Hiroshi Aoyama eyes top ‘rookie’ prize

Reigning 250GP world champion Hiroshi Aoyama has set his sights on finishing top rookie in his first attempt at the MotoGP world championship.

The Japanese rider, who has struggled to make a major impact in winter testing for the 2010 campaign on the Interwetten Honda RC212V, has targeted success against fellow 250GP graduates Marco Simoncelli, Alvaro Bautista and Hector Barbera.

The quartet dominated the last ever two-stroke 250GP world championship and Aoyama told MCN: “I don’t have a clear target right now. But one is to try and be the fastest rookie rider because a lot of us have come up from 250s.

“If I can be on top of them it will be nice and if I can fight in the top five this would be incredible in the first year.”

See the April 7 issue of MCN for a free 32-page glossy preview ahead of the 2010 MotoGP campaign.