Akira Ryō

(born October 20, 1967) is a Japanese former professional motorcycle road racer and development rider. He was All-Japan Superbike champion in 2001. He was also runner-up in 1996 and third in 1999, part of a long run of top-ten series finishes. He finished third in the Suzuka 8 Hours race in 1997, teamed with Shinja Takeishi. He and Keiichi Kitagawa came second there in 2000. As of 2006 he is a factory test rider for Suzuki.

Racing fans outside Japan will know Ryō for his regular wild card entries into international championships, primarily in the Japanese rounds. In the Superbike World Championship he entered between and , taking a win in the Japanese round in , as well as three further podiums. He was the main development rider for Suzuki's GSV-R MotoGP bike, and raced in several times in 2002 and 2003. He nearly caused a major upset at the 2002 Japanese Grand Prix by leading for much of the race, before finishing second to Valentino Rossi.

Career statistics

Superbike World Championship Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1995 Kawasaki GER GER SMR SMR GBR GBR ITA ITA SPA SPA AUT AUT USA USA EUR EUR JPN11 JPN17 NED NED INA INA AUS AUS 43rd 5 1996 Kawasaki SMR SMR GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA CZE CZE USA USA EUR EUR INA INA JPN9 JPN6 NED NED SPA SPA AUS AUS 25th 17 1997 Kawasaki AUS AUS SMR SMR GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED SPA SPA JPN17 JPN8 INA INA 38th 9 1998 Suzuki AUS AUS GBR GBR ITA ITA SPA SPA GER GER SMR SMR RSA RSA USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED JPN2 JPN3 17th 36 1999 Suzuki RSA RSA AUS AUS GBR GBR SPA SPA ITA ITA GER GER SMR SMR USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED GER GER JPN1 JPN2 15th 45 2000 Suzuki RSA RSA AUS AUS JPN4 JPN9 GBR GBR ITA ITA GER GER SMR SMR SPA SPA USA USA EUR EUR NED NED GER GER GBR GBR 29th 20 2001 Suzuki SPA SPA RSA RSA AUS AUS JPN5 JPN7 ITA ITA GBR GBR GER GER SMR SMR USA USA EUR EUR GER GER NED NED ITA ITA 26th 20

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 2000 500cc Suzuki RSA MAL JPN10 SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL BRA PAC AUS 21st 6 2001 500cc Suzuki JPNRet RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL PAC AUS MAL BRA NC 0 2002 MotoGP Suzuki JPN2 RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT11 NED15 GBR13 GER11 CZE POR BRA PAC MAL11 AUS VAL 18th 41 2003 MotoGP Suzuki JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR BRA PAC 10 MAL20 AUS VAL 24th 6