2022 DUNLOP & FALKEN Motorsports Activities Report
Dec. 13. 2022
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is pleased to report the results of our 2022 Motorsports Activities, through which we supported many racing teams and individual racers while supplying our high-performance DUNLOP and FALKEN tires for exciting racing events held all over the world. This year, we developed numerous cutting-edge tires for state-of-the-art vehicles competing at the very pinnacle of racing, all while carefully analyzing the data from each race in order to adeptly supply tires optimized for road and weather conditions at just the right timing to give competitors an edge.
From amateurs participating in entry-level races to professionals competing in world-class tournaments, we are immensely proud to have supported so many outstanding competitors across such a wide range of racing categories and formats this year. Their daring feats on the racetrack brought fun and excitement to countless fans throughout the world. We are grateful not only to the competitors who gave it their all while working side by side with DUNLOP and FALKEN every step of the way, but also to the many fans throughout the world who cheered them on along the way.
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| “SUPER GT” | “Nürburgring 24h-Race” | “AMA Supercross” |
The “SUPER GT” is widely considered to be the pinnacle of Japanese racing. In this year’s tournament, “TEAM Red Bull MUGEN” placed 13th overall in the GT500 Class, while “Modulo Nakajima Racing” placed 15th overall. Meanwhile, in the GT300 Class, teams equipped with DUNLOP tires dominated the podium in the second race of the series and took the top two places in the fourth race. In the end, “GAINER (Car No. 10)” placed 2nd overall in the GT300 Class, followed by “R&D SPORT” in 3rd Place and “GAINER (Car No. 11)” in 5th Place.
Other highlights from DUNLOP Motorsports Activities in 2022 included the recently overhauled “TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Cup,” where a team equipped with DUNLOP tires became the very first team to win the title of Series Champion under the new tournament format. Teams equipped with DUNLOP tires also won the title of Series Champion in five out of six classes at the “All Japan Rally Championship,” where racers competed for the best total time on racecourses composed of closed-off public roads. On top of that, drivers equipped with DUNLOP tires also won the title of Series Champion in nine out of ten classes at the “All Japan Dirt Trial Championship,” where racers competed for the best time while drifting on unpaved racecourses.
This was also a big year for Team FALKEN Motorsports, who finished in 9th Place overall at the “Nürburgring 24h Race”, which is widely considered to be the world’s toughest endurance race. This means that Team FALKEN Motorsports has now finished in the Top 10 at the Nürburgring 24h Race for nine straight years, keeping up a streak that started in 2014.
At the same time, thanks to our proven track record and reputation for providing high-performance tires, the Sumitomo Rubber Group had the great honor of supplying one-make tires for several two-wheel and four-wheel racing tournaments, including tires for such entry-level formula racing tournaments as the “FIA-F4 Championship” and the “Formula Regional Japanese Championship,” as well as tires for the Moto2 and Moto3 Classes at the “FIM World Championship Gran Prix,” which is widely considered to be the pinnacle of international motorcycle racing. We are proud to have had this opportunity to directly support competitors and competitions from the point where the vehicle meets the road.
Through our ongoing motorsports activities, the Sumitomo Rubber Group will continue working to bring the thrill of racing to more and more people around the world while constantly honing our tire development capabilities in order to provide even greater value to our customers.
<Message from Satoru Yamamoto, CEO of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.>
I am immensely grateful to all of the racing teams and individual racers who gave it your all while working side by side with the Sumitomo Rubber Group throughout this year’s racing season. This year, I had the great pleasure of attending many of your races in person, and I must say that seeing the crowds of fans go wild as they cheered you on through each thrilling moment gave me a renewed sense of just how much fun motorsports can be. So that we can all enjoy even more of your exciting racing feats next season, the Sumitomo Rubber Group will be hard at work to develop even higher performance tires to support you along the road to victory.
