# Hiroshi Aoyama

Hiroshi Aoyama (青山 博一, Aoyama Hiroshi, born October 25, 1981) is a Japanese retired Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, and current team principal of Honda Team Asia. Aoyama is best known for winning the 2009 250cc World Championship title. He is the older brother of former 250cc and World Superbike rider, Shuhei Aoyama.
In his six seasons in the 250cc World Championship, he raced Honda and KTM machinery in an Aprilia-dominated class. He took nine victories and never finished lower than seventh overall. By winning the 2009 250cc World Championship, Aoyama become the last winner of this class before its replacement by the Moto2 class in 2010. In 2010 he moved up to the premier class with Interwetten Racing. He stopped competing in MotoGP after the 2014 season and took on the role of HRC test rider and advisor to riders in the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup.

## Career
### Early career

Born in Ichihara, Chiba, Aoyama first raced in MiniMoto at the age of 4, racing against Yuki Takahashi, who he has raced against for most of his career. In 2008 he referred to Takahashi as a "respected rival".
He rode in the All-Japan Road Racing Championship until 2003, when he won the 250cc championship with Honda. He also rode a couple of events as wildcard rider in the Grand Prix World Championships, finishing 2nd in the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

### 125cc, 250cc & MotoGP World Championship

In 2004 he joined the 250cc World Championship full-time, still racing for Honda. His debut season gave him two third places and 6th place in the championship. In the following year he scored his maiden victory in his home race at Motegi and finished the championship in 4th place.
However, he was not able to stay on at Honda, so he moved to KTM for 2006 season. He brought them victories in Istanbul and Motegi, the first two for the manufacturer in the class. For the second year in row, he was 4th in overall standings.
Aoyama ended the 2007 season in sixth place in the 250 championship with victories in Germany and Malaysia. He remained with KTM for the 2008 season and finished the season in seventh place with two second-place finishes.
After KTM's withdrawal from 250cc class, Aoyama returned to Honda with Team Scot replacing his rival Yuki Takahashi who briefly moved up to MotoGP class. The 2009 season went well as he scored 4 wins, 3 second places and finished every other race in the points. At last race of the season Aoyama became the world champion.
Aoyama stepped up to MotoGP in 2010 on board the Emmi-Caffè Latte Team Honda RC212V. In initial testing the team (which is itself new to MotoGP) opted not to use the electronic rider aids, despite the bikes being designed around them. The team's technical director Tom Jojic explained that he wanted Aoyama to experience the bike's true nature, and believes that he is good enough to be competitive on it. His season was wrecked by a fractured vertebra sustained in a practice crash at Silverstone, eliminating him for much of the season.
Aoyama was a consistent race finisher in 2011, mainly finishing in the bottom end of the top ten, but finished fourth in the Spanish Grand Prix. Aoyama also replaced Dani Pedrosa on the factory-spec Repsol Honda bike for the Dutch TT in Assen, after Pedrosa's injury at the French Grand Prix. Aoyama moved to World Superbikes for the 2012 season, joining Jonathan Rea at Castrol Honda.

