Daijiro Kato

Daijiro Kato
Daijiro Kato

Daijiro Kato at the 2003 Japanese GP
Nationality Japanese
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years 1995 - 2003
First race 1995 250cc Japanese Grand Prix
Last race 2003 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix
First win 1997 250cc Japanese Grand Prix
Last win 2001 250cc Brazilian Grand Prix
Team(s) Honda
Championships 2001 - 250cc
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
53 17 27 11 11 775

Daijiro Kato (加藤 大治郎 Katō Daijirō?, July 4, 1976 - April 20, 2003) was a Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and the 2001 World Champion in the 250cc class.[1]

Contents

Biography

Kato was born in Saitama, and started racing miniature bikes at an early age, becoming a four-time national champion in the Japanese pocket-bike championship.

He began road racing in 1992, and entered his first Grand Prix in 1996, as a wild-card rider. In the 250cc class, Kato finished third after debuting at his home circuit of Suzuka Circuit. The next year, he won the Japanese Championship, and again entered the Japanese Grand Prix with a wild card, winning the race at this occasion.

Kato's 2001 Honda NSR250 with Telefónica Movistar livery.

In spite of these successes, Kato did not ride his first full Grand Prix season until 2000, when he started in the 250cc, riding a Honda. He won four races that season (of which two in Japan), and placed third in the championship. In 2001, he dominated the 250cc championship. He won no fewer than 11 races, a record in 250cc, and easily won the title. In that season season he set a new record for the most points in a single season in 250cc class with 322 points.

The following season, Kato moved up to the MotoGP class (formerly 500cc) racing for Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) in the Fortuna Gresini Racing team. Some strong performances on the Honda NSR500 two-stroke bike in the first half of the season including second place at the 2002 Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez circuit, meant he was given a full factory supported four-stroke Honda RC211V for the rest of the season; his best result on the RC211V was a second place at the Czech Grand Prix at Brno.

For 2003, Kato remained at the Gresini team, now with sponsorship from Telefónica movistar brought by new teammate Sete Gibernau joining from Suzuki. On April 6, 2003 during the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Kato crashed hard and sustained severe head, neck and chest injuries. He was estimated to have hit the wall near the Casio Triangle chicane of the circuit at around 125 mph (200 km/h). Kato spent two weeks in a coma following the accident before dying as a result of the injuries he sustained. The cause of death was listed as brain stem infarction.

In 2006, the Misano World Circuit honoured Kato, who lived part of the season in the area, by naming a new access road to the circuit Via Daijiro Kato. That circuit's offices are located on the road named in his memory.

Kato's #74 racing number

Death

On April 6, 2003, during the first race of the 2003 MotoGP season at Suzuka, Kato crashed hard and sustained severe head, neck and chest injuries. He was estimated to have hit the wall near the Casio Triangle chicane of the circuit at around 125 mph (200 km/h).

The Accident Investigation Committee determined that Kato crashed when he lost control of his machine, which entered a near high-side state, followed by an uncontrollable oscillating weave resulting in him leaving the track and striking the barrier. Initially he and the bike struck a tire barrier, followed by a foam barrier. Importantly, there was a gap between the tire and foam barriers. Kato was fatally injured when his head struck the edge of the foam barrier, dislocating the joint between the base of the skull and the cervical spine.

Questions were raised regarding the actions of the corner workers immediately following the crash. Kato was thrown back onto the track after hitting the barriers and was lying next to the racing line [1]. Normally, when a motorcycle and/or rider are incapacitated on the race track, a red flag is waved and the race stopped so the track can be safely cleared. This did not happen following Kato's accident. Instead, the corner workers moved him onto a stretcher and off the circuit. The race was not stopped.

The Investigation Committee noted : "According to images broadcast during the race, four rescue workers took hold of Kato, who lay collapsed face up in the middle of the course, held him by the right shoulder, the torso and both legs, and moved him sideways just a few dozen centimeters onto the stretcher. It certainly appears that sufficient care was taken to immobilize his head and neck area. However, when the stretcher was moved Kato's head drooped markedly, and it cannot be denied that this might have additionally injured his neck." [3]

Kato spent two weeks in a coma following the accident before dying as a result of the injuries he sustained. The cause of death was listed as brain stem infarction. Many of the MotoGP riders wore black armbands or placed small #74's on their leathers and bikes at the following race in South Africa to pay tribute to the fallen racer. His teammate, Sete Gibernau, has worn a #74 on his racesuit since winning the race in his memory. There has not been a Grand Prix motorcycle race held at Suzuka following Kato's crash, with safety issues at the facility being cited as the reason.

During the 2003 Suzuka 8 Hours race held that July, Honda paid tribute to Kato, a two-time Suzuka winner, by bearing his racing number on the Sakurai Honda bike of Tadayuki Okada and Chojun Kameya (who in Turn 1 crashed on spilt oil on the second lap), along with the bikes of Nicky Hayden and Atsushi Watanabe. Once Tady and the others returned to the pits with their broken bikes, the former 500cc rider was permitted to go back out with a spare bike, as a mark of respect, but was ineligible to win since his original bike was badly damaged. Two hours later, Tady returned to the pitlane to retire the bike amid mass applause from the crowd. At the end of the race, the other Sakurai bikes of Yukio Nukumi and Manabu Kamada (who were still racing), went on to the rostrum to show off Daijiro's helmet bearing his number on the visor, and a photo of him on the bike, as a mark of respect.

