When my mate, Tony, and I get on the phone you can be sure it’s going to be a long conversation. Sure, we can bench race and talk silly stuff like the best of them but what I enjoy most is getting my teeth into a serious conversation about motorcycles and motorcycle racing and that’s usually what happens.
And so it was the other day that our thoughts turned to why there hasn’t been any Japanese MotoGP champions. And, of course there hasn’t. But the problem goes much deeper than that so a quick, potted history lesson.
The first Japanese riders to compete in road racing outside of their native Japan were the Honda “works” riders who rode Honda’s first bikes in the Isle of Man races in 1959 and, competing on the shorter, Clypse, layout there, they won the Teams Prize but weren’t near the podium.
The Japanese factories learned quickly and it was only two years later that Australian rider, Tom Phillis, gave them their first title, the 125cc. A stream of Japanese riders headed west in search of fame and fortune, Mitsuo Ito becoming the first Japanese riders to win a race at the Isle of Man (remember that the island races didn’t stop being a round of the World Championship until well into the 1970s (1976)
However, despite a plethora of Japanese riders trying their hand, very few of them achieved success in Europe. Takazumi Katayama (“Zooming Taxi” as his nickname was) was successful in the 350cc class, winning the title in that class in 1977 and Tetsua Harada won the 250cc title in 1993 also and Hideo Kanaya starred in the 500cc class becoming the first Japanese rider to win a Premier Class GP. But his role at Yamaha was primarily that of a test rider and so he never competed a full season. I saw him race at Bathurst on the OW31 in 1978 and it was a good thing for the rest of them that he wasn’t, he was amazing.
On through the 80s and 90s there was a steady stream of Japanese riders competing in the GPs and later in WSBK (who can ever forget “Nitro” Nori Haga?) but the Japanese factories seemed reluctant to hire their own riders preferring “name” European and Antipodean riders instead and so the list of Japanese riders who were World Champions remained small..
On into the new millennium the trend continued, Riders like Tamada, Abe (who probably WOULD have been a World Champion) and others kept the Rising Sun flying but it was hardly ever in the premier class and a championship was still elusive. Japanese riders continued to do well in the minor classes, Aoyama, for example winning the very last 250cc title in 2009 and, closer to us, Agura tasted success and almost a title in Moto2 where he still competes.
BUT, and here’s the big but, no premier Class titles, ever. AND no prospect of their being so any time soon. So, why is it so, as the venerable professor used to ask? It would seem that Japan should be dominating the sport. The four biggest motorcycle companies are all Japanese and all either have done or still compete in the World Championships. Japan has a HUGE population from which to draw their road racing talent. There are plenty of road racing circuits in Japan apart from Suzuka, and, lest it be thought that motorcycle road racing is the only arena where this is occurring, it is the same in all the other elite classes, Formula One, WRC, WSBK and so on.
At the same time, we have the absurd situation where a tiny nation of only 5 million people (Finland) can produce both multiple F1 champions and Rally champions, despite the country being covered with snow for long periods of time every year.
And Australia, at the opposite end of the European racing cauldron and with a tiny population compared to even some of the smallest European nations, has produced multiple Formula One Champions and multiple Premier Class motorcycle road racing champions.
So, what is it? It certainly isn’t lack of availability of talented riders, it isn’t lack of opportunity or lack of money being poured into the sport (look at the carnival that is the Suzuka 8 Hour, for example) and it isn’t DORNA’s unwillingness to promote Japan as a venue and as a source of riding talent. The crows that flock to Motegi for the Japanese Grand Prix shows that.
Could it be something as simple as home sickness? The Japanese culture is firmly rooted in family and family traditions, could racing be seen as an interruption to this?
Could it be that the Japanese are just not ruthless enough to climb the ladder to the very top? Given Japan’s history that hardly seems likely yet a couple of examples from recent history might be illuminating.
I’ve already mentioned Hiroshi Aoyama (above), fighting a lone hand on his Honda against the ravening horde of Aprilias. Somehow, through talent and some luck, he arrived at the final race of the season in 2008 leading on points and looking to be the World Champion if he could just win the race, so, no pressure, then. Did he do so? Yes, he did, and I cheered but not before he gave us all a huge fright. With the race at his mercy and a good lead, he choked coming down the main straight and ran off into the gravel trap. Somehow he kept the bike upright, got back onto the track and went on to win, but it could so easily have been a disaster.
And, another example. Ai Ogura was looking the goods in the 2022 Moto2 World Championship. He had had multiple wins and went into the final two races of the season with every prospect of being a World Champion. But did he win it? No, two unforced errors in the last two races saw him crash out both times and he lost his chance.
Why are there no Japanese World Champions in the Premier Class? I don’t know, I wish I did. But the chances of that changing any time soon do not look good. Sad, really.
