Cycle News

Cycle News 2019 Issue 27 July 9

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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IN THE WIND P32 Vale Mitsuo Ito M itsuo Ito, an important history man of the Japanese entry to motor- cycle racing, passed away last week at the age of 82. He was the only one of his countrymen ever to win an Isle of Man TT, but he was far more than a successful pioneering rider. In a lifelong career with Suzuki that eventually led him to the top of the factory-racing depart- ment, he shepherded the marque to classic world championship wins with Barry Sheene and Kevin Schwantz, and influenced later success with Kenny Roberts Jr. As a racer between 1961 and 1967, Ito took one other GP win at the 1967 Japa- nese GP in the 50cc class. He added another 11 podium finishes in 50cc and 125cc. He remained with Suzuki after the factory withdrew from direct involvement after 1968, but he was involved the development of the forthcoming square-four RG500, which would come to dominate the premier class, win- ning every constructor champi- onship from 1976 to 1982, and championships for Sheene, Marco Lucchinelli, and Franco Uncini. Ito was a familiarly avuncular figure to denizens of the GP paddock from the 1970s to the 1990s. Behind the scenes, he was the key influence that returned the once dominant factory in the 500cc class to a second competitive era in the 1990s, against the much bigger racing departments of Honda and Yamaha. Rider Kevin Schwantz, who won 25 GPs and the 1993 championship at the van of Suzuki's second coming, paid tribute: "He was by far the most important person at Suzuki dur- ing my grand prix career, and the driving force at Suzuki at the time… completely focused on how to make their grand prix bike better." Unlike the typical Japanese factory man, he also had a hu- man side. "Such a nice, laid- back easy-going guy," Schwantz said. "With Mr. Ito, you could go and have a beer and talk about what happened in the last race. I think that jovial way he had comes from having been a racer. I think he realized about racing— that it's a pretty high-stress job, but you also need to have fun." Michael Scott Mitsuo Ito was a career-long Suzuki man, pictured here in 2010 on his Suzuki RK67 at the Japanese Grand Prix.

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