Yukio Kagayama - Superbike World Championship

Superbike World Championship

For 2005 he joined 1996 Superbike World Champion Troy Corser in the Alstare Suzuki team in the Superbike World Championship, and won races on the GSX-R1000, riding on largely unfamiliar circuits against some of the world's top riders. He finished 5th overall, and did enough to retain his ride for 2006. In the first race, he collided with Noriyuki Haga while battling for the lead on the final lap. He then had a run of poor results, before taking a third and a fourth at Misano, and then an impressive double win from the second row at Brno, nearly doubling his points total in one weekend. He came 7th overall in the series.

In 2006 he raced in the final round of the All Japan Road Race Championship at Suzuka as a wild card and won the race.

In 2007 he remained at Suzuki, but missed four rounds through injury. He finished the season ranked 13th. For 2008 he switches his racing number to #34, as used by former 500 cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz. Again he had an injury-hit season, and was easily the lowest-placed of the three works Suzuki riders in the standings.

In 2010 Kagayama returned to the British Superbike Championship riding for the Worx Suzuki team. His teammate is Tommy Hill.

In 2011 Kagayama launched his own team "Team Kagayama" for a full season in the JSB (Japanese Superbike) class of the All Japan Road Race Championship. He is the owner and sole rider for the team, and the team's bike is the Suzuki GSX-R1000. Kagayama could not record a win this season and ended up 4th in the championship.

Kagayama and the team are in the 2012 championship as well and recorded a win in the 6th round at Sugo. It was the first win for Kagayama since his full-season comeback to Japan in 2011 as well as for Team Kagayama since it's launch the same year.