Hideo Kanaya

Hideo Kanaya (Shinjitai: 金谷 秀夫, Hideo Kanaya, February 3, 1945 – December 19, 2013)[1] was a Japanese professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.

Hideo Kanaya
Hideo Kanaya c. 1973
Nationality	Japanese
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1967, 1972 - 1973, 1975 First race 1967 125cc Japanese Grand Prix Last race 1975 500cc Italian Grand Prix First win 1972 250cc German Grand Prix Last win 1975 500cc Austrian Grand Prix Team(s) Kawasaki, Yamaha Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 21 3 15 2 1 207

Kanaya began his Grand Prix career in 1967 and won his first Grand Prix at the 1972 250cc German Grand Prix on a standard Yamaha 250 TD3. In 1973, Kanaya and Jarno Saarinen raced the first four-cylinder, two-stroke Yamaha YZR500 0W20 in the 500cc world championship, and water cooled YZR250 0W17 in the 250cc world championship. After Saarinen's death in the 250cc race at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Yamaha decided to with draw its factory team from the remainder of the 1973 season and Hideo Kanaya was sent back to Japan.

He was due to come back to GP in 1974, as team mate to Giacomo Agostini, and he was entered as a factory rider, alongside Agostini, Motohashi and Länsivuori, in the Daytona 200 race early in the season. Kanaya was injured at Daytona and could finally not race in Europe in 1974.

Kanaya's best season was in 1975, when, in spite of being entered only in the first five GPs before being sent back to his testing duties in Japan, he won two Grand Prix (one in 350cc, one in 500cc) and finished third in the 500cc world championship behind his Yamaha team-mate, Giacomo Agostini and MV Agusta's Phil Read.[2] He also won the Macau Grand Prix in 1975.