Wikipedia

Makoto Tamada

Makoto Tamada (玉田誠) (born November 4, 1976, in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is a former Japanese professional motorcycle racer currently working as a rider instructor in Suzuka Racing School. He is one of the few riders to win races in both MotoGP and Superbike World Championship.

Makoto Tamada
Tamada in 2006
NationalityJapanese
Born (1976-11-04) November 4, 1976 (age 48)
Ehime Prefecture, Japan
Websitetamayangp.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years1998, 2003–2007
First race1998 250cc Japanese Grand Prix
Last race2007 MotoGP Valencian Grand Prix
First win2004 MotoGP Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix
Last win2004 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix
Team(s)Honda, Yamaha
Championships0
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
82 2 5 3 2 462
Superbike World Championship
Active years1999–2002, 2008–2011
ManufacturersHonda, Kawasaki, BMW
Championships0
2011 championship positionNC (0 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
51 3 4 1 3 169

Career

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Early career

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After a junior career in minibikes, he won a regional 250cc championship in 1994. He then spent 4 years in the main Japanese 250cc series, finishing 4th on a private bike in 1998. He entered the MFJ Superbike championship in 1999. He finished in the championship top 5 for the next 4 years, but came to international fame as a wild card in the Superbike World Championship round at Sugo, upsetting the regulars to win both races in 2001, and a further race in 2002, being the only rider other than Colin Edwards or Troy Bayliss to have won a race during the 2002 season.

MotoGP World Championship

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This helped earn him a call up to MotoGP in 2003, for Pramac Honda. The first season was a learning year, peaking with a 3rd place at Rio and two front row starts, finishing 11th overall. He joined Sito Pons' Camel Honda a year later. 2004 was his strongest MotoGP season to date, with wins at Rio and Motegi and 6th overall. He was the only Honda rider to use Bridgestone tyres, which appear to suit his style.

The Konica Minolta Honda team was formed in late 2004 with him in mind, and he spent 2 years there using Michelin rubber. Unfortunately a broken wrist sustained early in the season prevented him from reaching the championship top 10, although he did finish 3rd at his home race. He was also short of top results in 2006. At the Sachsenring he ran 3rd early on, and was still in the top 6 when he went out wide to avoid Kenny Roberts, Jr. crashing, only to be hit by the American's riderless bike.

In 2007 he joined the Tech 3 Yamaha team in MotoGP using Dunlop tyres, alongside French rider Sylvain Guintoli.[1] He was generally outpaced by his rookie teammate and finished the season 18th.

Superbike World Championship

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He was left with no options in MotoGP so for 2008 he turned his focus on the Superbike World Championship. Kawasaki expressed their desire to hire him, quoting: "Tamada has been a target for Kawasaki for some time and his signing consolidates the PSG-1 team and Kawasaki’s mutual commitment to gain success in the forthcoming season."

He joins the Italian factory supported Kawasaki team, PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse, where he will pilot the all-new 2008 Kawasaki ZX-10R along with Frenchman Regis Laconi who rode for them in both 2006 and 2007.[2] For 2009 he remained a factory Kawasaki rider, as they switched their support to the English Paul Bird Motorsport team, alongside Australian Broc Parkes.

On October 6, 2009, Kawasaki announced that Tamada would not be offered a contract for 2010. His place will be taken by former MotoGP rider Chris Vermeulen.[3]

2010

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In 2010 Tamada returned to WSBK in a one-off outing for the Reitwagen BMW team at Portimao in Portugal. He retired from the first race and finished 19th in the second race.

2011

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On July 31, 2011, Tamada competed in the Suzuka 8 Hour race for the Musashi RT Harc-Pro team. He rode alongside former 500cc racer Tadayuki Okada and Takumi Takahashi. The team eventually took third position in the race, roughly one and a half minutes after the winning team finished.

In late August it was announced that Tamada will race in the Nurburgring round of the 2011 World Superbike Championship for the Castrol Honda team. He will replace Spaniard Ruben Xaus who is sitting out the race due to a back injury.

