Moto Kitano
Moto Kitano | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Born | 1 January 1941 | ||
| Nationality | Japanese | ||
| Citizenship | Japan | ||
| Occupation |
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Moto Kitano born 1 January 1941, is a Japanese former racing driver and motorcycle rider.
Kitano first came to prominence as a works motorcycle rider for the Honda Motor Company in 1960. He was just 19 years old when he made his Grand Prix motorcycle racing debuted in the 1960 Isle of Man TT, finishing fifth in the 250cc class. He won the 250cc class race in the 1961 United States motorcycle Grand Prix, a non-championship race held at Daytona International Speedway. During practice for the 1961 Isle of Man TT, Kitano suffered an accident and missed the rest of the Grand Prix season. He returned for the 1962 season, and recorded two fourth-place finishes.
In the 1964 Japanese Grand Prix meeting at Suzuka International Racing Course, Kitano made his four-wheel racing debut in a Honda S600. He finished second in the GT-I sports car race to American driver Ronnie Bucknum. He joined Nissan as a works driver in 1965. In 1968, Kitano won the 80-lap Japanese Grand Prix sports car race at Fuji Speedway, driving a Nissan R381[1]. In 1971, Kitano won the All-Japan Racing Drivers Championship (Sports car Division 2)[2] in a Nissan Z-car|Nissan Fairlady 240ZG. He then went on to race in the All-Japan Formula 2000 Championship (currently the Super Formula Championship), and the Fuji Grand Champion Series, until he retired from racing in 1978.
Kitano came out of retirement in 1987 to compete in the Japanese Touring Car Championship with Leyton House Racing Team. In 1988, he joined Impul in their R31 Nissan Skyline GT-R GTS-R sponsored by Calsonic Kansei. At Sendai Hi-Land Raceway in 1989, Kitano and Kazuyoshi Hoshino won the 300km Hi-Land Touring Car Race. This was Kitano's last win as a professional driver, as he would retire once again at the end of 1989.
Currently, Kitano owns a motorcycle tyre shop in Tokyo[3], and serves as an ambassador for both Honda and Nissan in special events.
Racing results
Motorcycle Grand Prix results
(Template:Motorsport driver results legend|key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Class | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Points | Rank | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 125 cc | Honda | 1960 Isle of Man TT|IOM 19 |
NED | BEL | ULS | NAT | 0 | NC | 0 | ||||||
| 250 cc | 1960 Isle of Man TT|IOM 5 |
1960 Dutch TT|NED 7 |
BEL | GER | ULS | NAT | 2 | 14th | 0 | |||||||
| 1962 | 250 cc | Honda | ESP | FRA | 1962 Isle of Man TT|IOM Ret |
NED | BEL | GER | ULS | East German motorcycle Grand Prix|DDR 4 |
Nations motorcycle Grand Prix|NAT 4 |
ARG | 6 | 13th | 0 | |
| 350 cc | IOM | NED | ULS | DDR | NAT | Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix|FIN 6 |
1 | 18th | 0 | |||||||
| Source:[4][5] | ||||||||||||||||
Japanese Touring Car Championship results
| Year | Team | Class | Car | 1 | ２ | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Leyton House | Div. 1 | Nissan Skyline RS Turbo | NIS | Sendai Hi-Land Raceway|SEN 10 |
Tsukuba Circuit|TSU 21 |
Sportsland Sugo|SUG Ret |
Fuji Speedway|FUJ Ret |
Suzuka Circuit|SUZ 9 |
||
| 1988 | Impul|Team Impul | JTC-1 | Nissan Skyline|Nissan Skyline GTS-R | SUZ | Mine Circuit|NIS Ret |
Sendai Hi-Land Raceway|SEN 3 |
Tsukuba Circuit|TSU Ret |
Sportsland Sugo|SUG 4 |
Fuji Speedway|FUJ Ret |
||
| 1989 | JTC-1 | Mine Circuit|NIS Ret |
Sendai Hi-Land Raceway|SEN 1 |
Tsukuba Circuit|TSU 4 |
Sportsland Sugo|SUG Ret |
Suzuka Circuit|SUZ 6 |
Fuji Speedway|FUJ Ret |
References
- ↑ "Japan Grand Prix 1968 - Results". Racingsportscars. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "歴代チャンピオンリスト レース". モータースポーツトップ (in 日本語). Retrieved 2021-10-14.
- ↑ "二輪タイヤショップ・ウルフ Moto・アルバム". www.wolf-kitano.com (in 日本語). Retrieved 2021-10-14.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "MotoGP™ Riders". www.motogp.com. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
- ↑ "Moto Kitano Isle of Man TT Race Results - iomtt.com: The World's #1 TT Website". www.iomtt.com. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
External links
This article "Moto Kitano" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.