Shuhei Aoyama

Shuhei Aoyama (born December 5, 1984, in Ichihara, Chiba) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is the younger brother of MotoGP rider Hiroshi Aoyama.

Aoyama rode in the All-Japan Road Racing Championship until 2005, when he won the 250cc championship with Honda. He previously won the 125cc championship in 2003, also with Honda. He also rode a couple of events as wildcard rider in the Grand Prix World Championships during his stint in Japan.

After winning the 250cc championship in Japan, Aoyama secured a Grand Prix World Championships ride with Honda's 250cc factory team in 2006. He replaced his brother Hiroshi Aoyama, who moved to KTM. He scored his first podium finish with a third-place at Le Mans, finishing just ahead of his brother, Hiroshi. He finished the season eighth in overall standings with 99 points and was named as Rookie Of The Year for his performance in his debut season. In 2007, he remained with the team, but he failed to improved on his rookie season. He failed to record a podium finish and finished the season 12th in overall standings. However, he recorded his first pole position in his home race at Motegi.

In 2008, Aoyama moved to World Superbike. He once again teamed up with Honda, riding a Honda CBR1000RR motorcycle with Alto Evolution Honda Superbike. However, he struggled to adapt with the bigger 1000 cc four-stroke bike and only managed two point-scoring position.

Aoyama was left without a permanent ride in 2009, but he made a return to 250cc Grand Prix World Championships as a wild-card rider in his home race at Motegi. He finished with a 6th place after starting from 17th on the grid.

Aoyama was unable to find a contract for the 2010 season even though he wanted to aim for the world title. Aoyama announced his active service retirement on his own blog on February 8, 2010. Afterwards, he participated in the Japanese Auto Race series.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season SeasonClassMotorcycleTeamNumberRacesWinPodiumPoleFLapPtsPlcd 2001 125cc Honda Showa Denki Team Harc-Pro 66 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2002 125cc Honda Showa Denki 66 2 0 0 0 0 21 20th PEV Moto ADAC Sachsen 2 0 0 0 0 2003 125cc Honda Team Harc-Pro 66 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2004 250cc Honda Team Harc-Pro 76 1 0 0 0 0 8 26th 2005 250cc Honda Team Harc-Pro 75 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2006 250cc Honda Repsol Honda 73 16 0 1 0 0 99 8th 2007 250cc Honda Repsol Honda 250cc 73 17 0 0 1 0 90 12th 2009 250cc Honda Harc-Pro 73 1 0 0 0 0 10 19th Racing Team Germany 4 0 0 0 0 Total 47 0 1 1 0 243

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 17 Pos Pts 2001 125cc Honda JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL PACRet AUS MAL BRA NC 0 2002 125cc Honda JPN6 RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED25 GBR10 GER CZE POR BRA PAC11 MAL AUS VAL 20th 21 2003 125cc Honda JPNRet RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR BRA PAC21 MAL AUS VAL NC 0 250cc Honda RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED BRA GER GBR CZE POR JPN8 QAT MAL AUS VAL 26th 8 2005 250cc Honda SPA POR CHN FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE JPNRet MAL QAT AUS TUR VAL NC 0 2006 250cc Honda SPARet QAT13 TURRet CHN8 FRA3 ITA9 CATRet NED12 GBR13 GER9 CZE6 MAL6 AUS5 JPN6 PORRet VAL6 8th 99 2007 250cc Honda QAT10 SPA7 TUR16 CHNRet FRA9 ITA6 CAT11 GBR5 NED13 GER12 CZE9 RSM6 PORRet JPN9 AUS8 MAL13 VAL17 12th 90 2009 250cc Honda QAT JPN6 SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER GBR CZE INP RSM POR12 AUS14 MAL10 VAL11 19th 27