He was also vitally important in establishing the Suzuki name among the greatest both on the track and on the road.In a lifelong career with Suzuki that eventually led him to the top of the factory racing department, he shepherded the marque to classic world championship wins with Barry Sheene and Kevin Schwantz and inffiuenced later success with Kenny Roberts Junior. He played a key role in establishing the factory test circuit at Ryuyo; and was an important liaison oficer with the FIM’s technical department.Ito was also a fan, who loved motorcycles and motorcycle racing.Born on January 1, 1937, the young Mitsuo was aged 23, in an era when it was an adventure just to leave Japan, when his first foreign race took him in at the deep end. He was one of four riders spearheading Suzuki’s first entry in the 1960 TT. They had assayed the challenging 37.73-mile course by studying a film shot by factory staff from the bonnet of a car. Ito crashed in practice, cutting his lip and injuring his knee. He was out of the race, but not out of the 24TEAM SUZUKI RACING NEwS2019 Issue #1 - SummerMitsuo Ito, who died in July aged 82, was an important link pin and history man of the Japanese industry’s crucial entry to motorcycle racing in the early 1960s. But the only Japanese rider ever to win an Isle of Man TT was far more than a successful pioneering racer.MITSUO ITO MEMORIES OF A GREAT MAN
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