Japan Italy Racing, more commonly known as JiR, is a

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

based motorcycle racing team which competed in the MotoGP series from 2005 to 2008 and from 2010 to 2015 in the Moto2 class.

Team setup

The team was founded by Gianluca Montiron together with Honda Motor Europe founder Tetsuo Iida. Since the team's founding, Montiron has diversified the investments keeping the Head Office as the team's central core, although all its activities are independent. The Monaco-based company develops commercial and sport interests, including marketing and communication initiatives – such as the brand's internationalisation. Motorsport, real estate investments and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are the services provided by JiR's different companies.

JiR Italy

JiR Italy S.r.l. was founded in 2009 in Castelletto di Branduzzo, Italy, some south of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. The Italian facility is well equipped for promotional activities and is located near to the Motodromo circuit, the 7 Laghi go kart and jet ski tracks.

SCI JiR

SCI JiR is a real estate company that has the property of the team's facilities in Castelletto di Branduzzo and in the French Riviera.

History

MotoGP (2005–2008)

The team first entered the MotoGP World Championship in as

Konica Minolta is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, in ...

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

, a single motorcycle team using the

Honda RC211V The Honda RC211V is a 990 cc (60 cu in) four-stroke race motorcycle from HRC ( Honda Racing Corporation) developed in 2001 to replace the two-stroke Honda NSR500. It was developed as a direct result of major changes to the regulations for the Wor ...

with Japanese rider

Makoto Tamada (born November 4, 1976 in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is a former Japanese professional motorcycle racer currently working as a rider instructor in Suzuka Racing School. He is one of the few riders to win races in both MotoGP and Superb ...

and Michelin as tyre supplier. A 3rd-place finish at the

Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the Japanese Gran ...

was the team's best result. The team used the same package for the season, but was unable to repeat the 2005 results finishing twelfth in the championship, with a best result of fifth at the

Portuguese Grand Prix The Portuguese Grand Prix (''Grande Prémio de Portugal'') is a motorsports event that was first held in 1951 as a sportscar event, and then intermittently disappearing for many years before being revived again. In 1964 event was held as a spo ...

. In ,

Shinya Nakano is a retired Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Superbike rider. He is not related to the former Formula One racer Shinji Nakano. Career Early career Nakano was All-Japan 250cc champion in 1998, the highlight of a long career in b ...

replaced Tamada as the rider of the new 800 cc

Honda RC212V The Honda RC212V is a Japanese motorcycle created for road racing in the MotoGP series. Officially introduced on 30 October 2006 as the RC211V replacement in the MotoGP series, it was developed by Honda Racing Corporation ''(HRC)'' throughout 20 ...

. The motorcycle did not achieve the results expected finishing in seventeenth position. The team's results improved in , when 2004 125cc World Champion Andrea Dovizioso joined the team, which once again used the

on Michelin tyres. They were re-branded as JiR Team Scot after a joint venture with

Team Scot Scot Racing Team is a motorcycle racing team from Italy. For 2009 it ran in MotoGP as a self-contained entity for the first time, running Hungarian rider Gábor Talmácsi on a Honda. They also continued with their long-time involvement in the 250c ...

. The team ran also

Yuki Takahashi is a Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He currently races in the All Japan Road Race JSB1000 Championship aboard a Honda CBR1000RR. For 2009 he made his debut in the MotoGP class, with the Scot Racing Honda team but was subsequentl ...

in the 250cc class; Dovizioso finished fifth overall in the MotoGP standings. The team split during the season, leaving the two parts of the team competing for the rights to run a Honda in MotoGP in , but it was Team Scot who retained

support, so JiR withdrew from the top class.

Moto2 (2010–2015)

In the team took part in the new Moto2 class on a TSR built, Motobi branded chassis ridden by

Simone Corsi Simone Corsi (born 24 April 1987) is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle racer. Born in Rome, Corsi has been racing in motorcycle world championships for nearly 20 years, amassing over 300 races, 4th all-time, behind only Valentino Rossi, ...

and

Mattia Pasini Mattia Pasini (born 13 August 1985) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Career Early career Born in Rimini, Pasini participated in his first race at the age of 9. 125cc World Championship After several successful years in the Ita ...

, although the latter was replaced during the season by Yusuke Teshima and

Alex de Angelis Alex de Angelis (born 26 February 1984) is a Sammarinese retired motorcycle road racer. Career 125cc World Championship Born in Rimini, de Angelis made his debut at world championship level in 1999 in the 125 cc class; his first full season was ...

. Corsi achieved third place twice, while de Angelis scored two podiums, including a victory from pole position in the Australian Grand Prix. In , the team ran only one bike with de Angelis, who took another victory in Australia and clinched fourth place in the final standings. The team signed

Johann Zarco Johann Zarco (born 16 July 1990) is a French Grand Prix motorcycle racer, best known for winning the and Moto2 World Championships with his 2015 triumph being a record points total for the intermediate class. He rides for Pramac Racing. Zar ...

, 125cc runner-up in 2011, and

Eric Granado Eric Granado Santos (born 10 June 1996) is a Brazilian Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He currently competes in the MotoE World Cup, aboard an Energica Ego Corsa., He was the 2017 FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship winner. He competed in the FIM ...

for Moto2 in . Zarco finished in tenth place in the championship standings, the best-placed rookie. In former 125cc world champion

Mike Di Meglio Mike Di Meglio (born 17 January 1988) is a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and three-time world champion claiming the 2008 125cc title,

joined the team – he finished the season in 20th place in the championship, despite missing the final seven races due to a broken sacrum sustained at Brno. Five riders replaced him over those races, but no further points were accrued. The

2014 Moto2 season The 2014 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 66th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Pol Espargaró was the reigning series champion, but did not contest the season as he joined the series' premier class, MotoGP. Scoring ...

started with a young rider project with Japanese GP2 champion Kohta Nozane but the premature death of his father during the off-season discouraged his participation. He was replaced by Tetsuta Nagashima, but his season was shortened by an injury suffered at the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...

. He returned for the final race at

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, having been replaced by

Federico Caricasulo Federico Caricasulo (born 6 April 1996 in Ravenna) is an Italian motorcycle racer Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing ...

Kenny Noyes Kenny Noyes (born 18 June 1979) is an American motorcycle road racer. His parents Dennis and Heidi Noyes are both American, but lived in Spain for over 20 years where Dennis raced winning the Spanish Endurance Championship and the Motociclismo Se ...

and Tomoyoshi Koyama in between. None of the riders scored points during the season. In 2015 the Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher joined the team, but the team left the championship at the end of the season.

Results

Summary

* Competed for other teams during the season.

MotoGP results

( key)

References

External links

* {{JiR Motorcycle racing teams Motorcycle racing teams established in 2005 2005 establishments in Monaco Motorcycle racing teams disestablished in 2015 2015 disestablishments in Europe