Photograph:MORTONS ARCHIVE
Onlyone Japanese riderhas takenaTTvictory.Werememberthe late Suzuki loyalist.
Theone andonly
Classic camera Classics
ife
114 THE CLASSICMOTORCYCLE|SEPTEMBER 2019
itsuoIto, thefirst and onlyJapaneserider towinan
Isle ofManTT, haspassed away at theage of 82.
Born onJanuary1,1937, Itowas alifelongSuzuki
employeeand made his grand prix debutin1961.
Twoyears laterhe wonthe Ultra- Lightwei ght50cc TT –inthe
pictureshown,he’sonhis waytothat victory–onthe worksSuzuki
RK67, and heremains theonly Japanese rider towinaroundthe
famous 37.73-mile course. In 2008he returnedtothe Isle ofManto
celebratehis achievements.
The50cc TT wasaddedtothe calendar in 1962, inarace wonby
ErnstDegner,onaSuzuki–the marque’sfirstTTwin.The50ccrace
wasincludedinthe calendarbetween1962and 1968,with Suzuki
winningfouroft hem,Honda twoand Derbi thefinalone in 1968.
Ito’sTTwin alsohelped establishSuzuki asaglobalbrand, taking
the Japanesefirm from domesticmanufacturer toworldwide
motorcycling powerhouse. It also pavedthe wayfor agolden eraof
Suzuki successes in GPracing,
During his ownracingcareerhefinishedfifth in the 50ccworld
championship four times inconsecutiveyears, between1962and
1965 .Hisfinal–and only other GP–win,fittingly,came at the
JapaneseGrand Prix in 1967.
Following his retirementfromcompetitionhecontinuedtowork
on Suzuki’s racing activities–includingabrief fo rayincar racing –
workingwith both themachines andpersonnel, includingthe 1993
world championKevinSchwantz.
After his experiencesat the Isle ofManTT, he alsohelped design
Suzuki’sfamousRyuyotesttrack,whereall newSuzukimachines
arestill testedand developed toda y.
Itowas inductedintothe Motorcycle Federation ofJapan
(MFJ)Motorcycle SportHall ofFame inDecember2018for his
achievementatt he 1963Isle ofManTT.
MitsuoIto’sfuneral took place inHamamatsu,Japan. End