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

| Season | Class | Motorcycle | Team | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd | WCh |
| 2000 | 250cc | Honda NSR250 | Team Harc-Pro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 28th | – |
| 2001 | 250cc | Honda NSR250 | Team Harc-Pro | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 28th | – |
| 2002 | 250cc | Honda NSR250 | Team Harc-Pro | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 27th | – |
| 2003 | 250cc | Honda NSR250 | Team Harc-Pro | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 15th | – |
| 2004 | 250cc | Honda RS250RW | Telefónica Movistar Honda 250cc | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 128 | 6th | – |
| 2005 | 250cc | Honda RS250RW | Telefónica Movistar Honda 250cc | 16 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 180 | 4th | – |
| 2006 | 250cc | KTM 250 FRR | Red Bull KTM 250 | 16 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 193 | 4th | – |
| 2007 | 250cc | KTM 250 FRR | Red Bull KTM 250 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 160 | 6th | – |
| 2008 | 250cc | KTM 250 FRR | Red Bull KTM 250 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 139 | 7th | – |
| 2009 | 250cc | Honda RS250RW | Scot Racing Team 250cc | 16 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 261 | 1st | 1 |
| 2010 | MotoGP | Honda RC212V | Interwetten Honda MotoGP | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 15th | – |
| 2011 | MotoGP | Honda RC212V | San Carlo Honda Gresini | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 10th | – |
| 2011 | MotoGP | Honda RC212V | Repsol Honda Team | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 10th | – |
| 2012 | MotoGP | BQR | Avintia Blusens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 25th | – |
| 2013 | MotoGP | FTR MGP13 | Avintia Blusens | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 20th | – |
| 2014 | MotoGP | Honda RCV1000R | Drive M7 Aspar | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 14th | – |
| 2015 | MotoGP | Honda RC213V | Repsol Honda Team | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 25th | – |
| 2015 | MotoGP | Honda RC213V-RS | AB Motoracing | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 25th | – |
| 2016 | MotoGP | Honda RC213V | Repsol Honda Team | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25th | – |
| 2017 | MotoGP | Honda RC213V | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30th | – |
| Total | | | | 175 | 9 | 27 | 8 | 11 | 1353 | | 1 |

#### By class

| Class | Seasons | 1st GP | 1st Pod | 1st Win | Race | Win | Podiums | Pole | FLap | Pts | WChmp |
| 250cc | 2000–2009 | 2000 Pacific | 2003 Japan | 2005 Japan | 104 | 9 | 27 | 8 | 11 | 1112 | 1 |
| MotoGP | 2010–2017 | 2010 Qatar | | | 71 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 241 | 0 |
| Total | 2000–2017 | | | | 175 | 9 | 27 | 8 | 11 | 1353 | 1 |

