Long-time factory Honda rider Akira Narita has been arrested for violent conduct in his home country of Japan. The 40-year-old former GP and AMA racer, who used to race for the British CAS team in GPs has won 12 All-Japanese championships titles, is absent from this weekend’s championship race at Kumamoto.

Narita was second in the Japanese series last year and is currently fifth in the series.

The Motorcycle Federation of Japan (MFJ) made this official statement:

“We deeply apologise for the inconvenience and concern caused by the news of the arrest of Akira Narita. We are currently working with the people concerned to understand the facts.

“Violence is never tolerated. He is a rider who has been a leader in the motocross industry for a long time, and it is extremely regrettable about violence of a rider who should be a model for the younger generation. We will report again as the situation becomes clear.”