From Asia to the World : The Journey of Moto3 Rider Taiyo Furusato
Competing FIM Grand Prix World Championship in Moto3 class with Honda Team Asia, Taiyo Furusato is now one of the young riders being in a spotlight not only from Japanese fans, but from motorsport enthusiasts worldwide.
This year marks his fourth season since making his debut. After 16 rounds, he has stood on the podium twice and currently holds ninth place in the overall standings. With six races remaining in this season, achieving his goal of winning the championship has become difficult. However, expectations are high for his home race, the Japanese Grand Prix, where fans are eager to see him claim his first victory and a third podium finish.
From childhood, he has been called Taiyo—“the Sun.” His name was given with the wish that he would shine as brightly as the sun, and his family, as well as Taiyo himself, cherished it deeply.
He was born in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, on the Osumi Peninsula, situated on the eastern shore of Kinko Bay near the active volcano Sakurajima. With Sakurajima erupting on average about 200 times a year, volcanic ash falling was part of daily life. Moreover, the Space Center of JAXA, Japan’s hub for space development, was nearby, and as a schoolboy, Taiyo often watched rocket launches from his classroom.
Growing up in such an environment, Taiyo was influenced by his father, Yoichiro, who ran a business selling and repairing agricultural machinery while also racing motorcycles. Taiyo began riding at the age of four and began playing golf. Following his father’s philosophy of encouraging any interest, he started gymnastics, tennis, and piano at the age of six. Though he enjoyed all of them, motorcycles fascinated him the most. His balance and physical ability, developed through gymnastics, gave him a clear advantage in pocket bike and minibike competitions.
Former MotoGP rider Noboru Ueda recognized Taiyo’s extraordinary talent and recommended him for the Suzuka Racing School, run by Suzuka Circuit and known for producing numerous Grand Prix riders. Current Moto2 rider Yuki Kunii, also with IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia, is among its graduates.
Taiyo’s ability developed rapidly, and in 2020 he was selected as a rider for the Asia Talent Cup, which brings together elite riders from Asia and Oceania. This series, organized by Honda and Dorna Sports, uses the Honda NSF250R and has produced many world class riders, including Ai Ogura (Moto2 champion in 2024), Ayumu Sasaki (Moto3 title contender), and Somkiat Chantra (currently racing in MotoGP with LCR Honda CASTROL).
For Furusato, however, the 2020 season was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with only a single race held. In 2021, when the series restarted, he dominated by winning all seven races to secure the championship title. His remarkable speed drew international attention, and he was invited as a wildcard to the Rookies Cup, which is a support category for MotoGP, in Italy. Incredibly, he won on debut. It is not unusual to see a rider win on a circuit for the first time. But to take victory immediately on a bike they had never ridden before, in the middle of the season, was unprecedented in the Rookies Cup — where talented young riders from all over the world gather.
This breakthrough led to his promotion in 2022 to the Honda Team Asia Moto3 squad, competing on the world stage.
The Moto3 class features 250cc single-cylinder four-stroke engines with regulated rev limits and a combined minimum weight requirement of 152 kg for rider and machine. The aim is to create an equal playing field. For Honda Team Asia, coming into 13th season, Furusato represented one of its most promising prospects.
In 2022 as a rookie year, he had to face many unfamiliar circuits and ended the season with 27th overall. He claimed his first podium with second place in Thailand, finishing 16th overall in his second season. In the third year, he stood on the podium twice, in Qatar and Germany, finishing 10th in the standings.
Now in 2025, as his fourth season, though tipped as a title contender, strong rivals have made the fight difficult. He consistently battles in the leading group but has lost positions due to crashes or late-race mistakes at times, driven by his determination to win.
Despite setbacks, his energetic and fearless riding has further raised his profile as a rider with great potential.
The team manager of Team Asia Hiroshi Aoyama, a former world champion, sets annual target points for each rider. Furusato has achieved them every year since his debut and now pursues the ambitious 2025 target of 250 points.
His strength lies in the speed from braking to the apex of a corner. Entering slightly earlier on the inside line allows him to stand out in the Asia Talent Cup and the Rookies Cup.
However, in the world championship, this style initially hindered him. He often reached the apex too early, delayed bike rotation, and opened the throttle too late, leading to crashes as he pushed on braking to compensate. In his fourth season, he has refined this technique into one of his strongest weapons.
Notable performances include his second-place finish in Qatar and third in Catalunya, where he fought alone against rival manufacturers riders, earning great acclaim.
Since his debut, Taiyo has been admiring Jorge Lorenzo for his corner speed. Today, his riding combines that with sharpness reminiscent of a top rider known for extraordinary natural ability.
Determined to reach the top of the world, Furusato follows a rigorous training routine. During the European rounds, he returns to team’s base in Barcelona after each race. Mondays are nominally rest days, yet he begins training immediately.
He starts his day by riding his bicycle, casually covering 50 to 70 kilometers before breakfast. After finishing the morning training, he has a brunch and then takes a short rest at his apartment. In the evening, he either goes to the gym for physical training or heads to a nearby dirt track or motocross circuit around Barcelona for bike training. From Tuesday to Friday, he joins the team’s group training sessions.
The training he does most frequently these days is at a dirt track near the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where he rides continuously from around 6 pm until about 10 pm. Because of Barcelona’s high daytime temperatures in the summer, training takes place in the evening most of the times, and each session turns into a highly productive workout.
This approach is reflected by the experience of Team Manager Hiroshi Aoyama—both what he gained during his own career and what he now feels he could have done better as a former world champion. In addition to cycling, gym work, and bike training, the rider sometimes heads to nearby circuits for free practice sessions. This year he has also spent considerable time on the Honda CBR600RR, aiming to broaden his riding skills by training on a larger and faster machine than the Moto3 bike.
Taiyo tells us “I never get bored because I train with different menus every day, and not only with my teammates, since so many GP riders live in Barcelona, but I also often get the chance to train with them as well. I also run together with Moto2 and MotoGP riders quite often, and there’s a lot I can learn from these experiences.”
When in Japan during the off-season or summer break, he continues his preparation by riding at circuits across Kyushu and occasionally in the Kanto region. He sometimes training alongside Honda Team Asia colleagues Ai Ogura and Yuki Kunii.
Furusato races under number 72, derived from his July 12th birthday. He jokes that once he wins the championship, he will add a “1” between the 7 and 2 to complete July 12.
He reflects, “A year passes so quickly. It feels like four years have gone by in the blink of an eye without me achieving much. But I just want to be faster. I want to ride faster than anyone else.”
In racing, there is a saying: “The fast ones are fast from the beginning.” Taiyo proved this in Honda’s development series and has continued to grow steadily on the world stage. Fans now eagerly await the day when he will shine like the sun from the top step of the podium—perhaps as soon as his home race, the Japanese Grand Prix.
