Masao Azuma was a Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle road racer (born March 24, 1971 in Osaka, Japan) who competed in the 125cc class from 1996 to 2003. During his eight years in the 125 class he rode exclusively for Honda and used Bridgestone tyres for six of those years. He finished in the Top 5 of the Championship for four consecutive years.

Azuma began racing minibikes at an early age in the Japanese national championships. He was the Japanese National 125cc Champion in 1993 and 1994. He made his 125cc World Championship debut as a wildcard at Suzuka in 1996 and finished an impressive 6th.

Azuma competed in the full 1997 season for the LB Racing Team and showed good consistency regularly finishing just outside the top 10. He scored a best finish of 4th, again at his home round at Suzuka. He finished the season in 15th place in the Championship.

Azuma joined the Leigeois Competition team and aside from four DNFs never finished outside the top 10. Five podium finishes, including a debut win in Australia saw him finishing 5th overall in the Championship and marked him out as one of the top Japanese riders and a title contender for the following year.

With the same team in 1999 (now renamed the Liegeois Playlife Racing Team) Azuma began a serious title bid, winning 5 of the first 8 races, securing 2 pole positions (interestingly the only poles of his career) and leading the 125cc Championship. Disaster awaited at Rd 10 in Brno however. During qualifying a small deer ran onto the track right into the path of Azuma’s accelerating motorcycle. In the ensuing crash, Azuma was not seriously injured and raced the next day eventually finishing 12th. However, it was to be a turning point in the year, and perhaps his career. The remaining six rounds saw erratic and relatively poor results from Azuma, while his title rivals Marco Melandri and Emilio Alzamora gained on him in the Championship. Melandri scored 5 race wins in the latter half of the season, and Champion-to-be Alzamora’s consistent podium finishes would eventually relegate Azuma to 3rd in the Championship. This was to be his highest Championship finish.

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