Akira Ryō (梁 明, Ryō Akira) (born October 20, 1967) is a Japanese former professional motorcycle road racer and development rider. He was All-Japan Superbike champion in 2001. He was also runner-up in 1996 and third in 1999, part of a long run of top-10 series finishes. He finished 3rd in the Suzuka 8 Hours race in 1997, teamed with Shinja Takeishi. He and Keiichi Kitagawa came 2nd there in 2000.[1] As of 2006 he is a factory test rider for Suzuki.[2]

Racing fans outside Japan will know him for his regular wild card entries into international championships, primarily in the Japanese rounds. In the Superbike World Championship he entered between 1996 and 2001, taking a win in the Japanese round in 1999, as well as three further podiums. He was the main development rider for Suzuki's GSV-R MotoGP bike, and raced in several times in 2002 and 2003. He nearly caused a major upset at the 2002 Japanese Grand Prix by leading for much of the race, before finishing second to Valentino Rossi.[3]

Career statistics

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

(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 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
1995 Kawasaki GER GER SMR SMR GBR GBR ITA ITA SPA SPA AUT AUT USA USA EUR EUR JPN
11		 JPN
17		 NED NED INA INA AUS AUS 43rd 5
1996 Kawasaki SMR SMR GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA CZE CZE USA USA EUR EUR INA INA JPN
9		 JPN
6		 NED NED SPA SPA AUS AUS 25th 17
1997 Kawasaki AUS AUS SMR SMR GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED SPA SPA JPN
17		 JPN
8		 INA INA 38th 9
1998 Suzuki AUS AUS GBR GBR ITA ITA SPA SPA GER GER SMR SMR RSA RSA USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED JPN
2		 JPN
3		 17th 36
1999 Suzuki RSA RSA AUS AUS GBR GBR SPA SPA ITA ITA GER GER SMR SMR USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED GER GER JPN
1		 JPN
2		 15th 45
2000 Suzuki RSA RSA AUS AUS JPN
4		 JPN
9		 GBR GBR ITA ITA GER GER SMR SMR SPA SPA USA USA EUR EUR NED NED GER GER GBR GBR 29th 20
2001 Suzuki SPA SPA RSA RSA AUS AUS JPN
5		 JPN
7		 ITA ITA GBR GBR GER GER SMR SMR USA USA EUR EUR GER GER NED NED ITA ITA 26th 20

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year

(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 Pos Pts
2000 500cc Suzuki RSA MAL JPN
10		 SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL BRA PAC AUS 21st 6
2001 500cc Suzuki JPN
Ret		 RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL PAC AUS MAL BRA NC 0
2002 MotoGP Suzuki JPN
2		 RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT
11		 NED
15		 GBR
13		 GER
11		 CZE POR BRA PAC MAL
11		 AUS VAL 18th 41
2003 MotoGP Suzuki JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR BRA PAC
10		 MAL
20		 AUS VAL 24th 6

References

  1. ↑ SilverBullet News – Suzuka 8 hour results
  2. ↑ Atlas F1 Elsewhere in Racing: Updates from the Rest of the Racing World
  3. ↑ "MOTOGP: Ryo picks up two wild-card entries., motorsport news, results, features, teams, drivers, updates". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2006-11-01.
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