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The official race report service of Kawasaki Racing Team.

26 October 2017

Hikari Okubo joins the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing WorldSSP team in 2018

Kawasaki Puccetti Racing is delighted to announce that Hikari Okubo will join the team for the 2018 season. The 24-year-old Japanese rider (2012 Asia Dream Cup Champion, currently 15th in the WorldSSP championship standings) will race alongside Turkish champion Kenan Sofuoglu on aboard a Kawasaki ZX-6R in the WorldSSP series.

Manuel Puccetti, Team Principal:
“We are very pleased to announce our final WorldSSP team configuration for the next season. During this year Hikari has demonstrated to be a rider with a huge potential and we believe that his arrival will add more strength to our team in 2018. He will ride alongside Kenan Sofuoglu, who has already signed with us for next year. We will give to Hikari all our best support and our experience to help him show his talent”.
 
Hikari Obuko: 
“Being part of the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team next season makes me really happy. My dream is to become the first WorldSSP Japanese champion one day. My objective is to win and I know that this choice will give me all what I need to grow my level and to become competitive. I have never ridden a Kawasaki machine before, but I know that I will learn fast and that I will be able to complete a successful season”.
 
Hikari Okubo, biography:
Hikari Obuko was born on 11th August 1993 in Tokyo (Japan). His career started in the All Japan Road Race Championship GP125 in 2008 where he finished in 20th place. After just two years, in 2010 the young Japanese rider secured his first Japanese championship title and got the chance to compete as wild card in the 125cc World Championship at the Japanese round at Motegi where he finished in 16th position. 
In 2011, Okubo repeated the experience taking part to the Japanese GP where he finished in 17th.
In 2012 he became Asian Champion after winning the Asia Dream Cup. In the next following two years, Okubo participated again to the All Japan Road Race Championship GP125, while in 2015 he took part to the Japanese Supersport 600cc championship, where he finished in 3rd place.
In 2016 he made his debut in WorldSSP. He finished in 21st position his season as a rookie. The Japanese rider is currently 15th in the championship standings having a 6th place conquered at Chang (Thailand) as is best seasonal result so far.