■2022 Results: DUNLOP Motorsports Activities (4W)
SUPER GT
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Driver |
Ranking |
|
GT500 |
Honda NSX-GT |
Ukyo Sasahara |
13th |
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|
Toshiki Oyu |
||||
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Modulo Nakajima Racing |
Honda NSX-GT |
Takuya Izawa |
15th |
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|
Hiroki Otsu |
||||
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GT300 |
GAINER |
NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3 |
Ryuichiro Tomita |
2nd |
|
Riki Okusa |
||||
|
Yusuke Shiotsu |
||||
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R&D SPORT |
SUBARU BRZ GT300 |
Takuto Iguchi |
3rd |
|
|
Hideki Yamauchi |
||||
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GAINER |
NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3 |
Hironobu Yasuda |
5th |
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|
Keishi Ishikawa |
||||
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K-tunes Racing |
LEXUS RC F GT3 |
Morio Nitta |
14th |
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| Shinichi Takagi | ||||
|
LM corsa |
TOYOTA GR Supra GT |
Hiroki Yoshimoto |
15th |
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|
Shunsuke Kohno |
||||
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SHADE RACING |
TOYOTA GR 86 GT |
Katsuyuki Hiranaka |
20th |
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|
Eijiro Shimizu |
||||
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BUSOU Drago CORSE |
NISSAN GT-R NISMO GT3 |
Masataka Yanagida |
21st |
|
| Yuji Ide |
All Japan Rally Championship
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Driver |
Ranking |
|
JN1 |
Rally Team AICELLO |
Skoda Fabia R5 |
Heikki Kovalainen |
1st |
|
Sae Kitagawa |
||||
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TOYOTA GAZOO Racing |
TOYOTA GR YARIS GR4 Rally |
Norihiko Katsuta |
2nd |
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|
Yusuke Kimura |
||||
|
Winmax Rally Team |
SUBARU WRX STI |
Takuma Kamada |
6th |
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|
Yuichi Matsumoto |
||||
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JN2 |
R-ART RALLY TEAM |
TOYOTA GT86 CS-R3 |
Katsuya Nakahira |
1st |
|
Masahiko Shimazu |
||||
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JN4 |
SMaSH Rally Team |
SUZUKI SWIFT Sport |
Shintaro Nishikawa |
1st |
|
Takashi Motohashi |
||||
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JN5 |
Toyota Industries Corporation Racing Team |
TOYOTA GR YARIS RS |
Tomoyuki Amano |
1st |
|
Yukiko Inoue |
||||
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JN6 |
SMaSH Rally Team |
TOYOTA Vitz CVT |
Takayoshi Ebihara |
1st |
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Megumi Kageyama |
All Japan Gymkhana Championship
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Driver |
Ranking |
|
JG1 |
TEAM URGENT |
TOYOTA GR YARIS |
Shinji Tsugawa |
3rd |
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JG3 |
Okinawa Exciting Motor Sports Club |
SUZUKI SWIFT |
Jun Takae |
7th |
|
ISPEC Sports |
HONDA INTEGRA |
Masahiro Nishii |
1st |
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JG5 |
T.ASSIST |
TOYOTA GR YARIS |
Shigeki Kayano |
1st |
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TEAM ETOILE |
TOYOTA GR YARIS |
Takashi Asayama |
4th |
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JG6 |
Kanetsu Sports Club |
MAZDA ROADSTER |
Takahiro Nojima |
3rd |
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JG8 |
Obelisk Racing Team |
MAZDA ROADSTER |
Tadashi Kawakita |
6th |
All Japan Dirt Trial Championship
|
Class |
Vehicle |
Driver |
Ranking |
|
JD1 |
Mitsubishi Mirage |
Yuya Sumiyama |
1st |
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SUBARU BRZ |
Takuma Kamada |
2nd |
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JD2 |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
Ryo Meguro |
1st |
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JD3 |
MAZDA Axela |
Kazuya Sakata |
1st |
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JD4 |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
Kazuhiro Kitamura |
1st |
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JD5 |
SUZUKI SWIFT |
Tomoya Hosoki |
1st |
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JD6 |
Mitsubishi Lancer |
Norifumi Hojo |
1st |
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JD7 |
TOYOTA 86 |
Toshihiro Yamazaki |
1st |
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JD9 |
HONDA FIT |
Kiyomi Kudo |
1st |
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JD11 |
SUZUKI SWIFT |
Shigeo Norinobu |
1st |
All Japan Karting Championship
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Driver |
Ranking |
|
OK |
PONOS HIROTEX RACING |
KR |
Ryota Horachi |
