Takazumi Katayama (片山敬済, born April 16, 1951) is a former Japanese-Korean professional motorcycle racer and motorcycle racing team manager. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle road racing world championships from to . In 1977, Katayama became the first Japanese competitor to win an FIM road racing World Championship.
Motorcycle racing career Katayama was born on April 16, 1951, in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan to a Zainichi Korean family. In his first season of World Championship competition, Katayama rode a Yamaha to secure his first victory at the 250cc Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp.
Katayama was one of the few World Championship contenders to defy convention and compete in the Isle of Man TT when most top riders chose to boycott the event due to safety issues. In his first appearance at the difficult-to-master Isle of Man TT Mountain Course in 1976, Katayama scored an impressive fourth place in the 500cc Senior TT along with a second place in the 250cc Lightweight TT and a ninth-place in the 350cc Junior TT.
Katayama was the first Asian rider to win an FIM road racing World Championship when he claimed the 350cc World Championship aboard a Yamaha. In , he accepted an offer from Honda to develop their exotic oval-cylinder, four-stroke NR500 motorcycle. After retiring from competition, Katayama became a motorcycle Grand Prix racing team owner.
Career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Machine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pts 250cc Yamaha GER NAT IOM NEDRet BEL3 SWE1 FIN5 CZE2 YUGRet SPARet 4th 43 250cc Yamaha FRADNQ NAT2 YUGRet IOM2 NED2 BEL3 SWE1 FIN2 CZE3 GER7 SPA 2nd 73 350cc Yamaha FRA4 AUTRet NAT10 YUG3 IOM9 NEDRet FINDNS CZE11 GER4 SPA 7th 28 500cc Yamaha FRA AUTDNS NAT IOM4 NED BELRet SWE FINRet CZE GER 26th 8 250cc Yamaha VEN GERRet NAT8 SPA1 FRA8 YUG2 NED6 BEL2 SWE4 FINRet CZERet GBRRet 4th 58 350cc Yamaha VEN GER1 NAT3 SPA3 FRA1 YUG1 NEDRet SWE1 FIN1 CZERet GBRRet 1st 95 500cc Yamaha VEN AUTDNS GER NAT FRA NED BELRet SWE FIN CZE GBR NC 0 350cc Yamaha VEN1 AUT3 FRARet NAT3 NEDRet SWE3 FIN2 GBRRet GER1 CZE6 YUG 2nd 77 500cc Yamaha VENRet SPA3 AUTRet FRARet NATRet NED4 BEL6 SWE3 FIN2 GBR9 GER5 5th 53 350cc Yamaha VEN AUTRet GER NAT SPA YUG NED FIN GBR CZE FRA NC 0 500cc Honda VEN AUT GER NAT SPA YUG NED BEL SWE FIN GBRRet FRADNQ NC 0 500cc Suzuki NAT6 SPA4 FRA6 NEDRet BEL GER12 10th 18 Honda FINDNS GBR15 500cc Honda AUT13 GERRet NATRet FRARet YUG NEDRet BEL RSM GBR FIN SWE NC 0 500cc Honda ARG6 AUT9 FRADNS SPA6 NAT7 NED8 BELRet YUG5 GBRRet SWE1 RSMRet GER4 7th 48 500cc Honda RSARet FRARet NAT5 GER2 SPA3 AUT4 YUG5 NED2 BEL4 GBR6 SWE3 RSMDNS 5th 77 500cc Honda RSA NAT SPA AUT GER FRADNS YUG NED8 BEL GBR8 SWE4 RSMRet 13th 14 500cc Honda RSA SPARet GER11 NATDNS AUT14 YUGRet NEDRet BEL8 FRA GBR SWE RSM 17th 3Sources:
References
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