Akiyoshi will be Elías’s teammate at Motegi

The home race of Honda, at the Motegi circuit, was supposed to be the third of the calendar last April, but an earthquake in the eastern area of Japan brought about a great catastrophe that we all know about.

For this event, in addition to the Honda riders we have followed throughout the championship, Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso, Casey Stoner, Marco Simoncelli, Hiroshi Aoyama and Toni Elías, the HRC test riders Shinichi Ito and Kousuke Akiyoshi will also ride.

In Shinichi’s case he will race as a wild card, while Akiyoshi will appear as Toni Elías’s teammate in the LCR Honda MotoGP Team. The latter already knows what it is like to ride in MotoGP, having been a wild card in 2006.

This is what the LCR Honda MotoGP Team thinks:

Toni Elías (#24)

What happened in Japan a few months ago was simply incredible, and racing at Motegi, despite the difficulties, is our way of helping the Japanese return to normality.

The Motegi track is magnificent, and in 2007 I achieved a podium on a MotoGP bike. We arrive in Japan with a great deal of motivation despite the difficult situation in general, but we will try to close the gap with our heads.

Lucio Cecchinello (Director of the LCR Honda MotoGP Team)

First of all, I want to thank HRC for asking us to collaborate on the Motegi GP. We feel very proud to be able to help them by welcoming another Japanese rider onto the grid, and we hope this will bring greater motivation to Japanese fans who have been going through hard times since the March disaster.