12th |
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CrocPromotion |
CrocPromotion |
Shunsuke Minagi |
13th |
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|
MASUDA RACING PROJECT |
Praga |
Turbo Asahi |
14th |
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Praga |
Fuki Tanaka |
20th |
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|
CUORE |
CHARLES LECLERC |
Taiga Imoto |
22nd |
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|
Super Racing Junkie! |
birelART |
Rikuto Kobayashi |
27th |
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TAKAGI PLANNING |
EXPRIT |
Tokiya Suzuki |
28th |
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|
Yuzuki Takemoto |
30th |
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Garage C |
Praga |
Yu Ito |
33rd |
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR86/BRZ Cup
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Driver |
Ranking |
|
Professional |
DELTA MOTOR SPORTS |
TOYOTA GR86 |
Yusuke Tomibayashi |
1st |
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OTG Motor Sports |
TOYOTA GR86 |
Remei Ito |
4th |
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|
TOYOTA GR86 |
Togo Suganami |
6th |
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|
TOYOTA GR86 |
Ritomo Miyata |
10th |
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TOYOTA GR86 |
Naoki Hattori |
12th |
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|
RECARO RACING TEAM |
SUBARU BRZ |
Kota Sasaki |
25th |
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|
SUBARU BRZ |
Takashi Kogure |
- |
FIA-F4 JAPANESE CHALLENGE
|
Team |
Driver |
Ranking |
|
OTG Motor SPORTS |
Remei Ito |
7th |
■2022 Results: FALKEN Motorsports Activities (4W)
Nürburgring 24h-Race(Official Name:ADAC TOTAL 24-Hour Race)
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Driver |
Ranking |
|
SP9 (FIA-GT3) |
FALKEN Motorsports |
Porsche 911 GT3R |
Jaxon Evans |
9th |
|
Sven Müller |
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|
Patrick Pilet |
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Marco Seefried |
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Porsche 911 GT3R |
Klaus Bachler |
Retired |
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|
Patrick Pilet |
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Alessio Picariello |
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Martin Ragginger |
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SP3T |
SUBARU TECNICA INTERNATIONAL |
SUBARU WRX STI NBR CHALLENGE 2022 |
Kota Sasaki |
Retired |
|
Carlo van Dam |
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Tim Schrick |
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|
Marcel Lasee |
■2022 Results: DUNLOP Motorsports Activities (2W)
【Road Racing World Championships】
FIM Endurance World Championship
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
Ranking |
|
EWC |
VRD IGOL PIERRET EXPERIENCES |
YAMAHA |
Florian Alt |
3rd |
|
Erwan Nigon |
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Steaven Odendaal |
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WOJCIK RACING TEAM |
YAMAHA |
Dan Linfoot |
5th |
|
|
Sheridan Morais |
||||
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Mathieu Gines |
||||
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Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar |
KAWASAKI |
Randy De Puniet |
8th |
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|
Etienne Masson |
||||
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Florian Marino |
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BMW MOTORRAD WORLD ENDURANCE TEAM |
BMW |
Markus Reiterberger |
11th |
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Illya Mykhalchyk |
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Jeremy Guarnoni |
【Off-Road Racing World Championships】
Motocross World Championship
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
Ranking |
|
MXGP |
Standing Construct Husqvarna Factory Racing |
HUSQVARNA |
Brian Bogers |
6th |
|
Pauls Jonass |
9th |
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Ice One Kawasaki Racing Team |
KAWASAKI |
Ben Watson |
12th |
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|
Romain Febvre |
14th |
FIM World Supercross Championship
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
Ranking |
|
WSX |
Honda Genuine Honda Racing |
HONDA |
Ken Roczen |
1st |
|
Rick Ware Racing |
KAWASAKI |
Joey Savatgy |
2nd |
|
|
MotoConcepts Honda |
HONDA |
Vince Friese |
3rd |
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SX2 |
Rick Ware Racing |
YAMAHA |
Shane McElrath |
1st |
【National Road Racing Tournaments】
All Japan Road Race Championship
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
Ranking |
|
JSB1000 |
Waveinn-R |
YAMAHA |
Shinichi Nakatomi |
14th |
|
J-GP3 |
Team P.MU 7C |
HONDA |
Hiroki Ono |
1st |
|