2012

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Tamada was appointed official trainer of the inaugural Asia Dream Cup season by Honda in 2012. The Asia Dream Cup races with Honda CBR250R. Two riders from each Asian country is selected. Tamada was appointed to train the young riders to one day become a World Championship rider.

In July, Tamada competed in the Suzuka 8 Hours with Honda Team Asia. Teammates were Malaysian rider, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and Japanese veteran, Chojun Kameya. They qualified 10th. Early mechanical problems forced them to a 25th finish.

2013

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Honda and Tamada's agency, Speed of Japan both announced Tamada's full time ride in the Asia Road Racing Championship in the Supersports 600 class with MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing, the factory team for Honda in the series.[4] He is replacing in Ryuichi Kiyonari, who won the title in 2012 and has gone back to BSB in 2013.

Tamada, stating that it took him more time to get used to a 600cc machine at the beginning of the season, actually made it fast. He got his first podium finish at Race 2 of Round 1 in Sepang. He then got his first win at Race 1 at Round 3, and went on winning Race 2.

However, he suffered the later half of the season from injuries he got from a crash during the Suzuka 8 Hours practice. Fractures of the left clavicle and scapula, as well as fractures on the left ankle were found. Furthermore, a minor amputation of the left middle finger was found. This made Tamada pull out of the Suzuka 8 Hours race, as well as, Round 4 and 5 of the Asia Road Racing Championship.

Career statistics

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Career highlights

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1995–11th, All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship #73 Honda RS250R
1996–14th, All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship #11 Honda RS250R
1997–6th, All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship #14 Honda RS250R
1998–4th, All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship #6 Honda RS250R
1999–5th, All Japan Road Race Superbike Championship #100 Honda RVF750 RC45
2000–3rd, All Japan Road Race Superbike Championship #100 Honda RVF750 RC45
2001–2nd, All Japan Road Race Superbike Championship #100 Honda VTR1000F
2002–4th, All Japan Road Race Superbike Championship #100 Honda VTR1000F
2003–11th, MotoGP #6 Honda RC211V
2004–6th, MotoGP #6 Honda RC211V
2005–11th, MotoGP #6 Honda RC211V
2006–12th, MotoGP #6 Honda RC211V
2007–18th, MotoGP #6 Yamaha YZR-M1
2008–20th, Superbike World Championship #100 Kawasaki ZX-10R
2009–27th, Superbike World Championship #100 Kawasaki ZX-10R
2011–3rd, Suzuka 8 Hours #634 Honda CBR1000RR
2012–25th, Suzuka 8 Hours #25 Honda CBR1000RR
2013–8th, Asia Road Race SS600 Championship #100 Honda CBR600RR
2014–6th, Asia Road Race SS600 Championship #100 Honda CBR600RR

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

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By season

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Season Class Motorcycle Team Number Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd WCh
1998 250cc Honda NSR250 Team Kotake 53 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC  –
2003 MotoGP Honda RC211V Pramac Honda 6 16 0 1 0 0 87 11th  –
2004 MotoGP Honda RC211V Camel Honda 6 16 2 3 3 2 150 6th  –
2005 MotoGP Honda RC211V Konica Minolta Honda 6 14 0 1 0 0 91 11th  –
2006 MotoGP Honda RC211V Konica Minolta Honda 6 17 0 0 0 0 96 12th  –
2007 MotoGP Yamaha YZR-M1 Dunlop Yamaha Tech3 6 18 0 0 0 0 38 18th  –
Total 82 2 5 3 2 462 0

