Shinichi Ito
Shin'ichi Itō (Japanese伊藤 真 一, Shin'ichi Ito, born December 7, 1966 in Kakuda, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan) is a Japanese motorcycle racer.
Itō is currently working as a test pilot for Bridgestone and Ducati. He is an experienced pilot and is regarded as an excellent test and development driver, both on the prototype of the motorcycle world championship as well as in the production-based Superbike class.
Career
Shin'ichi Ito began his career in the Japanese motorcycle championship. In the 1989 season he debuted on Honda in the 500cc class of the Motorcycle World Championship. Between 1993 and 1996, was Itō Honda Pilot strain in the 500 cc World Championship, but without being able thereby to win a race. His best World Cup placing it reached in 1995 with fifth place.
After that, Shin'ichi Ito concentrated again to the Japanese championship, where he competed for Honda in the Superbike class. In 1997 and 1998 he was, along with compatriot Tōru Ukawa, winning the prestigious eight - hour race at Suzuka in 1998 Itō also secured the first time the Japanese Superbike title. He also competed in numerous motorcycle and Superbike World Championship races on Japanese soil as a wildcard rider.
In 2001, Itō worked as a test pilot for the Kanemoto team, which had been entrusted with the development of racing tires for the 500 cc world championship by the Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone, and earned it its reputation as an excellent test and development driver. 2002 Itō reached at his home Grand Prix in Japan, the first race of the newly created MotoGP class, on a Honda RC211V four-stroke to fourth place.
As of 2003, Shin'ichi Ito again focused on the national Superbike Championship, in which he respectively on Honda CBR 1000 RR was able to secure the title in 2005 and 2006. Furthermore, he celebrated in 2006, along with Takeshi Tsujimura, his third triumph at the 8- hour race at Suzuka.
Since 2005, Shin'ichi Ito also works for the common tire testing team of Ducati and Bridgestone, which focuses on the development of racing tires for the MotoGP class. When running in Turkey in 2005, he replaced the injured Loris Capirossi Ducati race drivers in the factory team, but was disqualified for a false start and the ignoring of this penalty imposed.
In 2007, Itō moved during testing at Motegi to a broken femur and had to pause for long. After he had celebrated his return to the race tracks at the 8- hour race at Suzuka with the third place, he replaced the MotoGP race in Japan the dismissed Alex Hofmann Pramac d'Antin team and secured it with a Rank 15 World Championship points.
In 2011, the Japanese, now 44 years old, along with his compatriots Kousuke Akiyoshi and Ryuichi Kiyonari on a Honda CBR 1000 RR Team FCC TSR Honda win for the fourth time in his career, the 8- hour race at Suzuka. He also competed in the MotoGP race in Japan with a wildcard.
Achievements
- Japanese 500 cc champion: 1990
- Japanese Superbike Champion: 1998, 2005, 2006
- Victory at the 8- hour race at Suzuka: 1997, 1998, 2006, 2011