Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750 sponsored by Motul - 8 Hours Suzuka Endurance Race 1986
Motorbike scale model kit in 1/12 scale manufactured by Fujimi (ref. FJ141268, also 4968728141268, 141268 and 14126)

Hideo 'Pops' Yoshimura is one of the most famous names in motorcycle racing history. He first rose to fame preparing bikes for the AMA series in the USA and eventually managed the Suzuki factory team.

Yoshimura has enjoyed a close relationship with Suzuki since the late 1970s, competing in the All Japan Road Race Championship and the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hour endurance race on Suzuki bikes, as well as in the USA. Yoshimura is also responsible for the development and manufacture of Suzuki racing kit parts, as well as offering "special parts" for the other major Japanese manufacturers.

In the late 1970s, the FIM created a new championship for production motorcycles, the “TT Formula”, divided into three categories by engine type (two-stroke or four-stroke) and displacement, Formula 1 being for 1,000 cc four-stroke or 500 cc two-stroke motorcycles. Since Yoshimura already had extensive experience tuning large displacement four-stroke engines, his participation in the new championship was taken for granted.

The first great success of Yoshimura's company came in 1985 after the hiring of driver Satoshi Tsujimoto, who won the Japanese Formula 1 TT Championship in 1985 and 1986 with a Suzuki GSX-R750 Racing. That same year, along with rising Suzuki Superbike star Kevin Schwantz, Tsujimoto finished third in the Suzuka 8 Hours, while in 1987 he finished second in the Daytona 200 behind Wayne Rainey and ahead of Doug Polen, which obviously made Tsujimoto's level of riding very clear. For the 1987 season Tsujimoto signed to do a full season of AMA Superbike racing in the USA, but sadly a serious accident in early 1987 cut his career short, going on to manage the team in the early 1990s.