Osamu Miyazaki

Osamu Miyazaki (born 23 January 1966) is a Japanese former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was the first full-time rider in the championship from Japan. After winning his first race in the All Japan Road Race Championship at age 26, Miyazaki joined Aprilia and moved to Italy in 1996 to compete in the Grand Prix. After riding with Aprilla for three seasons, he raced with Yamaha, and helped them with the development of the TZ 250 and YZF-R6. In 2002, he won the Japanese Grand Prix. He left the Grand Prix circuit in 2004 to race in the All Japan Road Race Championship, retiring after the 2011 season.

Osamu Miyazaki
Yamaha TZ250 similar to that which Miyazaki rode
Nationality	Japanese
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1991 - 2002 First race 1991 250cc Japanese Grand Prix Last race 2002 250cc Japanese Grand Prix First win 2002 250cc Japanese Grand Prix Team(s) Aprilia, Yamaha Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 47 1 1 0 1 129

Motorcycling career

Miyazaki started racing when he was 23, when he entered the All Japan Road Race Championship riding 250 cc motorcycles, and won his first race in the championship three seasons later.^[1] At that time, he migrated to the Grand Prix, initially competing in the 1991 Japanese race. He subsequently entered the race the following year, coming thirteenth overall. Following this success, he joined the Italian Aprilia team, which at the time was not well known in Japan. He achieved his first points in 1995.^[2] He moved to Italy to race in the Grand Prix professionally, the second Japanese rider at the Championships and the first Japanese contender to participate full-time.^[1][2]

He achieved his first win at the 2002 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix at Suzuka while racing with Motorex Daytona Yamaha.^[3] He started at eighth place and finishing almost ten seconds ahead of the next competitor.^[4] He entered as a Japanese wildcard.^[5]

In 2004, he moved to racing 600 cc motorcycles in the All Japan Road Race Championships. After four years, he had achieved second place at the end of the season.^[1] He started his own team in 2008 and took pole position the following year in the third round at Autopolis, but suffered a serious injury at the end of the season.^[6][7] He subsequently raced in 2010 and 2011, retiring shortly afterwards.^[8]

Legacy

Miyazaki was involved in the development of the Yamaha TZ 250 and Yamaha YZF-R6.^[1] He worked with Dunlop Tyres in tyre R&D in 2004 and coached Chinese competitors in 2009.^[2]

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Pos	Pts	Ref
1991	250cc	Yamaha	JPN 16	AUS	USA	SPA	ITA	GER	AUT	EUR	NED	FRA	GBR	RSM	CZE	VDM	MAL			-	0	[9]
1992	250cc	Yamaha	JPN 24	AUS	MAL	SPA	ITA	EUR	GER	NED	HUN	FRA	GBR	BRA	RSA					-	0	[9]
1993	250cc	Aprilia	AUS	MAL	JPN Ret	SPA	AUT	GER	NED	EUR	RSM	GBR	CZE	ITA	USA	FIM				-	0	[9]
1995	250cc	Aprilia	AUS	MAL	JPN 6	SPA	GER	ITA	NED	FRA	GBR	CZE	BRA	ARG	EUR					24th	10	[9]
1996	250cc	Aprilia	MAL 15	INA Ret	JPN 13	SPA 15	ITA 20	FRA Ret	NED 8	GER 12	GBR 12	AUT Ret	CZE Ret	IMO 16	CAT 15	BRA Ret	AUS NC			20th	22	[9]
1997	250cc	Yamaha	MAL 11	JPN Ret	SPA 12	ITA 15	AUT Ret	FRA 10	NED 8	IMO 9	GER 18	BRA Ret	GBR Ret	CZE 14	CAT 10	INA 13	AUS 11			13th	47	[9]
1998	250cc	Yamaha	JPN 14	MAL 15	SPA 10	ITA Ret	FRA Ret	MAD	NED NC	GBR	GER	CZE 18	IMO 18	CAT 14	AUS 15	ARG 14				24th	14	[9]
2000	250cc	Yamaha	RSA	MAL	JPN 8	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	VAL	BRA	PAC DSQ	AUS		27th	8	[9]
2001	250cc	Yamaha	JPN	RSA	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	VAL	PAC 13	AUS	MAL	BRA		29th	3	[9]
2002	250cc	Yamaha	JPN 1	RSA	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	BRA	PAC	MAL	AUS	VAL		16th	25	[9]

References

1. "Osamu Miyazaki". Speed of Japan. 2018. Archived from the original on 28 July 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
2. "Profile". miyazaki72 (in Japanese). 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
3. "Miyazaki wins 250 race full of late developments". MotoGP. 7 April 2002. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
4. "Miyazaki wins 250cc race for Yamaha". crash.net. 7 April 2002. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
5. "Miyazaki and Sakai keep up the tradition of wildcard Japanese success". MotoGP. 4 April 2002. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
6. 文部科学大臣杯 2009年MFJ全日本ロードレース選手権シリーズ第3戦 [Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Cup 2009 MFJ All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 3]. miyazaki72 (in Japanese). 2009. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
7. "Osamu Miyazaki signs with Ito Racing". Speed of Japan. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
8. "Race Results". miyazaki72. 2011. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
9. "MotoGP Riders: Osama Miyazaki". motogp.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2022.