tom Jojic explained that he wanted Aoyama to experience the bike's true nature, and believes that he is good enough to be competitive on it.[1] His season was wrecked by a fractured vertebra sustained in a practice crash at Silverstone, eliminating him for much of the season.[2]

Aoyama was a consistent race finisher in 2011, mainly finishing in the bottom end of the top ten, but finished fourth in the Spanish Grand Prix. Aoyama also replaced Dani Pedrosa on the factory-spec Repsol Honda bike for the Dutch TT in Assen, after Pedrosa's injury at the French Grand Prix. Aoyama moved to World Superbikes for the 2012 season, joining Jonathan Rea at Castrol Honda.

Career statistics

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Aoyama at the 2010 British Grand Prix.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

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By season

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Season Class Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd WCh
2000 250cc Honda NSR250 Team Harc-Pro 1 0 0 0 0 8 28th  –
2001 250cc Honda NSR250 Team Harc-Pro 2 0 0 0 0 3 28th  –
2002 250cc Honda NSR250 Team Harc-Pro 2 0 0 0 0 9 27th  –
2003 250cc Honda NSR250 Team Harc-Pro 2 0 1 1 1 31 15th  –
2004 250cc Honda RS250RW Telefónica Movistar Honda 250cc 16 0 2 0 0 128 6th  –
2005 250cc Honda RS250RW Telefónica Movistar Honda 250cc 16 1 4 2 0 180 4th  –
2006 250cc KTM 250 FRR Red Bull KTM 250 16 2 7 1 4 193 4th  –
2007 250cc KTM 250 FRR Red Bull KTM 250 17 2 4 1 2 160 6th  –
2008 250cc KTM 250 FRR Red Bull KTM 250 16 0 2 1 0 139 7th  –
2009 250cc Honda RS250RW Scot Racing Team 250cc 16 4 7 2 4 261 1st 1
2010 MotoGP Honda RC212V Interwetten Honda MotoGP 12 0 0 0 0 53 15th  –
2011 MotoGP Honda RC212V San Carlo Honda Gresini 17 0 0 0 0 98 10th  –
Repsol Honda Team
2012 MotoGP BQR Avintia Blusens 1 0 0 0 0 3 25th  –
2013 MotoGP FTR MGP13 Avintia Blusens 16 0 0 0 0 13 20th  –
2014 MotoGP Honda RCV1000R Drive M7 Aspar 18 0 0 0 0 68 14th  –
2015 MotoGP Honda RC213V Repsol Honda Team 4 0 0 0 0 5 25th  –
Honda RC213V-RS AB Motoracing
2016 MotoGP Honda RC213V Repsol Honda Team 2 0 0 0 0 1 25th  –
2017 MotoGP Honda RC213V EG 0,0 Marc VDS 1 0 0 0 0 0 30th  –
Total 175 9 27 8 11 1353 1

By class

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Class Seasons 1st GP 1st Pod 1st Win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp
250cc 2000–2009 2000 Pacific 2003 Japan 2005 Japan 104 9 27 8 11 1112 1
MotoGP 2010–2017 2010 Qatar 71 0 0 0 0 241 0
Total 2000–2017 175 9 27 8 11 1353 1

