# Katsuyuki Nakasuga

Katsuyuki Nakasuga (中須賀 克行, Nakasuga Katsuyuki, born 9 August 1981 in Fukuoka Prefecture) is a Japanese motorcycle racer. He races a factory Yamaha YZF-R1 in the JSB1000 class of the All Japan Road Race Championship. He has won the Suzuka 8 Hours four times (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) and the JSB1000 championship title twelve times (2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023).

## Career

A former average competitor in the MFJ All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship between 1999 and 2004 (25th in 1999, 11th in 2000, 20th in 2001, 5th in 2002, 8th in 2003, 5th in 2004), Nakasuga moved into the All Japan Superbike Championship with the SP Tadao Racing Team in 2005, still with average results initially (12th in 2005, 9th in 2006), before joining the YSP Yamaha factory team in 2007 and finishing 4th. He then revealed himself as one of the most successful Japanese riders of all time, winning an amazing 12 JSB1000 titles between 2008 and 2023 for Yamaha (2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023) losing the title only to Honda's Kousuke Akiyoshi in 2010 and 2011 (Nakasuga 4th and 5th), to Honda's Takumi Takahashi in 2017 (Nakasuga 6th), and to fellow Yamaha rider Kohta Nozane in 2020 (Nakasuga injured finishing only 7th.
Nakasuga had his premier class Grand Prix start at the Valencia circuit at the final race of the 2011 season as a replacement for the injured Jorge Lorenzo, finishing a creditable sixth place. In 2012, he made a wild-card appearance for Yamaha at his home race at Motegi, finishing ninth, before making another appearance for the factory team at Valencia, this time in place of the injured Ben Spies. Taking advantage of a wet circuit and numerous retirements ahead of him, Nakasuga was able to finish a distant second behind race winner Dani Pedrosa, becoming the only Japanese rider to score a podium finish in any class during 2012.
He won the Suzuka 8 Hours a record setting four times in a row, in 2015 with Pol Espargaró and Bradley Smith, in 2016 with Espargaró and Alex Lowes and in 2017 and 2018 with Lowes and Michael van der Mark.

## Career statistics
### Grand Prix motorcycle racing
#### By season

| Season | Class | Motorcycle | Team | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd |
| 2002 | 250cc | Yamaha | Technospeed Nakasuga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 31st |
| 2003 | 250cc | Yamaha | SP Tadao Racing Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2004 | 250cc | Yamaha | SP Tadao Racing Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
| 2011 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Yamaha Factory Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 18th |
| 2012 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Yamaha YSP Racing Team Yamaha Factory Racing | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 18th |
| 2013 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Yamaha YSP Racing Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 22nd |
| 2014 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Yamalube Racing Team with YSP | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 26th |
| 2015 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 23rd |
| 2016 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 23rd |
| 2017 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 26th |
| 2018 | MotoGP | Yamaha | Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26th |
| Total | | | | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 69 | |

#### 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 | 19 | Pos | Pts |
| 2002 | 250cc | Yamaha | JPN | RSA | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GBR | GER | CZE | POR | BRA | PAC 12 | MAL | AUS | VAL | | | | 31st | 4 |
| 2003 | 250cc | Yamaha | JPN Ret | RSA | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GBR | GER | CZE | POR | BRA | PAC | MAL | AUS | VAL | | | | NC | 0 |
| 2004 | 250cc | Yamaha | RSA | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | BRA | GER | GBR | CZE | POR | JPN 20 | QAT | MAL | AUS | VAL | | | | NC | 0 |
| 2011 | MotoGP | Yamaha | QAT | SPA | POR | FRA | CAT | GBR | NED | ITA | GER | USA | CZE | INP | RSM | ARA | JPN | AUS | MAL C | VAL 6 | | 18th | 10 |
| 2012 | MotoGP | Yamaha | QAT | SPA | POR | FRA | CAT | GBR | NED | GER | ITA | USA | INP | CZE | RSM | ARA | JPN 9 | MAL | AUS | VAL 2 | | 18th | 27 |
| 2013 | MotoGP | Yamaha | QAT | AME | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | USA | INP | CZE | GBR | RSM | ARA | MAL | AUS | JPN 11 | VAL | | 22nd | 5 |
| 2014 | MotoGP | Yamaha | QAT | AME | ARG | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | INP | CZE | GBR | RSM | ARA | JPN 12 | AUS | MAL | VAL | | 26th | 4 |
| 2015 | MotoGP | Yamaha | QAT | AME | ARG | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | INP | CZE | GBR | RSM | ARA | JPN 8 | AUS | MAL | VAL | | 23rd | 8 |
| 2016 | MotoGP | Yamaha | QAT | ARG | AME | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | AUT | CZE | GBR | RSM | ARA | JPN 11 | AUS | MAL | VAL | | 23rd | 5 |
| 2017 | MotoGP | Yamaha | QAT | ARG | AME | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | CZE | AUT | GBR | RSM | ARA | JPN 12 | AUS | MAL | VAL | | 26th | 4 |
| 2018 | MotoGP | Yamaha | QAT | ARG | AME | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | CZE | AUT | GBR | RSM | ARA | THA | JPN 14 | AUS | MAL | VAL | 26th | 2 |

### Suzuka 8 Hours results

| Year | Team | Co-Riders | Bike | Pos |
| 2011 | Monster Yamaha – YART | Gwen Giabbani Igor Jerman | Yamaha YZF-R1 | Ret |
| 2012 | Monster Energy Yamaha – YART | Noriyuki Haga Tommy Hill | Yamaha YZF-R1 | Ret |
| 2013 | Monster Energy Yamaha – YART | Broc Parkes Josh Waters | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 8th |
| 2014 | Monster Energy Yamaha with YSP | Josh Brookes Broc Parkes | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 4th |
| 2015 | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | Pol Espargaró Bradley Smith | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1st |
| 2016 | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | Pol Espargaró Alex Lowes | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1st |
| 2017 | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | Alex Lowes Michael van der Mark | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1st |
| 2018 | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | Alex Lowes Michael van der Mark | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1st |
| 2019 | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | Alex Lowes Michael van der Mark | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 2nd |
| Sources: |||||