41Planning |
IODA |
Yoichi Ui |
15th |
【National Off-Road Racing Tournaments】
AMA Supercross Championship (USA)
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
Ranking |
|
450SX |
Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing 450 Team |
YAMAHA |
Eli Tomac |
1st |
|
Monster Energy Kawasaki |
KAWASAKI |
Jason Anderson |
2nd |
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Rockstar Energy Husqvarna |
HUSQVARNA |
Malcolm Stewart |
3rd |
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Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team |
GASGAS |
Justin Barcia |
4th |
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Red Bull KTM Factory |
KTM |
Marvin Musquin |
5th |
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Team Honda HRC |
HONDA |
Chase Sexton |
6th |
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Red Bull KTM Factory |
KTM |
Cooper Webb |
7th |
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Rockstar Energy Husqvarna |
HUSQVARNA |
Dean Wilson |
10th |
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Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing 450 Team |
YAMAHA |
Dylan Ferrandis |
11th |
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Team Honda HRC |
HONDA |
Ken Roczen |
12th |
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Red Bull KTM Factory |
KTM |
Aaron Plessinger |
19th |
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Monster Energy Kawasaki |
KAWASAKI |
Adam Cianciarulo |
29th |
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|
250SX EAST |
Team Honda HRC |
HONDA |
Jett Lawrence |
1st |
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Rockstar Energy Husqvarna |
HUSQVARNA |
RJ Hampshire |
2nd |
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Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team |
GASGAS |
Pierce Brown |
3rd |
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Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki |
KAWASAKI |
Cameron McAdoo |
6th |
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|
Austin Forkner |
9th |
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Rockstar Energy Husqvarna |
HUSQVARNA |
Stilez Robertson |
13th |
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Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing 250 Team |
YAMAHA |
Jeremy Martin |
17th |
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|
Justin Cooper |
- |
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Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki |
KAWASAKI |
Jett Rynolds |
- |
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250SX WEST |
Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing 250 Team |
YAMAHA |
Christian Craig |
1st |
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Team Honda HRC |
HONDA |
Hunter Lawrence |
2nd |
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Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing Team |
GASGAS |
Michael Mosiman |
3rd |
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Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki |
KAWASAKI |
Jo Shimoda |
4th |
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Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing 250 Team |
YAMAHA |
Nate Thrasher |
5th |
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Rockstar Energy Husqvarna |
HUSQVARNA |
Jalek Swoll |
10th |
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Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki |
KAWASAKI |
Seth Hammaker |
18th |
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Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing 250 Team |
YAMAHA |
Colt Nichols |
- |
All Japan Motocross Championship
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
Ranking |
|
IA1 |
Team Kawasaki R&D |
KAWASAKI |
Chihiro Notsuka |
2nd |
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TEAM HAMMER |
HONDA |
Makoto Ogata |
5th |
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IA2 |
YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM |
YAMAHA |
JAY WILSON |
1st |
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Ladies |
TEAM HAMMER |
HONDA |
Mana Kubo |
1st |
All Japan Trials Championship
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
Ranking |
|
IAS |
TEAM MITANI Honda |
HONDA |
Tomoyuki Ogawa |
1st |
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YAMAHA FACTORY RACING TEAM |
YAMAHA |
Kenichi Kuroyama |
2nd |
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TEAM MITANI Honda |
HONDA |
Seiya Ujikawa |
3rd |
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Team FwO with YAMALUBE |
YAMAHA |
Fumitaka Nozaki |
4th |
Japan Enduro Championship
|
Class |
Team |
Vehicle |
Rider |
Ranking |
|
IA |
BIVOUAC OSAKA with RG3 Racing |
GASGAS |
Yoshikazu Hosaka |
6th |
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