Afterwards the FIM retired Kato's number, and the bike number 74 has not been used by any rider since.

Racing highlights

1993

  • All Kyushu Area Championship: SP250, GP125, GP250 classes.
  • Ranking: Championship winner in all 3 classes.

1994

1995

1996

  • All Japan Road Race Championship: GP250 class.
  • Ranking: Second.
  • Kato participated as a wild card rider at the world grand prix championship GP250 race in Japan and finished third.

1997

  • All Japan Road Race Championship: GP250 class.
  • Ranking: Championship winner.
  • Kato again participated as a wild card rider at the world grand prix championship GP250 race in Japan and won the race.
  • Kato raced the Suzuka 8 Hours in Japan and finished ninth.

1998

  • All Japan Road Race Championship: GP250 class.
  • Ranking: Eighth.
  • Kato again participated as a wild card rider at the world grand prix championship GP250 race in Japan and won the race a second time.

1999

2000

2001

  • Grand Prix World Championship: GP250 class.
  • Ranking: Championship winner.
  • Kato set a new grand prix world record by winning 11 races throughout the 2001 season. He was also recognized for his efforts to the public by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Science and Technology.

2002

2003

Grand Prix career statistics

All stats from MotoGP.com[2]

Season Class Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd
1996 250cc Honda NSR250 HRC Honda Team 1 0 1 0 0 16 23rd
1997 250cc Honda NSR250 Castrol Honda 1 1 1 0 0 25 19th
1998 250cc Honda NSR250 Castrol Honda 1 1 1 1 0 25 20th
1999 250cc Honda NSR250 1 0 0 0 0 11 20th
2000 250cc Honda NSR250 Axo Honda Gresini 16 4 9 3 1 259 3rd
2001 250cc Honda NSR250 Telefonica Movistar Honda Gresini 16 11 13 6 9 322 1st
2002 MotoGP Honda NSR500
Honda RC211V
Fortuna Honda Gresini 16 0 2 1 1 117 7th
2003 MotoGP Honda RC211V Gresini Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 -
Total 53 17 27 11 11 775

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Pts
1995 250cc Docshop Aprilia AUS
-
MAL
-
JPN
NC
ESP
-
GER
-
ITA
-
NED
-
FRA
-
GBR
-
CZE
-
BRA
-
ARG
-
EUR
-
NC 21st 0
1996 250cc Honda MAL
-
INA
-
JPN
3
ESP
-
ITA
-
FRA
-
NED
-
GER
-
GBR
-
AUT
-
CZE
-
IMO
-
CAT
-
BRA
-
AUS
-
23rd 16
1997 250cc Honda MAL
-
JPN
1
ESP
-
ITA
-
AUT
-
FRA
-
NED
-
IMO
-
GER
-
BRA
-
GBR
-
CZE
-
CAT
-
INA
-
AUS
-
19th 25
1998 250cc Honda JPN
1
MAL
-
ESP
-
ITA
-
FRA
-
MAD
-
NED
-
GBR
-
GER
-
CZE
-
IMO
-
CAT
-
AUS
-
ARG
-
20th 25
1999 250cc Honda MAL
-
JPN
5
ESP
-
FRA
-
ITA
-
CAT
-
NED
-
GBR
-
GER
-
CZE
-
IMO
-
VAL
-
AUS
-
RSA
-
BRA
-
ARG
-
20th 11
2000 250cc Honda RSA
2
MAL
3
JPN
1
ESP
2
FRA
6
ITA
3
CAT
4
NED
8
GBR
10
GER
4
CZE
6
POR
1
VAL
5
BRA
1
PAC
1
AUS
3
3rd 259
2001 250cc Honda JPN
1
RSA
1
ESP
1
FRA
1
ITA
10
CAT
1
NED
11
GBR
1
GER
2
CZE
3
POR
1
VAL
1
PAC
Ret
AUS
1
MAL
1
BRA
1
1st 322
2002 MotoGP Honda JPN
10
RSA
4
ESP
2
FRA
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAT
8
NED
12
GBR
7
GER
Ret
CZE
2
POR
Ret
BRA
Ret
PAC
Ret
MAL
5
AUS
4
VAL
4
7th 117
2003 MotoGP Honda JPN
Ret
RSA
-
ESP
-
FRA
-
ITA
-
CAT
-
NED
-
GBR
-
GER
-
CZE
-
POR
-
BRA
-
PAC
-
MAL
-
AUS
-
VAL
-
- 0

References

 3. Report of the Daijiro Kato Accident Investigation Committee [1]

External links


Preceded by
Olivier Jacque
250cc Motorcycle World Champion
2001
Succeeded by
Marco Melandri
Preceded by
Tadayuki Okada
Alex Barros
Suzuka 8 Hours winner
2000
(with Tohru Ukawa)
Succeeded by
Valentino Rossi
Colin Edwards
Preceded by
Valentino Rossi
Colin Edwards
Suzuka 8 Hours winner
2002
(with Colin Edwards)
Succeeded by
Yukio Nukumi
Manabu Kamada

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