#### 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 |
| 2000 | 250cc | Honda | RSA | MAL | JPN | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GBR | GER | CZE | POR | VAL | BRA | PAC 8 | AUS | | | 28th | 8 |
| 2001 | 250cc | Honda | JPN 13 | RSA | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GBR | GER | CZE | POR | VAL | PAC 21 | AUS | MAL | BRA | | | 28th | 3 |
| 2002 | 250cc | Honda | JPN 12 | RSA | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GBR | GER | CZE | POR | BRA | PAC 11 | MAL | AUS | VAL | | | 27th | 9 |
| 2003 | 250cc | Honda | JPN 2 | RSA | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GBR | GER | CZE | POR | BRA | PAC 5 | MAL | AUS | VAL | | | 15th | 31 |
| 2004 | 250cc | Honda | RSA 11 | SPA Ret | FRA 4 | ITA 9 | CAT 6 | NED 10 | BRA 6 | GER 4 | GBR 9 | CZE 7 | POR 9 | JPN 3 | QAT 3 | MAL Ret | AUS 7 | VAL DSQ | | | 6th | 128 |
| 2005 | 250cc | Honda | SPA Ret | POR 6 | CHN 3 | FRA 6 | ITA 7 | CAT 4 | NED 4 | GBR Ret | GER 3 | CZE 5 | JPN 1 | MAL 5 | QAT 6 | AUS 6 | TUR 3 | VAL 6 | | | 4th | 180 |
| 2006 | 250cc | KTM | SPA 6 | QAT 5 | TUR 1 | CHN 3 | FRA 4 | ITA Ret | CAT 6 | NED 9 | GBR 3 | GER 8 | CZE 3 | MAL Ret | AUS 3 | JPN 1 | POR 2 | VAL Ret | | | 4th | 193 |
| 2007 | 250cc | KTM | QAT Ret | SPA 6 | TUR Ret | CHN 9 | FRA Ret | ITA 21 | CAT 7 | GBR 3 | NED 5 | GER 1 | CZE 6 | RSM 2 | POR Ret | JPN 8 | AUS 4 | MAL 1 | VAL 10 | | 6th | 160 |
| 2008 | 250cc | KTM | QAT 16 | SPA 4 | POR 5 | CHN 2 | FRA 7 | ITA 8 | CAT 7 | GBR 6 | NED 6 | GER 8 | CZE 13 | RSM Ret | INP C | JPN 9 | AUS Ret | MAL 2 | VAL 5 | | 7th | 139 |
| 2009 | 250cc | Honda | QAT 4 | JPN 2 | SPA 1 | FRA 8 | ITA 6 | CAT 2 | NED 1 | GER 4 | GBR 1 | CZE 4 | INP 2 | RSM 4 | POR 4 | AUS 7 | MAL 1 | VAL 7 | | | 1st | 261 |
| 2010 | MotoGP | Honda | QAT 10 | SPA 14 | FRA 11 | ITA 11 | GBR DNS | NED | CAT | GER | USA | CZE | INP 12 | RSM 12 | ARA 13 | JPN 10 | MAL 7 | AUS 13 | POR 12 | VAL 14 | 15th | 53 |
| 2011 | MotoGP | Honda | QAT 10 | SPA 4 | POR 7 | FRA 8 | CAT Ret | GBR 9 | NED 8 | ITA 11 | GER 15 | USA 10 | CZE 9 | INP 9 | RSM 11 | ARA 11 | JPN 9 | AUS Ret | MAL C | VAL 12 | 10th | 98 |
| 2012 | MotoGP | BQR | QAT | SPA | POR | FRA | CAT | GBR | NED | GER | ITA | USA | INP | CZE | RSM | ARA | JPN | MAL | AUS | VAL 13 | 25th | 3 |
| 2013 | MotoGP | FTR | QAT 15 | AME 17 | SPA 18 | FRA 19 | ITA Ret | CAT WD | NED | GER 17 | USA 16 | INP 15 | CZE 14 | GBR 18 | RSM 14 | ARA 14 | MAL 11 | AUS 20 | JPN 17 | VAL 16 | 20th | 13 |
| 2014 | MotoGP | Honda | QAT 11 | AME 12 | ARG 10 | SPA 12 | FRA 14 | ITA 14 | CAT 15 | NED 16 | GER 12 | INP 10 | CZE 13 | GBR 14 | RSM 12 | ARA 8 | JPN 13 | AUS 8 | MAL 11 | VAL 15 | 14th | 68 |
| 2015 | MotoGP | Honda | QAT | AME 11 | ARG Ret | SPA Ret | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER Ret | INP | CZE | GBR | RSM | ARA | JPN | AUS | MAL | VAL | 25th | 5 |
| 2016 | MotoGP | Honda | QAT | ARG | AME | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | AUT | CZE | GBR | RSM | ARA | JPN 15 | AUS | MAL 16 | VAL | 25th | 1 |
| 2017 | MotoGP | Honda | QAT | ARG | AME | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | CZE | AUT | GBR | RSM | ARA | JPN 18 | AUS | MAL | VAL | 30th | 0 |

### Superbike World Championship
#### By season

| Season | Motorcycle | Team | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd |
| 2012 | Honda CBR1000RR | Honda World Superbike Team | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61.5 | 18th |
| Total | | | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 61.5 | |

#### Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Bike | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | Pos | Pts |
| Year | Bike | 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 | R1 | R2 | Pos | Pts |
| 2012 | Honda | AUS 8 | AUS 9 | ITA 18 | ITA Ret | NED 12 | NED 13 | ITA C | ITA 11 | EUR 17 | EUR 10 | USA 17 | USA Ret | SMR 16 | SMR 12 | SPA 14 | SPA 15 | CZE Ret | CZE Ret | GBR 13 | GBR 14 | RUS 13 | RUS Ret | GER 10 | GER 15 | POR 8 | POR Ret | FRA Ret | FRA 14 | 18th | 61.5 |