Waku Kunitate

Waku Kunitate (Japanese: 国立 和玖, Hepburn: Kunitate Waku; born 8 January 2012)^[1] is a Japanese motorcycle racer who competes in the 2026 Moto4 Asia Cup. He is the 2024 FIM MiniGP World Series champion of the 160cc class.

Kunitate has previously competed in the All Japan J-GP3 class in 2025. He is part of Tetsuta Nagashima's rider development program TN45.

Kunitate was born in Nisshin, Japan.^[2] At the age of two he started riding strider bikes and spent the following three years competing in strider championships—both in Japan and internationally.^[3][4] He won his first championship in the Strider Cup World Championship in 2015, which took place in the United States.^[5]

Kunitate entered the newly established FIM MiniGP Japan in early 2022, at the age of 10. He finished on the podium in the majority of the races and claimed his maiden win in the final round at Tsukuba—winning both races at the event.^[6] He placed third in the final standings.^[7] Kunitate faced his second MiniGP season in 2023, and clinched seven podiums in a row including two wins at Tsukuba. He finished the season in second place behind rookie Kotaro Togashi—which granted him a spot in the World Series Final at Valencia.^[8] Him and Togashi represented Japan in the 160cc class aboard Ohvale GP-0 machines. Kunitate finished 12th overall with his best result being a seventh place in Race 1.^[9]

In 2024, Kunitate would enter his third and final season in MiniGP. He stayed consistent throughout the season, scoring podiums in all but one race out of ten. He won three races and finished in second place overall again, this time behind Hayato Chishiki.^[10][11][12] This result meant he would compete in the World Series and represent Japan for a second year—this time held at MotorLand Aragón. In his second stint in the MiniGP World Final, Kunitate claimed the 160cc class title after winning two of the three races.^[13][14]

Kunitate entered the 2025 All Japan Road Race Championship with the Tetsuta Nagashima backed MotoUP Jr Team in the J-GP3 class—with Hayato Chishiki as teammate.^[15][16] He finished within the points section in the second round at Tsukuba, after finishing in 13th place. His best result was a tenth place at Okayama and finished as the third best Special Participation rider—behind Chishiki and Kotaro Togashi.

Kunitate was invited to the 2026 Moto4 Asia Cup selection event at Sepang in October 2025, where he was selected to compete full-time in 2026.^[17] In the opening round at Chang, Kunitate finished in second place in Race 1, only 0.017 seconds behind Hayato Chishiki after a final lap battle. He placed fourth in Race 2.^[18][19]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

• † – Rider did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than ~75% of the race distance.

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

* Season still in progress.