Kousuke Akiyoshi

is a Japanese motorcycle road racer. He is a two-time champion in the All-Japan Superbike Championship, and has competed sporadically in the MotoGP World Championship.

Akiyoshi is known in his native Japan as a competitor in the MFJ All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship, and most notably the All Japan Superbike championship, where he has enjoyed success with the Yoshimura Suzuki team riding a Suzuki GSX-R1000. In July 2007 he, along with Yukio Kagayama, won the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race on a Yoshimura Suzuki bike.

Career National racing Akiyoski made his début in the All Japan GP250 Championship in 1995, riding a Suzuki RGV250. He finished in 24th in his first season, before improving to tenth the following season. In 1997, Akiyoshi moved into the All Japan Superbike Championship – later the All Japan JSB1000 Championship – where he has spent the majority of his career. He won the championship in 2010 and 2011, riding a Honda CBR1000RR.

Grand Prix appearances Akiyoshi has also competed in a number of Grands Prix of the MotoGP series. These have included The Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, where he finished 13th on his debut with the Rizla Suzuki team as a wildcard rider, as well as two races in 2007 at Jerez and Japan. He came 17th at the Spanish race, and had a good run in Japan where he was running seventh behind Casey Stoner, but retired four laps from the finish. In 2008, he competed in the Japanese Grand Prix for a third year running, again for Rizla Suzuki. He retired on lap 1 after going down at the first corner.

In the 2010 season, Akiyoshi stood in for the injured Hiroshi Aoyama at the Interwetten Honda team. He competed in two races for the team, finishing 15th at the Dutch TT in Assen and 13th at the Catalan Grand Prix in Catalunya. He was then replaced by San Marinese rider Alex de Angelis. Akiyoshi replaced Aoyama once again at the Gresini Racing team for the 2011 Dutch TT, however not through injury, as Aoyama himself replaced the injured Dani Pedrosa at Repsol Honda. Akiyoshi also competed at the Japanese Grand Prix as a wildcard entry with LCR Honda – along with Shinichi Itoh, racing for HRC Honda – as a gesture of support for those affected by the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

Career statistics

Races by year (key) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts 2006 MotoGP Suzuki SPA QAT TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER USA CZE MAL AUS JPN13 POR VAL 21st 3 2007 MotoGP Suzuki QAT SPA17 TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT GBR NED GER USA CZE RSM POR JPNRet AUS MAL VAL NC 0 2008 MotoGP Suzuki QAT SPA POR CHN FRA ITA CAT GBR NED GER USA CZE RSM INP JPNRet AUS MAL VAL NC 0 2010 MotoGP Honda QAT SPA FRA ITA GBR NED15 CAT13 GER USA CZE INP RSM ARA JPN MAL AUS POR VAL 20th 4 2011 MotoGP Honda QAT SPA POR FRA CAT GBR NED13 ITA GER USA CZE INP RSM ARA JPN12 AUS MAL VAL 20th 7 MotoGP Honda QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN19 AUS MAL VAL NC 0

Suzuka 8 Hours results Year Team Co-riders Bike 2007 with JOMO Kousuke Akiyoshi Yukio Kagayama Suzuki GSX-R1000 1st 2011 F.C.C. TSR Ryuichi Kiyonari Shinichi Ito Honda CBR1000RRW 1st 2012 F.C.C. TSR Tadayuki Okada Jonathan Rea Honda CBR1000RRW 1st

Asia Superbike 1000

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 2022 Honda CHA CHA SEP SEP SUG SUG SEP SEP CHA CHA 20th 8 2023 Honda CHA CHA SEP SEP SUG SUG MAN MAN ZHU ZHU CHA CHA 21st 14