Shinichi Itoh
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 Name = Shinichi Itoh |
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| Nationality |  Japan |
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| Grand Prix motorcycle racing career | |
| Active years | 1988 - 2007 |
| Teams | Honda, Ducati |
| Grands Prix | 66 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podium finishes | 6 |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First Grand Prix | 1988 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 2007 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix |
Shinichi Itoh (or Itō) (伊藤 真一 Itō Shin'ichi?) born December 7, 1966 in Miyagi, Japan is a professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He has raced extensively in Japanese and International championships. Itoh has competed in the All Japan Road Race Championship, and won the Japanese 500 cc Championship, and is also 3 times Japanese Superbike Champion. In the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hour Endurance Race he has qualified on pole 5 times and won the race 3 times. Itoh 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.
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[edit] Early career
Itoh competed in the All-Japan 500 cc Championship on a Honda NSR500 from 1988 to 1992, always finishing inside the Top 7 and winning the title in 1990. He raced in the Suzuka 8 Hour for three of these years and had two 7th place finishes in 1988 and 1991, partnered by Masumitsu Taguchi and Daryl Beattie respectively. Itoh 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. Itoh scored a best finish of 4th at Suzuka in 1992.
[edit] 1993
Itoh’s ability was rewarded 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 5 finishes. Apart from 3 DNFs he never finished outside the top 10. His best result was at Hockenheim, Germany where he got pole position, followed by a 3rd place in the race. He was also the first Grand Prix rider to break the 200 mph (321.86 km/h) barrier(aided by the straightline speed advantage of fuel injection?). He finished a creditable 7th in the Championship. He also raced in the All-Japan 500 cc Championship where he finished 9th.
[edit] 1994
Itoh continued to show impressive form in the 500s scoring points in 11 out of 14 races, 9 of which were top 5 placings. Best finish was at Brno where after qualifying 7th, he finished 2nd in the race, just 3 seconds behind team-mate Mick Doohan, in what was otherwise a very strung-out race. Itoh finished 7th in the Championship. He again competed in the Suzuka 8 Hour where he qualified 2nd and finished 3rd on a Honda RC45, partnered by Shinya Takeishi.
[edit] 1995
The elusive first 500 cc win still evaded Itoh, until it seemed his home race at Suzuka. In torrential rain, Itoh used his vast experience of Suzuka 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 6th and finished 2nd on a Honda RC45, partnered by Satoshi Tsujimoto.
[edit] 1996
His value as a development rider already recognised by Honda, Itoh 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 Itoh’s best result was 6th 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 2nd and finished 11th partnered by Satoshi Tsujimoto.
[edit] 1997-2000
Itoh 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 5. 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. During this time, Itoh had numerous more wild card rides in both the 500 cc World Championship and World Superbikes, his best result being an impressive 7th place on a Honda 500 V4 at Suzuka in 1999.
[edit] 2001
Itoh 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, Itoh was responsible for the testing and development of Bridgestone tyres on Honda NSR500 machines. In the Suzuka 8 Hour he qualified 5th and finished 2th in the race on a Honda VTR1000SPW, this time running in a three man team with Tadayuki Okada and Alex Barros. As a wild card on the World Superbike Championship at Sugo he recorded his best ever results in the series, qualifying 2nd, and finishing 4th and 9th in the races.
[edit] 2002
Now one of the most experienced and respected top level development riders, Itoh was given a Honda RC211V for the inaugural round of the new four-stroke MotoGP series at Suzuka. He qualified in 3rd (0.2 seconds behind polesitter Valentino Rossi) and crossed the line in 4th. He made another wild card 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 just one appearance in the domestic series scoring a 4th at Suzuka.
[edit] 2003-2006
Itoh returned to the Japanese Superbike Championship full time and won the title in 2005 and 2006 on a Honda CBR1000RR. Still a top rider in endurance racing , he was to take three more pole positions in the Suzuka 8 Hour. 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. Itoh 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. Itoh 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. Itoh failed to enter the pits and was black-flagged from the race, and thence excluded from the results.
[edit] 2007
Itoh 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 3rd place having set the fastest lap of the race. He was partnered by Yusuka Teshima. Itoh was given a ride on a Pramac d'Antin Ducati in the Pacific Grand Prix at Motegi following Alex Hofmann's release from the team.
[edit] References
http://www.motoracing-japan.com/english/index.html Results of Japanese National Championships & Suzuka 8 Hour Race
http://www.bridgestone.co.jp/english/news/010112.html Bridgestone announces MotoGP involvement
