Daijiro Kato Japanese: 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.
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.
In spite of these successes, Kato didn't 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 less than 11 races, a record, and
easily won the title.
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 French Grand Prix at
Le Mans, 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 125mph (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.
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 125mph (200 km/h).Many
questions were raised regarding the actions of the corner workers
immediately following the crash. Kato was thrown back onto the
track after hitting the wall 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 dragged his body off the
track and threw him on a stretcher, actions that are not in
accordance with tending to someone with suspected neck and spinal
cord injuries. The race was not stopped.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.[edit]Legacy
During the 2003 Suzuka 8 Hours race, that held in July, Honda went
paid tribute to Daijiro, who twice won the race, by bearing his
racing number of the Sakurai Honda bike of Tadayuki Okada and
Chojun Kameya who crashed on the second lap, after slipping on some
spilt oil on the first corner of the track, along with two other
bikes of Nicky Hayden and Atsushi Watanabe. Once Tady and two
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 and, two hours later, Tady returned to the
pitlane to retire the bike in a mass applause from the crowd. At
the end of the race, the other Sakurai bike of Yukio Nukumi and
Manabu Kamada who would win the race, went on to the rostrum to
show off Daijiro's helmet bearing his number at the front of his
visor and a photo of him on the as a mark of respect. Soon
afterwards the FIM retired his number.
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
Races by year
() (Races in
bold indicate pole position)
See also
References
External links
in Aida,
Okayama.
rider
Colin Edwards, won the Suzuka 8 Hours in Japan for a second
time.
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