Moto Kitano

Moto Kitano born 1 January 1941, is a Japanese former racing driver and motorcycle rider.
Kitano first came to prominence as a works motorcycle rider for the Honda Motor Company in 1960. He was just 19 years old when he made his Grand Prix motorcycle racing debuted in the 1960 Isle of Man TT, finishing fifth in the 250cc class. He won the 250cc class race in the 1961 United States motorcycle Grand Prix, a non-championship race held at Daytona International Speedway. During practice for the 1961 Isle of Man TT, Kitano suffered an accident and missed the rest of the Grand Prix season. He returned for the 1962 season, and recorded two fourth-place finishes.
In the 1964 Japanese Grand Prix meeting at Suzuka International Racing Course, Kitano made his four-wheel racing debut in a Honda S600. He finished second in the GT-I sports car race to American driver Ronnie Bucknum. He joined Nissan as a works driver in 1965. In 1968, Kitano won the 80-lap Japanese Grand Prix sports car race at Fuji Speedway, driving a Nissan R381. In 1971, Kitano won the All-Japan Racing Drivers Championship (Sports car Division 2) in a Nissan Z-car|Nissan Fairlady 240ZG. He then went on to race in the All-Japan Formula 2000 Championship (currently the Super Formula Championship), and the Fuji Grand Champion Series, until he retired from racing in 1978.
Kitano came out of retirement in 1987 to compete in the Japanese Touring Car Championship with Leyton House Racing Team. In 1988, he joined Impul in their R31 Nissan Skyline GT-R GTS-R sponsored by Calsonic Kansei. At Sendai Hi-Land Raceway in 1989, Kitano and Kazuyoshi Hoshino won the 300km Hi-Land Touring Car Race. This was Kitano's last win as a professional driver, as he would retire once again at the end of 1989.
Currently, Kitano owns a motorcycle tyre shop in Tokyo, and serves as an ambassador for both Honda and Nissan in special events.
== Racing results ==
=== Motorcycle Grand Prix results ===
(Template:Motorsport driver results legend|key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Year 	Class 	Team 	1 	2 	3 	4 	5 	6 	7 	8 	9 	10 	11 	Points 	Rank 	Wins
1960 	125 cc 	Honda 	 	1960 Isle of Man TT|IOM	NED 	BEL 	 	ULS 	NAT 	 	 	 	 	0 	NC 	0
1960 	250 cc 	Honda 	 	1960 Isle of Man TT|IOM	1960 Dutch TT|NED 	BEL 	GER 	ULS 	NAT 	 	 	 	 	2 	14th 	0
1962 	250 cc 	Honda 	ESP 	FRA 	1962 Isle of Man TT|IOM	NED 	BEL 	GER 	ULS 	East German motorcycle Grand Prix|DDR	Nations motorcycle Grand Prix|NAT	 	ARG 	6 	13th 	0
1962 	350 cc 	Honda 	 	 	IOM 	NED 	 	 	ULS 	DDR 	NAT 	Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix|FIN	 	1 	18th 	0
Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source: 	Source: 	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:
=== Japanese Touring Car Championship results ===
Year	Team 	Class 	Car 	1 	２ 	3 	4 	5 	6 	DC	Points
1987	Leyton House 	Div. 1	Nissan Skyline RS Turbo 	NIS 	Sendai Hi-Land Raceway|SEN10	Tsukuba Circuit|TSU21 	Sportsland Sugo|SUGRet	Fuji Speedway|FUJRet	Suzuka Circuit|SUZ9 	 	
1988	Impul|Team Impul	JTC-1 	Nissan Skyline|Nissan Skyline GTS-R	SUZ 	Mine Circuit|NISRet 	Sendai Hi-Land Raceway|SEN3	Tsukuba Circuit|TSURet	Sportsland Sugo|SUG4	Fuji Speedway|FUJRet	 	
1989	Impul|Team Impul	JTC-1 	Nissan Skyline|Nissan Skyline GTS-R	Mine Circuit|NISRet	Sendai Hi-Land Raceway|SEN1 	Tsukuba Circuit|TSU4 	Sportsland Sugo|SUGRet	Suzuka Circuit|SUZ6 	Fuji Speedway|FUJRet	 	
Category:1941 births
Category:Japanese racing drivers
Category:Japanese motorcycle racers