Daijirō Katō
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 Japan
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| Motorcycle world championship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| World title: | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Cup points: | 775 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Podiums: | 27 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Daijirō Katō ( Japanese 加藤 大 治郎 , Katō Daijirō ; * July 4, 1976 in Urawa (today: Saitama ), Saitama Prefecture , Japan ; † April 20, 2003 in Yokkaichi , Mie Prefecture , Japan) was a Japanese motorcycle racer .
Career
Daijirō Katō's career began at the age of three on a pocket bike , he contested his first race at the age of five and won his first Grand Prix in the 250 cc class of the motorcycle world championship at the age of 16 . In 1996 , 1997 and 1998 he played so-called wildcard appearances in the World Cup; he won two races and came third. In 1999 he was championship runner-up in the "All Japan Championship".
In 2000 , as a regular rookie in the 250 cm³ class, he was already third in the World Cup and won the Grand Prix in Suzuka , Estoril , Rio de Janeiro and Motegi . In 2001 he became the superior world champion in the 250 cm³ class with his Honda NSR 250 .
In 2002 he moved up to the MotoGP class, drove the defeated Honda NSR 500 to seventh place overall and was also “ Rookie of the Year ”.
In the 2003 season Katō received competitive material from Honda with the RC211V . At the opening race on April 6, 2003 in Suzuka, he fell on the third lap while approaching the Casio Triangle chicane in front of the start and finish straight. At around 190 km / h, the machine skidded sharply to the left into a concrete wall around a meter from the track. Kato was seriously injured and catapulted back onto the track with a broken helmet, but was rescued by the marshals in good time before the arrival of the following drivers. He died around 13 days later, on the night of April 20, 2003, in Yokkaichi Central Hospital without first waking up from the coma. In addition to his wife, Kato left two children - a son and a daughter who was only twelve days old at the time.
There is no clear description of the cause of the accident; Depending on the source, there is talk of a driving error (braking too late after the quick left bend 130R ) or a mechanical defect. After this accident, the track was no longer used for motorcycle world championship races.
Sporting successes
| year | successes |
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| 1994 |
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| 1995 |
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| 1996 |
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| 1997 |
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| 1998 |
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| 1999 |
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| 2000 |
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| 2001 |
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| 2002 |
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| 2003 |
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Web links
- Daijirō Katō. www.motorsportmemorial.org, accessed on December 2, 2018 (English).
- Daijirō Katō on the official website of the Motorcycle World Championship (English).
| personal data | |
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| SURNAME | Katō, Daijirō |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 加藤 大 治郎 (Japanese) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Japanese motorcycle racer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th July 1976 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Urawa (today: Saitama ), Japan |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 20, 2003 |
| Place of death | Yokkaichi , Japan |