Tomomi Manako

is a Japanese former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1994 to 1999. Manako is notable for finishing in the top three of the 125cc world championship for three consecutive years, narrowly missing out on the title in 1998.

Early career Manako began racing at the relatively late age of 21, competing in the Kyushu Area and Suzuka Area Championship.

1994 Manako began competing at national level in the 125cc All-Japan Road Racing Championship and finished the season 7th. Spotted by Honda, he was offered a ride on an RVF750 in the Suzuka 8 Hour Endurance race. Partnered by Tekeshi Tsujimura he finished in 13th place. Midway through the year he was offered a Honda ride in the 125cc World Championship with the FCC Technical Sports team as a replacement for their injured rider Tomoko Igata. He finished 3rd in his first race and ended the season 20th overall.

1995 Now a full-time Grand Prix rider with the team, Manako scored two more 3rd positions and was consistently finishing inside the Top 10. He finished the season 8th overall, and won the Rookie of the Year award. He again rode in the Suzuka 8 Hour with Tsujimura finishing 15th on board an RVF750.

1996 Moving to the UGT Europa team, Manako visited the podium four times, one of which was his maiden Grand Prix win at the Catalunya Grand Prix. He finished 3rd in the Championship and won the IRTA Cup. He was now firmly established as one of the top riders in the 125cc class.

1997 The team was now named UGT 3000, and Manako again had an impressive run of form. While another victory eluded him, he scored four 2nd places and two 3rds to finish yet again 3rd in the Championship.

1998 1998 was the high point of Manako’s career as he put in some outstanding performances in what was to become a dramatic and controversial battle for the title. Apart from 3 DNFs, he never finished off the podium in 14 races, netting 5 wins. His main rival was Kazuto Sakata who had gained an early lead in the title chase. In the second half of the season however, Manako was fast and consistent and had closed the gap considerably. After the penultimate round in the 1998 125cc Australian Grand Prix, a fuel sample was taken from Sakata’s machine which was found to be in breach of technical regulations. He was excluded from the results of the race, thus losing out on 13 points for his 4th place. His Aprilia team lodged an appeal against the decision.

With one round remaining, Manako could still win the title if he won the 1998 125cc Argentine Grand Prix with Sakata finishing lower than 4th. Charging through the pack, Manako took the win, while Sakata could only finish 5th. Bizarrely, though Manako now had one more point than Sakata, he could not be crowned Champion as Sakata’s appeal was still pending. In November 1998 the FIM found in favour of Sakata and restored his 13 points from the Australian Grand Prix. Sakata claimed the 125 title by 12 points.

1999 Manako switched to the 250cc class riding a Yamaha for Team Kurz. However the bike was underpowered and uncompetitive against the works machines of the day, and Manako could only manage a best finish of 8th. He ended his final world championship season in 15th place.

2000 Manako returned to Japanese domestic racing, this time with Kawasaki where he ran a ZX-9R, scoring a 3rd and a 5th. He also piloted a ZX-12R to 14th place in the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race with Shigeru Yamashita.

Post-racing career Manako's association with Kawasaki lead to him becoming Chief Development Rider for their 2007 ZX-6R, launched in December 2006.

Grand Prix career statistics Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Points 25 20 16 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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

Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Points Rank Wins 1994 125cc Honda AUS- MAL- JPN- ESP- AUT- GER3 NEDNC ITA8 FRA- GBR- CZE- USA- ARG- EUR- 24 20th 0 1995 125cc Honda AUS3 MAL24 JPN10 ESP9 GER9 ITA6 NED9 FRA5 GBRNC CZE8 BRA9 ARG9 EUR3 102 8th 0 1996 125cc Honda MAL7 INA7 JPN4 ESP8 ITA9 FRA2 NED5 GER8 GBR3 AUT8 CZE3 IMO6 CAT1 BRANC AUS9 167 3rd 1 1997 125cc Honda MAL7 JPN12 ESP5 ITA5 AUT3 FRA2 NED2 IMO2 GERNC BRA4 GBR8 CZE2 CAT5 INA5 AUS3 190 3rd 0 1998 125cc Honda JPN2 MAL3 ESP2 ITA1 FRANC MADNC NED3 GBRNC GER1 CZENC IMO1 CAT1 AUS2 ARG1 217 2nd 5 1999 250cc Yamaha MALNC JPN8 ESP14 FRA17 ITA13 CAT12 NED13 GBR14 GER14 CZE14 IMO14 VALNC AUS11 RSA12 BRA8 ARG9 52 15th 0