Daijiro Kato

Daijiro Kato (加藤 大治郎, Katō Daijirō, 4 July 1976 – 20 April 2003) was a Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, the 2001 250cc world champion, and the 2000 and 2002 Suzuka 8 Hours winner.[1] He died as a result of injuries sustained after a crash during the 2003 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix at Suzuka circuit, Japan.

Daijiro Kato
NationalityJapanese
Born(1976-07-04)4 July 1976
Saitama, Japan
Died20 April 2003(2003-04-20) (aged 26)
Suzuka, Japan
Bike number74 (retired in honour)
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years1996–2003
First race1996 250cc Japanese Grand Prix
Last race2003 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix
First win1997 250cc Japanese Grand Prix
Last win2001 250cc Brazilian Grand Prix
Team(s)Honda
Championships1
250cc: 2001
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
53 17 27 11 11 775

Career

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.[1] In the 250cc class, Kato finished third after debuting at his home circuit of Suzuka Circuit.[1] 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.[1] He won four races that season (of which two in Japan), and placed third in the championship He also scored at all the races in the 2000 Season [1] In 2001, he dominated the 250cc championship. He won no fewer than 11 races, a record in 250cc and still stands today after the class became Moto2, and easily won the title.[1] In that season he also 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 motorcycle 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 He took pole at his home race at the motegi track.[1]

For 2003, Kato remained at the Gresini team, now with sponsorship from Telefónica movistar brought by new teammate Sete Gibernau joining from Suzuki.

Death

On 6 April 2003, during the first race of the MotoGP season at the Japanese Grand Prix held at the Suzuka Circuit, Kato crashed hard and sustained severe head, neck and chest injuries. He 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 motorcycle, which entered a near high-side state, followed by an uncontrollable oscillating weave resulting in his leaving the track and striking the barrier.[2] Initially he and the bike struck a tire barrier, followed by a foam barrier. There was a gap between the tire and foam barriers, and Kato was severely injured when his head struck the edge of the foam barrier, dislocating the joint between the base of the skull and the cervical spine.[2]

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.[2] Depending on the type of race (endurance or standard), when a motorcycle or rider is incapacitated on the race track, a red flag is waved and the race stopped, or in endurance races and British Superbike Championship events, the safety car is called on the circuit to neutralise the race so the motorcycles are packed-up behind the said vehicle at slow speeds, 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."[2]

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, thereafter wore 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 Okada and the others returned to the pits with their broken bikes, Okada 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, he 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. The FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend". Satoshi Motoyama, a fellow Japanese racer driving in the Super GT and a childhood friend of Kato had the latter's racing number on his helmet ever since Kato's death.[3]

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

Career 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

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season
Season Class Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd
1996 250cc Honda NSR250 Team Kotake 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 Castrol Honda 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 Telefónica Movistar Honda 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 Telefónica Movistar Honda 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Total 53 17 27 11 11 775

Races by year[1]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Pts
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 NC 0
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See also

References
  1. "Daijiro Kato career statistics". motogp.com. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  2. "Report on the Results of Daijiro Kato's Accident at the Japanese Grand Prix" (PDF). moto-net.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 July 2004. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  3. "MotoGP Legends". motogp.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
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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