Tohru Ukawa

Tohru Ukawa is a Japanese former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, born on 18 May 1973. He began his Grand Prix career in 1994 in the 250cc world championships and finished second to Valentino Rossi in the 1999 World Championship. In 2002 he moved up to the MotoGP class, riding for the factory Repsol Honda team, where he finished third overall behind his teammate Rossi and won a race at Phakisa in South Africa. In 2003 he finished seventh overall for the Sito Pons Pramac team before returning to a factory testing role. Over his career Ukawa won five Grand Prix races, and he is also a five-time winner of the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race.