The rider, now a symbol of Kawasaki, said: “It’s my 33rd season, the goal is to give my best and have no regrets”
February 8, 2023
He made four MotoGP appearances between 2002 and 2007, riding one Kawasaki. He raced 121 Superbike races winning three times and finishing on the podium 23 times, between 1994 and 2002.
Already these data indicate that it was a international level driver but what makes the difference in Akira Yanagawa and the passion: he will be 52 on 15 July and yet he is always there, on his Kawasaki, ready for another Suzuka 8 Hours.
Not only that: Yanagawa will also compete in the All Japan championship, again obviously on Kawasaki. In this 2023 he will race with the RS-ITOH team with a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR.
As Corse di moto reports, the Japanese finished 11th in the standings last year and this year he starts a bit in difficulty due to a bad car accident happened in October, four months ago.
He said: “It will be my 33rd season and I will present myself with the goal of all time: give your best and have no regrets”.
In the Suzuka 8 Hours his best classification is the second place of 2016 with Kawasaki Team Green together with Leon Haslam and Kazuki Watanabe. This year he will try to do better but his passion is being there and racing, first of all, for the hell of it.