is a Japanese

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

rider. Yoshikawa won the All Japan Superbike Championship in 1994 and 1999. He also participated in the

World Superbike Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded in ...

, finishing 9th in the 1996 season. In 2003 Yoshikawa finished second at the

Suzuka 8 Hours The is a motorcycle endurance race held at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan each year. The race runs for eight hours consecutively and entrants are composed of two or more riders who alternate during pitstops. History The race began in 1978 as a ...

, partnering Shinichi Nakatomi on a

Yamaha YZF-R1 The Yamaha YZF-R1, or simply R1, is a -class sports motorcycle made by Yamaha. It was first released in 1998, undergoing significant updates in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2018

. Yoshikawa is a test rider for the

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

factory, and helped to develop the

Yamaha YZR-M1 The Yamaha YZR-M1 is an inline-four motorcycle specifically developed by Yamaha Motor Company to race in the current MotoGP series. It succeeded the YZR500 by the 2002 season and was originally developed with a engine. Since then, the YZR-M1 ...

. On June 23, 2010, it was announced that Yoshikawa would replace the injured

Valentino Rossi Valentino Rossi (; ; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed ''The Doctor'', he is widely considered to be one of the greatest motorcyc ...

in the

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

Yamaha factory works team, until Rossi was again able to race. Yoshikawa was the team manager of Yamaha's

All Japan Road Race Championship The is the premiere motorcycle road racing championship in Japan. It is run by the Motorcycle Federation of Japan (MFJ) (日本モーターサイクルスポーツ協会) – the Japanese affiliate of the FIM. History The MFJ was formed in 196 ...

factory team at the 39th "

Coca-Cola Zero Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is a diet cola produced by The Coca-Cola Company. In some countries, it is sold as Coca-Cola No Sugar. The drink was introduced in 2005 as Coca-Cola Zero as a new no-calorie cola. In 2017, the formula was modified and the n ...

" Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race held during July 28 to July 31, 2016, at the

Suzuka Circuit The , more famously known as the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka, Mie, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Honda Mobilityland, a subsidiary of Honda, Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000. Int ...

in Ino, Suzuka City,

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Career statistics

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Ineligible for championship points.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshikawa, Wataru 1968 births Living people People from Tokyo Japanese motorcycle racers Superbike World Championship riders Yamaha Motor Racing MotoGP riders MotoGP World Championship riders