Kazuto Sakata

Sakata on Aprilia at the 1994 Japanese Grand Prix

Kazuto Sakata ( Japanese 坂 田 和 人 , Sakata Kazuto ; born August 15, 1966 in Tokyo , Japan ) is a former Japanese motorcycle racer .

In 1994 and 1998 he became world champion on Aprilia in the 125 cm³ class of the motorcycle world championship .

Career

Kazuto Sakata began his career in the Japanese 125 cc championship , which he won in 1990. In the motorcycle world championship he made his debut at the relatively old age of 25, in 1991 at the Japanese Grand Prix on a Honda in the class up to 125 cc. He first drew attention to himself at the last race of the season, the Malaysian Grand Prix , when he took pole position and later finished second in the race behind world champion Loris Capirossi . In the overall ranking he finished 13th with 55 points.

The following season was less promising for Sakata, despite three pole positions, he could not take a podium and finished 14th overall with 42 points. Therefore, at the end of the season, he thought of withdrawing from the World Cup.

For the 1993 season Sakata did compete, again on a Honda, and experienced the most successful season of his career, although he did not become world champion. After three second places at the start of the season, he achieved his first ever victory in the fourth race of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix , just ahead of the German Ralf Waldmann . At the race in Brno in the Czech Republic , his second later followed. The Japanese crossed the finish line in all 14 races this year, finished 13 times on the podium and was 14 points behind his team-mate Dirk Raudies as Vice World Champion.

Despite the very successful season on Honda, Sakata decided to switch to Aprilia for the 1994 season . In his first year for the Italian manufacturer, he was able to win the world title. With three wins, a total of eight podium places and seven pole positions, he won with a clear 30-point lead over his compatriot Noboru Ueda .

In the following season it was enough for Kazuto Sakata with two wins, but 74 points behind world champion Haruchika Aoki to the runner-up in the world championship. In the 1996 season he got only two third places and he finished eighth overall. In 1997 Sakata went uphill again, he made it onto the podium seven times and achieved fourth place in the World Championship.

In the 1998 season Sakata was able to win his second world title on Aprilia in the UGT 3000 team. After last year's world champion, Valentino Rossi , had switched to the 250 cc class, he immediately started the season with a win at his home Grand Prix. In the first part of the season he won a total of four races, in the second his performance dropped a bit and his closest competitor, compatriot Tomomi Manako , came close to him in the overall standings. Ultimately, Sakata managed to get a lead of twelve points and thus his second 125cc title to the finish.

For the 1999 season, Kazuto Sakata then switched back to Honda and started for the MTP team of Paolo Pileri , the 125cc world champion from 1975 . However, he did not make it to the podium once this year, his best result was a seventh place at the Grand Prix of Catalonia . Sakata finally finished with a disappointing 14th place in the overall standings with only 56 points and then ended his career.

Overall, Kazuto Sakata played 107 125 cc Grand Prix in his career, of which he was able to win eleven. He made it onto the podium 41 times, achieved 29 pole positions and 29 fastest race laps .

successes

• 1990 - Japanese 125cc champion
• 1993 - 125 cc vice world champion on a Honda
• 1994 - 125 cc world champion on Aprilia
• 1995 - 125 cc vice world champion on Aprilia
• 1998 - 125 cc world champion on Aprilia

Web links

• Official Website (Japanese)
• Kazuto Sakata on the motorcycle world championship official website.