Races by year

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(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 Pos Pts
2000 250cc Honda RSA MAL JPN SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL BRA PAC
8 		AUS 28th 8
2001 250cc Honda JPN
13 		RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL PAC
21 		AUS MAL BRA 28th 3
2002 250cc Honda JPN
12 		RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR BRA PAC
11 		MAL AUS VAL 27th 9
2003 250cc Honda JPN
2 		RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR BRA PAC
5 		MAL AUS VAL 15th 31
2004 250cc Honda RSA
11 		SPA
Ret 		FRA
4 		ITA
9 		CAT
6 		NED
10 		BRA
6 		GER
4 		GBR
9 		CZE
7 		POR
9 		JPN
3 		QAT
3 		MAL
Ret 		AUS
7 		VAL
DSQ 		6th 128
2005 250cc Honda SPA
Ret 		POR
6 		CHN
3 		FRA
6 		ITA
7 		CAT
4 		NED
4 		GBR
Ret 		GER
3 		CZE
5 		JPN
1 		MAL
5 		QAT
6 		AUS
6 		TUR
3 		VAL
6 		4th 180
2006 250cc KTM SPA
6 		QAT
5 		TUR
1 		CHN
3 		FRA
4 		ITA
Ret 		CAT
6 		NED
9 		GBR
3 		GER
8 		CZE
3 		MAL
Ret 		AUS
3 		JPN
1 		POR
2 		VAL
Ret 		4th 193
2007 250cc KTM QAT
Ret 		SPA
6 		TUR
Ret 		CHN
9 		FRA
Ret 		ITA
21 		CAT
7 		GBR
3 		NED
5 		GER
1 		CZE
6 		RSM
2 		POR
Ret 		JPN
8 		AUS
4 		MAL
1 		VAL
10 		6th 160
2008 250cc KTM QAT
16 		SPA
4 		POR
5 		CHN
2 		FRA
7 		ITA
8 		CAT
7 		GBR
6 		NED
6 		GER
8 		CZE
13 		RSM
Ret 		INP
C 		JPN
9 		AUS
Ret 		MAL
2 		VAL
5 		7th 139
2009 250cc Honda QAT
4 		JPN
2 		SPA
1 		FRA
8 		ITA
6 		CAT
2 		NED
1 		GER
4 		GBR
1 		CZE
4 		INP
2 		RSM
4 		POR
4 		AUS
7 		MAL
1 		VAL
7 		1st 261
2010 MotoGP Honda QAT
10 		SPA
14 		FRA
11 		ITA
11 		GBR
DNS 		NED CAT GER USA CZE INP
12 		RSM
12 		ARA
13 		JPN
10 		MAL
7 		AUS
13 		POR
12 		VAL
14 		15th 53
2011 MotoGP Honda QAT
10 		SPA
4 		POR
7 		FRA
8 		CAT
Ret 		GBR
9 		NED
8 		ITA
11 		GER
15 		USA
10 		CZE
9 		INP
9 		RSM
11 		ARA
11 		JPN
9 		AUS
Ret 		MAL
C 		VAL
12 		10th 98
2012 MotoGP BQR QAT SPA POR FRA CAT GBR NED GER ITA USA INP CZE RSM ARA JPN MAL AUS VAL
13 		25th 3
2013 MotoGP FTR QAT
15 		AME
17 		SPA
18 		FRA
19 		ITA
Ret 		CAT
WD 		NED GER
17 		USA
16 		INP
15 		CZE
14 		GBR
18 		RSM
14 		ARA
14 		MAL
11 		AUS
20 		JPN
17 		VAL
16 		20th 13
2014 MotoGP Honda QAT
11 		AME
12 		ARG
10 		SPA
12 		FRA
14 		ITA
14 		CAT
15 		NED
16 		GER
12 		INP
10 		CZE
13 		GBR
14 		RSM
12 		ARA
8 		JPN
13 		AUS
8 		MAL
11 		VAL
15 		14th 68
2015 MotoGP Honda QAT AME
11 		ARG
Ret 		SPA
Ret 		FRA ITA CAT NED GER
Ret 		INP CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 25th 5
2016 MotoGP Honda QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER AUT CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN
15 		AUS MAL
16 		VAL 25th 1
2017 MotoGP Honda QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA JPN
18 		AUS MAL VAL 30th 0

Superbike World Championship

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By season

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Season Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd
2012 Honda CBR1000RR Honda World Superbike Team 27 0 0 0 0 61.5 18th
Total 27 0 0 0 0 61.5

Races by year

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
2012 Honda AUS
8 		AUS
9 		ITA
18 		ITA
Ret 		NED
12 		NED
13 		ITA
C 		ITA
11 		EUR
17 		EUR
10 		USA
17 		USA
Ret 		SMR
16 		SMR
12 		SPA
14 		SPA
15 		CZE
Ret 		CZE
Ret 		GBR
13 		GBR
14 		RUS
13 		RUS
Ret 		GER
10 		GER
15 		POR
8 		POR
Ret 		FRA
Ret 		FRA
14 		18th 61.5

References

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  1. ^ "Aoyama 'electronics-off' strategy explained". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 2010-01-04. Archived from the original on 2010-06-25. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  2. ^ "Aoyama recovering, but no word on return". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 2010-08-02. Archived from the original on 2010-08-06. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
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