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
Ehime Prefecture, Japan
Websitetamayangp.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years1998, 20032007
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 years19992002, 20082011
ManufacturersHonda, Kawasaki, BMW
Championships0
2011 championship positionNC (0 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
51 3 4 1 3 169

Career

Early career

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. 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

Career highlights

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

By season

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

(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

Races by year

(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

  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.
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