Wataru Yoshikawa

is a Japanese motorcycle rider.

Yoshikawa won the All Japan Superbike Championship in 1994 and 1999. He also participated in the World Superbike Championship, finishing ninth in the 1996 season. In 2003, Yoshikawa finished second at the Suzuka 8 Hours, partnering Shinichi Nakatomi on a Yamaha YZF-R1.

Yoshikawa is a test rider for the Yamaha factory, and helped to develop the Yamaha YZR-M1. On June 23, 2010, it was announced that Yoshikawa would replace the injured Valentino Rossi in the MotoGP Yamaha factory works team, until Rossi was again able to race.

Yoshikawa was the team manager of Yamaha's All Japan Road Race Championship factory team at the 39th "Coca-Cola Zero" Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race held during July 28 to July 31, 2016, at the Suzuka Circuit in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan.

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 1992 Yamaha SPA SPA GBR GBR GER GER BEL BEL SPA SPA AUT AUT ITA ITA MAL MAL JPN25 JPN14 NED NED ITA ITA AUS AUS NZL NZL 65th 2 1994 Yamaha GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA SPA SPA AUT AUT INA INA JPN5 JPN4 NED NED SMR SMR EUR EUR AUS AUS 27th 24 1995 Yamaha GER GER SMR SMR GBR GBR ITA ITA SPA SPA AUT AUT USA USA EUR EUR JPN7 JPN5 NED NED INA INA AUS AUS 25th 20 1996 Yamaha SMR9 SMR11 GBR9 GBR12 GERDNS GERDNS ITA ITA CZE9 CZE11 USA9 USA8 EUR10 EUR6 INA7 INA7 JPN3 JPN8 NED10 NED7 SPA6 SPA5 AUS6 AUS7 9th 163 1997 Yamaha AUS AUS SMR SMR GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED SPA SPA JPN5 JPNRet INA INA NC 0† 1998 Yamaha AUS AUS GBR GBR ITA ITA SPA SPA GER GER SMR SMR RSA RSA USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED JPN9 JPN7 24th 16 1999 Yamaha RSA RSA AUS AUS GBR GBR SPA SPA ITA ITA GER GER SMR SMR USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED GER GER JPN5 JPN6 26th 21 2000 Yamaha RSA RSA AUS AUS JPN8 JPN2 GBR GBR ITA ITA GER GER SMR SMR SPA SPA USA USA EUR EUR NED NED GER12 GER9 GBR GBR 24th 39 2001 Yamaha SPA SPA RSA RSA AUS AUS JPN10 JPNRet ITA ITA GBR GBR GER GER SMR SMR USA USA EUR EUR GER GER NED NED ITA ITA 38th 6 2002 Yamaha SPA SPA AUS AUS RSA RSA JPN8 JPN8 ITA ITA GBR GBR GER GER SMR SMR USA USA GBR GBR GER GER NED NED ITA ITA 27th 16 † Ineligible for championship points.

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 17 18 Pos Pts 2002 MotoGP Yamaha JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR BRA PAC12 MAL AUS VAL 25th 4 2010 MotoGP Yamaha QAT SPA FRA ITA GBR NED CAT15 GER USA CZE INP SMR ARA JPN MAL AUS POR VAL 22nd 1