1996 All Japan Superbike Championship

Takuma Aoki made it clear from the start that he would outclass everyone in 1996. Once again proving his abilities in the rain he dominated the season opener and repeated the feat in every other wet race; he had all-round pace in any weather and was on the podium in every race he finished. Mathematically unbeatable at the final round Aoki had nothing to lose and his season ended with a crash with Noriyuki Haga while battling over the lead. For Haga it wrecked a potential runner-up championship finish; as one of 6 riders with a chance to claim 2nd place he was anxious to score well and his crash was one of many. Those of his rivals Akira Yanagawa and Norihiko Fujiwara left everyone unharmed but Shin'ya Takeishi was less fortunate. He highsided in front of the pack on lap 1 and the unavoidable hit from Kiyokazu Sato's Honda left him severely injured for most of the winter. Akira Ryo's podium finish in the finale secured 2nd in the championship, demoting the unfortunate Fujiwara to 3rd.

DateRd.CircuitEvent NameResults
1996-03-171Japan Suzuka'96 All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 1GO!
1996-04-282Japan Sugo'96 All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 2GO!
1996-05-193Japan Tsukuba'96 All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 3GO!
1996-06-094Japan Suzuka'96 All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 4GO!
1996-06-235Japan Fuji'96 All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 5GO!
1996-07-076Japan Sugo'96 All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 6GO!
1996-08-117Japan CP MINE'96 All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 7GO!
1996-09-088Japan Suzuka'96 All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 8GO!
1996-09-229Japan Tsukuba'96 All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 9GO!
1996-10-0610Japan TI Aida'96 All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 10GO!
1996-11-0311Japan Sugo'96 All Japan Road Race Championship Series Round 11 MFJ Grand PrixGO!

Can You Help?

The following official data is currently missing:

1996-03-17 Suzuka: Free Practice 1, Free Practice 2

1996-04-28 Sugo: Qualifying 2 - Group B, Qualifying 2 - Group A, Warm-Up

1996-05-19 Tsukuba: Warm-Up

1996-06-09 Suzuka: Free Practice 1 - Group A, Free Practice 1 - Group B, Free Practice 2 - Group A, Free Practice 2 - Group B

1996-06-23 Fuji: Qualifying 2 - Group A, Qualifying 2 - Group B

1996-07-07 Sugo: Qualifying 2 - Group B, Qualifying 2 - Group A, Warm-Up

1996-09-08 Suzuka: Free Practice 1 - Group A, Free Practice 1 - Group B, Free Practice 2 - Group A, Free Practice 2 - Group B

1996-09-22 Tsukuba: Warm-Up, Final

1996-10-06 TI Aida: Qualifying 1 - Group B, Warm-Up

Copies of any of this information would be greatly appreciated. If you have any additional information about this season's races or riders, please contact me!