Kazuto Sakata

Kazuto Sakata (坂田 和人, born August 15, 1966 in Kōtō, Tokyo) is a Japanese former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1991 to 1999. Sakata is notable being a two-time F.I.M. 125cc world champion.

Kazuto Sakata
Kazuto Sakata at the 1994 Japanese GP
Nationality	Japanese
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1991 - 1999 First race 1991 125cc Japanese Grand Prix Last race 1999 125cc Argentine Grand Prix First win 1993 125cc Spanish Grand Prix Last win 1998 125cc British Grand Prix Team(s) Honda, Aprilia Championships 125cc - 1994, 1998 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 126 11 41 29 19 687

Motorcycle racing career

Sakata began his Grand Prix career in 1991 and by the 1993 season, finished second to Dirk Raudies in the 125cc class on a Honda. In 1994, he became the first Japanese rider to race for a European factory when he signed with the Aprilia factory. He repaid them by winning the 125cc championship that year. He repeated as champion in 1998 after a tight points battle with Tomomi Manako and Marco Melandri. He retired after the 1999 season.

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Class	Team	Machine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pos	Pts	Wins
1991	125cc	ELF Kepla-Meiko Honda	RS125	JPN Ret	AUS 16	USA	ESP DNS	ITA Ret	GER 10	AUT Ret	EUR 14	NED 11	FRA 7	GBR 8	RSM 8	CZE Ret	VDM	MAL 2		13th	55	0
1992	125cc	F.C.C./T.S. Venus-Honda	RS125	JPN Ret	AUS Ret	MAL 6	ESP 4	ITA Ret	EUR	GER Ret	NED 6	HUN 7	FRA 4	GBR 6	BRA 14	RSA Ret				11th	42	0
1993	125cc	F.C.C. Technical Sports-Honda	RS125	AUS 2	MAL 2	JPN 2	ESP 1	AUT 2	GER 2	NED 2	EUR Ret	RSM 2	GBR 2	CZE 1	ITA 2	USA 2	FIM 3			2nd	266	2
1994	125cc	Semprucci-Aprilia	RS125R	AUS 1	MAL 2	JPN 2	ESP 1	AUT 5	GER 2	NED 4	ITA 2	FRA 3	GBR 4	CZE 1	USA Ret	ARG 9	EUR 7			1st	224	3
1995	125cc	Team Krona-Aprilia	RS125R	AUS 2	MAL 10	JPN 3	ESP 6	GER Ret	ITA 5	NED 4	FRA 12	GBR 1	CZE 1	BRA Ret	ARG Ret	EUR 4				2nd	140	2
1996	125cc	Aprilia	RS125R	MAL 10	INA 14	JPN Ret	ESP 5	ITA 3	FRA 8	NED 7	GER 11	GBR 5	AUT 9	CZE 4	IMO 12	CAT 3	BRA 11	AUS Ret		8th	113	0
1997	125cc	Aprilia	RS125R	MAL 2	JPN 2	ESP 7	ITA 6	AUT 6	FRA Ret	NED 3	IMO 3	GER Ret	BRA 5	GBR Ret	CZE 9	CAT 2	INA 2	AUS 2		4th	179	0
1998	125cc	Aprilia	RS125R	JPN 1	MAL 6	ESP 1	ITA 4	FRA 1	MAD 4	NED 2	GBR 1	GER 7	CZE 2	IMO 4	CAT 9	AUS 4	ARG 5			1st	229	4
1999	125cc	Honda	RS125	MAL 10	JPN 8	ESP 13	FRA 9	ITA 8	CAT 7	NED 10	GBR 13	GER 19	CZE Ret	IMO Ret	VAL 12	AUS 13	RSA 15	BRA 17	ARG Ret	14th	56	0

References