IN
THE
WIND
P30
AOKI TO JOIN
SCHWANTZ FOR
8 HOUR
S
uzuki MotoGP test rider No-
buatsu Aoki will join 1993
World 500cc Champion Kevin
Schwantz and former All-Japan
Superbike Champion Satoshi
Tsujimoto in the Yoshimura Su-
zuki Legend Team at the Suzuka
8-Hour World Endurance Cham-
pionship second round in July.
In celebration of the compa-
ny's 60th Anniversary, Yoshimura
will also run a second team man-
aged by Yohei Kato - Yoshimura
Suzuki Shell ADVANCE - com-
prising Japan's Takuya Tsuda
and Australian Josh Waters.
"I've had many concerns about
making the best choice to ap-
point a third rider for the #12 Leg-
end of Yoshimura Suzuki Shell
ADVANCE team for the Suzuka
8-Hour Race," said Yoshimura
president Fujio Yoshimura. "The
main concern was the physical
condition of both Schwantz and
Tsujimoto in the grueling heat
during the race. They are still fit
and motivated, but completing
eight hours is really tough. Also,
even though they have brilliant
racing histories and experience,
it is not so easy to advance to the
Top-10 Trial, so my choice was to
pick Nobuatsu Aoki as the third
rider."
Aoki is happy to be racing with
two of his heroes.
"Both Kevin Schwantz and Sa-
toshi Tsujimoto have been my he-
roes since I was a teenager, and
the Team Manager Fujio Yoshimu-
ra has been a big name in racing,"
Aoki said. "I am proud to be one
of the riders in the Legend Team
to celebrate the 60th Anniversary
of the Yoshimura company. My
duty is leading the team to the vic-
tory with my experience, and I will
do my best. It will be the seventh
time that I have raced the Suzuka
8-Hour in the Yoshimura team
and I am honored that I am also
the rider with the largest number
of Yoshimura appearances in its
history."
Nobuatsu Aoki will team with Kevin Schwantz and
Satoshi Tsujimoto for the Suzuka 8 Hour in July.
MICHELIN TO BE
SPEC TIRE FOR
MOTOGP
D
orna announced last week that Mi-
chelin will take over from Bridgestone
as the spec-tire manufacturer in the Mo-
toGP World Championship beginning in
2016 and it turns out that they didn't have
much competition: The French company
was the only tire manufacturer to submit a
formal tender.
Michelin will be back in
MotoGP in 2016 as the
spec tire for the class.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
continued on page 32
