Makoto Tamada

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

Career

Early career After a junior career in minibikes, Tamada won a regional 250cc championship in 1994. He then spent four years in the main Japanese 250cc series, finishing fourth on a private bike in 1998. He entered the MFJ Superbike championship in 1999. He finished in the championship top-five for the next four 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 Tamada a call up to MotoGP in 2003, for Pramac Honda. The first season was a learning year, peaking with a third 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 sixth 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 Tamada in mind, and he spent two years there using Michelin rubber. Unfortunately, a broken wrist sustained early in the season prevented him from reaching the championship top-ten, although he did finish third at his home race. He was also short of top results in 2006. At the Sachsenring, he ran third early on, and was still in the top-six when he went out wide to avoid Kenny Roberts, Jr. crashing, only to be hit by the American's riderless bike.

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

Superbike World Championship Tamada was left with no options in MotoGP so for 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 Corse team and Kawasaki’s mutual commitment to gain success in the forthcoming season."

Tamada joined the Italian factory supported Kawasaki team, PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse, where he piloted the all-new 2008 Kawasaki ZX-10R along with Frenchman Regis Laconi, who rode for them in both and . 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 would be taken by former MotoGP rider Chris Vermeulen.

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 would race in the Nurburgring round of the 2011 Superbike World Championship for the Castrol Honda team. He replaced Rubén Xaus, who was 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 raced with Honda CBR250R, and two riders from each Asian country was 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. His teammates were Malaysian rider, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and Japanese veteran, Chojun Kameya. They qualified 10th, but early mechanical problems forced them to a 25th-place 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, Tamada 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

Grand Prix motorcycle racing By season

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 250cc Honda JPN16 MAL SPA ITA FRA MAD NED GBR GER CZE IMO CAT AUS ARG NC 0 2003 MotoGP Honda JPNRet RSA14 SPA6 FRARet ITA4 CAT7 NED16 GBR13 GER13 CZE9 POR10 BRA3 PACDSQ MAL10 AUS10 VAL10 11th 87 2004 MotoGP Honda RSA8 SPARet FRA9 ITARet CATRet NED12 BRA1 GER6 GBR14 CZE4 POR2 JPN1 QAT10 MAL5 AUS8 VAL5 6th 150 2005 MotoGP Honda SPA8 PORDNS CHN FRA ITA8 CATRet NED14 USA7 GBR7 GER10 CZE10 JPN3 MAL12 QATRet AUS8 TUR9 VAL9 11th 91 MotoGP Honda SPA10 QAT14 TUR10 CHN6 FRA7 ITA9 CAT7 NED11 GBR11 GERRet USA11 CZE13 MAL14 AUS10 JPN10 POR5 VAL12 12th 96 2007 MotoGP Yamaha QAT16 SPA14 TUR14 CHNRet FRA9 ITA15 CAT12 GBR15 NED13 GER13 USA8 CZE17 RSM14 PORRet JPN12 AUS16 MAL18 VAL15 18th 38

Superbike World Championship 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 JPN10 JPN10 38th 12 2000 Honda RSA RSA AUS AUS JPN7 JPNRet 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 JPN1 JPN1 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 JPN2 JPN1 ITA ITA GBR GBR GER GER SMR SMR USA USA GBR GBR GER GER NED NED ITA ITA 18th 45 2008 Kawasaki QATRet QAT12 AUSRet AUS14 SPA9 SPARet NED8 NED9 ITARet ITARet USA19 USA13 GER9 GER13 SMRRet SMRRet CZE16 CZE17 GBR18 GBR18 EURRet EUR16 ITA20 ITA19 FRA18 FRA18 POR19 POR24 20th 41 2009 Kawasaki AUS18 AUS17 QATDNS QATDNS SPA14 SPARet NED17 NEDRet ITADNS ITADNS RSA RSA USA USA SMR SMR GBR GBR CZE10 CZERet GERDNS GERDNS ITARet ITADNS FRA FRA POR12 POR16 27th 12 2010 BMW AUS AUS PORRet POR19 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 GER17 GERRet ITA ITA FRA FRA POR POR NC 0