Races by year

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(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 17 18 Pos Pts
1998 250cc Honda JPN
16 		MAL SPA ITA FRA MAD NED GBR GER CZE IMO CAT AUS ARG NC 0
2003 MotoGP Honda JPN
Ret 		RSA
14 		SPA
6 		FRA
Ret 		ITA
4 		CAT
7 		NED
16 		GBR
13 		GER
13 		CZE
9 		POR
10 		BRA
3 		PAC
DSQ 		MAL
10 		AUS
10 		VAL
10 		11th 87
2004 MotoGP Honda RSA
8 		SPA
Ret 		FRA
9 		ITA
Ret 		CAT
Ret 		NED
12 		BRA
1 		GER
6 		GBR
14 		CZE
4 		POR
2 		JPN
1 		QAT
10 		MAL
5 		AUS
8 		VAL
5 		6th 150
2005 MotoGP Honda SPA
8 		POR
DNS 		CHN FRA ITA
8 		CAT
Ret 		NED
14 		USA
7 		GBR
7 		GER
10 		CZE
10 		JPN
3 		MAL
12 		QAT
Ret 		AUS
8 		TUR
9 		VAL
9 		11th 91
2006 MotoGP Honda SPA
10 		QAT
14 		TUR
10 		CHN
6 		FRA
7 		ITA
9 		CAT
7 		NED
11 		GBR
11 		GER
Ret 		USA
11 		CZE
13 		MAL
14 		AUS
10 		JPN
10 		POR
5 		VAL
12 		12th 96
2007 MotoGP Yamaha QAT
16 		SPA
14 		TUR
14 		CHN
Ret 		FRA
9 		ITA
15 		CAT
12 		GBR
15 		NED
13 		GER
13 		USA
8 		CZE
17 		RSM
14 		POR
Ret 		JPN
12 		AUS
16 		MAL
18 		VAL
15 		18th 38

Superbike World Championship

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Races by year

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

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
1999 Honda RSA RSA AUS AUS GBR GBR SPA SPA ITA ITA GER GER SMR SMR USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED GER GER JPN
10 		JPN
10 		38th 12
2000 Honda RSA RSA AUS AUS JPN
7 		JPN
Ret 		GBR GBR ITA ITA GER GER SMR SMR SPA SPA USA USA EUR EUR NED NED GER GER GBR GBR 37th 9
2001 Honda SPA SPA RSA RSA AUS AUS JPN
1 		JPN
1 		ITA ITA GBR GBR GER GER SMR SMR USA USA EUR EUR GER GER NED NED ITA ITA 15th 50
2002 Honda SPA SPA AUS AUS RSA RSA JPN
2 		JPN
1 		ITA ITA GBR GBR GER GER SMR SMR USA USA GBR GBR GER GER NED NED ITA ITA 18th 45
2008 Kawasaki QAT
Ret 		QAT
12 		AUS
Ret 		AUS
14 		SPA
9 		SPA
Ret 		NED
8 		NED
9 		ITA
Ret 		ITA
Ret 		USA
19 		USA
13 		GER
9 		GER
13 		SMR
Ret 		SMR
Ret 		CZE
16 		CZE
17 		GBR
18 		GBR
18 		EUR
Ret 		EUR
16 		ITA
20 		ITA
19 		FRA
18 		FRA
18 		POR
19 		POR
24 		20th 41
2009 Kawasaki AUS
18 		AUS
17 		QAT
DNS 		QAT
DNS 		SPA
14 		SPA
Ret 		NED
17 		NED
Ret 		ITA
DNS 		ITA
DNS 		RSA RSA USA USA SMR SMR GBR GBR CZE
10 		CZE
Ret 		GER
DNS 		GER
DNS 		ITA
Ret 		ITA
DNS 		FRA FRA POR
12 		POR
16 		27th 12
2010 BMW AUS AUS POR
Ret 		POR
19 		SPA SPA NED NED ITA ITA RSA RSA USA USA SMR SMR CZE CZE GBR GBR GER GER ITA ITA FRA FRA NC 0
2011 Honda AUS AUS EUR EUR NED NED ITA ITA USA USA SMR SMR SPA SPA CZE CZE GBR GBR GER
17 		GER
Ret 		ITA ITA FRA FRA POR POR NC 0

References

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  1. ^ Tamada to replace Checa at Tech3 bbc.co.uk
  2. ^ Tamada to ride for Kawasaki in 2008 SBK Championship kawasaki-racingteam.eu
  3. ^ "Vermeulen WSB Kawasaki switch confirmed". Insidebikes. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  4. ^ "Speed of Japan".
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