Midori Moriwaki - MIE Racing Founder
Midori Moriwaki was born into the motorsport world and, by the age of four, she already knew that this would be her path, one from which she has never strayed.
Granddaughter of the legendary Hideo “Pops” Yoshimura and daughter of racer Mamoru Moriwaki, Midori Moriwaki has been hearing the sound of engines for as long as she can remember but, in addition to this, she quickly absorbed the values that still drive her as she forges a successful path in both the international motorsport business community and the world of motorcycle engineering and sports. Passion, hard work, team spirit and, above all, resilience.
Midori believed that only comprehensive knowledge of the machine itself would allow her to achieve the goals she had set herself and so she chose a technical school for her studies. Having graduated from TSU Engineering High School, in her early 20s she joined Moriwaki Engineering Co. Ltd., the family company that Mamoru Moriwaki had established in 1973 in the Japanese racing city of Suzuka. The company is world-renowned for the design, production and sales of race-inspired aftermarket parts and the building of custom race machines, Midori taking on a role in both areas, in International Sales and in the management of the Racing Department.
Over the years, she successfully led company racing activity in national and international championships, including the legendary Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race (where the firm have often outclassed larger and better-funded efforts), all Japan Road Race Championships, FIM MotoGP World Championship, and FIM Moto2 World Championship. From 2003 to 2005, Moriwaki took part in several MotoGP class races with their MD211VF prototype, gaining fundamental knowledge in the process.
In 2010, the MD600, a Moriwaki-framed machine run by Gresini Racing, took the inaugural Moto2 World title with rider Toni Elias, winning 7 races and securing the championship trophy at the Malaysian Grand Prix on 10 October 2010.
In 2008 Midori also founded the Moriwaki Junior Cup, a project run in several countries across Europe, America and Asia in collaboration with the National Federations. The series serves to prepare young riders on a pre-Moto3 GP racing bike, the MD250H (Moriwaki Dream 250 Honda), getting them ready for the GP tracks. Moriwaki built a strong and resistant bike, with the specific purpose of limiting the damage even in the case of a crash, so as to help riders and their families to contain the costs.
In 2014 Midori was nominated by FIM as an Expert Member of the FIM Women in Motorcycling Commission and, in the same year, she became the Team Principal for the Suzuka 4Hours Race as an activity for FIM Women In Motorcycling, bringing a 100% female team, comprising American riders Shelina Moreda and Melissa Paris, to the 4 Hours of Suzuka with the CBR600RR Synergy Force Moriwaki Club. In June of the following year she became a FIM CFM member in order to combine her activities in and outside the world of motorsport. With a view to industrial development overseas, Midori established the Midori Corporation on March 2018 and the MIE Racing s.r.o on November 2018. Moriwaki has also been actively involved in the off-road field since 2018, as co-founder and current Supervisor of the Bells Racing team competing in the All Japan Motocross Championship.
As of 2019 she became Team Director of the Moriwaki Althea Honda Team, managing the project that saw the return of a HRC factory supported team to the Superbike World Championship for the first time in 17 years
As owner and director of MIE Racing (Midori International Engineering), in 2020 Moriwaki confirmed her commitment to the FIM Superbike World Championship by entering the series with the satellite MIE Racing Honda Team and Honda CBR1000RR-R machines, managing a project that she continued to develop in 2021 and 2022
Electing to expand her commitment to the production-derived championship in 2023, Midori announced an agreement with new title sponsor PETRONAS and launched a brand new WorldSSP project to run alongside her WorldSBK Team (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team). The newly formed team competed in the 2023 Supersport World Championship with Honda CBR600RR machines.
In 2023 Midori announced that the MIE Racing Team would compete in the inaugural edition of the E-Xplorer FIM World Cup. Successful right from the outset with riders Sandra Goméz and Jorge Zaragoza, the team amassed two wins, two second place finishes and a third place over the course of the five-round series to secure the world cup trophy!
2024 sees Moriwaki renew her commitment to both the WorldSBK and WorldSSP championships. The PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team will compete in both categories with Honda CBR1000RR-R and CBR600RR machinery, fielding Superbike riders Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin, and Supersport entries Khairul Idham Pawi and Kaito Toba.
Motto: “Just do it!”
