Aoyama to collaborate with Dorna in the search for Asian talent

The 2009 250cc World Champion Hiroshi Aoyama, who last year retired from competition and has now become an HRC test rider, has a new role collaborating with Dorna and Alberto Puig, to help with uncovering and developing the careers of talented young Asian riders.

Aoyama will combine his role as an HRC test rider with closely supporting his young compatriots Kaito Toba, Yuta Date and Ayumu Sasaki in all the series they compete in such as the Moto3™ Junior World Championship, the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup and the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.

Aoyama commented that he is, “delighted with this proposal from Dorna. I will be involved in something which really motivates me, passing on the knowledge I have gained during my time on track to young Asian riders, especially the Japanese guys. Also, I’m especially pleased to be working alongside Alberto Puig, a person with whom I started my international career in 2004 and who has always guided me as a rider. I also want to thank HRC for allowing me to combine this role with being a test rider. It will be a busy year!”

The CEO of Dorna Sports, Carmelo Ezpeleta added: “We are very pleased Hiroshi Aoyama has joined this project. After his retirement from competition, we did not want to miss out on this opportunity to benefit from the experience he brings. For Japanese riders, Aoyama is a role model as the last Japanese person to win a World title. I would also like to thank HRC for their willingness to allow him to combine this activity with his role as a MotoGP test rider. This again demonstrates the depth of HRC’s commitment to this project.”