Bastianini and Japanese Motorcycle Racers Experience Kimono

 

On 21 September, Enea Bastianini and a group of Japanese riders in the MotoGP class dressed in kimonos and ate sushi in Tokyo ahead of the 16th round of MotoGP in Japan, 23-25 September at Mobility Resort Motegi.

First, Bastianini, Tetsuta Nagashima, Ryusei Suzuki, Kaito Toba and Ryusei Yamanaka had lunch at a sushi restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo.
Ai Ogura, Ayumu Sasaki and Taiyo Kozato then joined them for a traditional Japanese kimono dressing experience at a men's kimono shop Ginza Motoji, before the eight riders went sightseeing to the Kabuki-za theatre. Nagashima, Sasaki, Toba and Yamanaka then visited Matsuzaki Sembei in Ginza.

Bastianini commented that I'm a big fan of the Japanese. Tokyo is one of my favourite places. I'm having a lot of fun with them at the pre-event and I'm going to wear a kimono for the first time and I'm looking forward to seeing Kabuki later on.

Ogura said: "I'm happy to be racing in Japan. It's been three years since I've been to the Japanese GP, so I'm really looking forward to it and hope to have a good race for the Japanese fans."

Suzuki added: "There hasn't been a Japanese GP since 2019, so it'll be the first time since the pandemic that I'll be back here in Tokyo. It's always a pleasure to come here and to be able to ride in front of the Japanese fans, especially for me  as a Japanese racer. It's great to ride in Japan."