Who was that rider and what happened?!?

Question

okey... in 2003 he was racing in the moto gp class. It must have been a bad track because many people fell and this guy died. So what happened?! And is it the first person who died while racing in Moto GP ?

Answer 1

Do you mean Kato?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daijiro_Kat...

The man was a god on a 250 & would be up there with the best on a MOTOGP bike aswell.

This next clip is very upsetting as it shows his crash:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CSD4DZOvv5...

This one is much better as its a tribute video:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CiuG_wix-F...

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Kato

Answer 3

It led to a lot of concern about the track (I think it was a new chicane that it happened at) and the handling of the incident by the Marshals that may have worsened Katos condition. There was also some speculation if it may have been a technical problem as the 4 strokes were new at the time.He didnt die immediately but was in fact comatose for a few days.

Seti Gibernau (the remaining team rider had quite a good year after that (wore a no 74 on his suit afterwards in memory) and some of that may have been as a result of the extra attention he had from the team as the only rider. He always gave a little gesture to acknowledge Kato afterwards on the podium.

I still have a commemorative Kato Lid  (Silver and Blue Aria). I believe he was considered one of Japans best riders and would likely have been up there with the best riders had this not happened.

The incident probably led to more attention being paid to the riders concern for track safety afterwards.