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Daijiro Kato
Daijiro Kato at the 2003 Japanese GP
Nationality	Japanese
Grand Prix motorcycle racing career
Active years	1996 - 2003
Teams	Honda
Grands Prix	53
Championships	2001 - 250cc
Wins	17
Podium finishes	27
Career points	775
Pole positions	11
Fastest laps	11
First Grand Prix	1996 250cc Japanese Grand Prix
First win	1997 250cc Japanese Grand Prix
Last win	2001 250cc Brazilian Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix	2003 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix

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.^[1]

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.

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 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.

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 split 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. 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

• All Japan Road Race Championship: GP250 class.
• First win at round 9 at TI Circuit in Aida, Okayama.
• Ranking: Seventh.

1995

• All Japan Road Race Championship: GP250 class.
• Ranking: Fifth.

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

• All Japan Road Race Championship: GP250 class.
• Ranking: Second.

2000

• Grand Prix World Championship: GP250 class.
• Ranking: Third.
• Kato was awarded the Rookie-of-the-Year prize in the GP250 class.
• Kato, teaming with fellow Japanese rider Tohru Ukawa, won the Suzuka 8 Hours in Japan.

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

• Grand Prix World Championship: MotoGP/500cc class.
• Ranking: Seventh.
• Kato was awarded the Rookie-of-the-Year prize in the MotoGP/500cc class.
• Kato, this time teaming with American rider Colin Edwards, won the Suzuka 8 Hours in Japan for a second time.

2003

• Grand Prix World Championship: MotoGP class.
• Suffered a fatal crash at the first race at Suzuka.

Grand Prix career statistics

All stats from MotoGP.com^[2]

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

References

External links

• Daijiro Kato's Official Website (mostly in Japanese)
• Amateur video of Kato's crash at YouTube
• Photos from Kato's memorial service on SuperbikePlanet.com
• Find A Grave Memorial