Tetsuya Harada was brought into full time Grand Prix racing in 1993 after winning the 250cc Japanese title and making several wildcard appearances in the Championship, and went on to win the crown that same year. Unable to compete on the Yamaha YZR in the following seasons, Harada became frustrated and appeared set to quit motorcycle racing for good. However, he was recruited in 1997 by Aprilia and in 1998 narrowly missed out on a second title to Loris Capirossi after the pair crashed on the last corner of the final race in Argentina. After one year on the 500cc V2 Aprilia, Harada moved back to 250 in 2001 and finished 2nd behind Daijiro Kato. 2002 saw him back in MotoGP class aboard a Honda two-stroke, retiring after the end of the season.