In Japan's Moto3, women riders lead: women's motorcycling shines

Japan is one of the few nations that still has a national Moto3 championship, with particularly restrictive regulations aimed at keeping costs down. But there’s another reason we’re talking about it.

At the start, World Championship-spec KTM RC4s and Honda NSF250RWs are banned; only standard Honda NSF250Rs (the version used in various Moto4 Talent series, to be clear) or home-built frames (primarily TSR) are allowed, as well as the KTM RC 250 R from the Red Bull Rookies Cup up to 2014 (!). With one of these machines, one of the most representative female riders of the All Japan movement finds herself leading at the season’s halfway point: Naoko Takasugi, with a story worth telling.

If over the last 5 seasons (!) of All Japan J-GP3 the title went to a former Grand Prix flash-in-the-pan like Hiroki Ono, at the third of six rounds on the 2026 calendar it’s actually Naoko Takasugi who tops the standings. With 52 points, a fifth place at SUGO, a third last Sunday at Tsukuba, and above all the win at Autopolis. True: achieved due to Ono’s absence while he was racing the ARRC at Sepang, but the subsequent podium at Tsukuba proves that the 49-year-old Naoko is consistently competitive, even if within a nationally focused championship.

Takasugi races a 12-year-old KTM, prepared and entered by her own Team Naoko KTM, continuing to write remarkable chapters in an extraordinary motorcycling story. An example of determination, of how it’s possible to overcome life’s challenges with a smile. Due to a high fever, Naoko lost some abilities at the age of 2, becoming deaf. Today she races in total symbiosis with the motorcycle: by feeling the bike’s vibrations, she can shift gears and interpret what to do. Communication in the garage isn’t always immediate, but she has overcome this seemingly insurmountable barrier with immense willpower. Just as when, at 18, she was involved in a serious road accident that seemed to spell the end of her passion. After a long recovery, she started riding on track and, while balancing her job at Panasonic, debuted in All Japan. Supersport, 250cc, then since 2011 focusing on the “small” Moto3. Now she finds herself leading the standings, after repeatedly finishing in the championship Top 5.

While Naoko Takasugi is known for her appearances at the Suzuka 8 Hours and the Bol d’Or, her younger colleague Shizuka Okazaki, now 34, has even contested two Moto3 Grands Prix as a wild card. At her home track Motegi she finished 26th and 23rd in 2016 and 2018 respectively, qualifying without major issues. Today Shizuka races with Team Japan Post docomo business TP, an ambitious outfit with a major sponsor that has placed its trust in her amid steady progress. In the last two years podiums have arrived, and this past weekend at Tsukuba she took the first pole position of her career. Also on the grid were Hiroki Ono and Rei Wakamatsu, both with Grand Prix experience.

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