(born November 4, 1976 in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is a professional motorcycle racer. He is one of the few riders to win races in both MotoGP and Superbike World Championship. For   he will ride for the Paul Bird Kawasaki Corse team in the Superbike World Championship.

Early years

After a junior career in minibikes, he won a regional 250cc championship in 1994. He then spent 4 years in the main Japanese 250cc series, finishing 4th on a private bike in 1998. He entered the MFJ Superbike championship in 1999. He finished in the championship top 5 for the next 4 years, but came to international fame as a wild card in the Superbike World Championship round at Sugo, upsetting the regulars to win both races in 2001, and a further race in 2002.

MotoGP

This helped earn him a call up to MotoGP in 2003, for Pramac Honda. He joined Sito Pons' Camel Honda a year later. The first season was a learning year, peaking with a 3rd place at Rio and two front row starts, finishing 11th overall. 2004 was his strongest MotoGP season to date, with wins at Rio and Motegi and 6th overall. He was the only Honda rider to use Bridgestone tyres, which appear to suit his style.

The Konica Minolta Honda team was formed in late 2004 with him in mind, and he spent 2 years there using Michelin rubber. Unfortunately a broken wrist sustained early in the season prevented him from reaching the championship top 10, although he did finish 3rd at his home race. He was also short of top results in 2006. At the Sachsenring he ran 3rd early on, and was still in the top 6 when he went out wide to avoid Kenny Roberts, Jr. crashing, only to be hit by the American's riderless bike.

In 2007 he joined the Tech 3 Yamaha team in MotoGP using Dunlop tyres, alongside French rider Sylvain Guintoli. He was generally outpaced by his rookie team-mate and finished the season 18th.

Superbike World Championship

He was left with no options in MotoGP so for he turned his focus on the Superbike World Championship. Kawasaki expressed their desire to hire him, quoting: "Tamada has been a target for Kawasaki for some time and his signing consolidates the PSG-1 team and Kawasaki’s mutual commitment to gain success in the forthcoming season."

He joins the Italian factory supported Kawasaki team, PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse, were he will pilot the all-new 2008 Kawasaki ZX-10R along with Frenchman Regis Laconi who rode for them in both and .. For 2009 he remained a factory Kawasaki rider, as they switched their support to the English Paul Bird Motorsport team, alongside Australian Broc Parkes.

On October 6 2009, Kawasaki announced that Tamada would not be offered a contract for 2010. His place will be taken by former MotoGP rider Chris Vermeulen.

References

1. Tamada to replace Checa at Tech3 bbc.co.uk
2. Tamada to ride for Kawasaki in 2008 SBK Championship kawasaki-racingteam.eu

External links

• tamayangp.com Official website