(born November 4, 1976 in

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku in Japan and also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243541 househo ...

Ehime Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,342,011 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Tok ...

, Japan) is a former Japanese professional

motorcycle racer Motorcycle racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) is the motorcycle sport of racing motorcycles. Major varieties include motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Oth ...

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 Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

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

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 Colin Edwards II (born February 27, 1974), nicknamed the "Texas Tornado", is an American former professional motorcycle racer who retired half-way through the 2014 season, but continues in the sport as a factory test rider. He is a two-time W ...

Troy Bayliss Troy Bayliss (born 30 March 1969 in Taree, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian motorcycle racer. During his career Bayliss won the Superbike World Championship three times and a MotoGP race, all with Ducati. He finished his career aft ...

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 is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

. The first season was a learning year, peaking with a 3rd place at

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

and two front row starts, finishing 11th overall. He joined

Sito Pons Alfonso Pons Ezquerra (Barcelona 9 November 1959), better known as Sito Pons, is a Spanish former professional Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He competed in the FIM motorcycle Grand Prix world championships from 1981 to 1991. Pons is notable for ...

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a year later. 2004 was his strongest MotoGP season to date, with wins at

and Motegi and 6th overall. He was the only

rider to use Bridgestone tyres, which appear to suit his style. The

Konica Minolta is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Marunouchi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, with offices in 49 countries worldwide. The company manufactures business and industrial imaging products, in ...

team was formed in late 2004 with him in mind, and he spent 2 years there using Michelin rubber. Unfortunately a broken

wrist In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as (1) the carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand; "The wrist contains eight bones, roughly aligned in two rows, known as the carp ...

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 The Sachsenring () is a motorsport racing circuit located in Hohenstein-Ernstthal near Chemnitz in Saxony, Germany. Among other events, it features the annual German motorcycle Grand Prix of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world champ ...

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 Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

team in MotoGP using Dunlop tyres, alongside French rider

Sylvain Guintoli Sylvain Guintoli (born 24 June 1982 in Montélimar) is a French professional motorcycle racer. He was FIM World Superbike Champion in 2014. He is contracted to the Suzuki MotoGP team as a test rider with occasional race entries, as a wild card ...

. 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 he turned his focus on the

. 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 The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is a motorcycle in the Ninja sport bike series from the Japanese manufacturer Kawasaki, the successor to the Ninja ZX-9R. It was originally released in 2004 and has been updated and revised throughout the years. It co ...

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 Broc Parkes (born 24 December 1981) is an Australian motorcycle racer, best known for his success in the Supersport World Championship. He currently races in the Endurance FIM World Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1. During 2015 he raced i ...

. 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 Chris Vermeulen (born 19 June 1982) is a retired Australian motorcycle racer who last competed in the World Superbike Championship for the works Kawasaki team, perhaps best-known for winning the 2007 French Grand Prix in MotoGP. Vermeulen was b ...

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 Tadayuki 'Taddy' Okada (born February 13, 1967) is a Japanese former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was runner-up in the 1994 250cc and in the 1997 500cc World Championship. Early career Okada won the 250cc All Japan Road R ...

and

Takumi Takahashi is a Japanese motorcycle racer. He competes in the British Superbike Championship on a factory-supported Honda Fireblade. Takahashi has raced in the All Japan Road Race Championship in the GP125 class, in the GP250 class, where he was champion ...

. 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 (born September 23, 1982 in Saitama, Japan) is a professional motorcycle road racer. He previously rode a Honda CBR1000RR in the MFJ All-Japan Road Race JSB1000 Championship. He was the 2006, 2007 and 2010 British Superbike champion an ...

, 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 The Honda RS250R was a race motorcycle manufactured by Honda to race in the 250cc class of the Grand Prix motorcycle World Championship. It was conceived as a ''production racer'' for customer teams and privateer riders, while factory-supported te ...

1996–14th, All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship #11

1997–6th, All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship #14

1998–4th, All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship #6

1999–5th, All Japan Road Race Superbike Championship #100

Honda RVF750 RC45 The Honda RVF750R RC45 was a fully faired racing motorcycle created for homologation purposes for the Superbike World Championship by Honda Racing Corporation. The RVF750R was the successor to the VFR750R RC30 (not to be confused with the sport ...

2000–3rd, All Japan Road Race Superbike Championship #100

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 The Honda RC211V is a 990 cc (60 cu in) four-stroke race motorcycle from HRC ( Honda Racing Corporation) developed in 2001 to replace the two-stroke Honda NSR500. It was developed as a direct result of major changes to the regulations for the Wor ...

2004–6th, MotoGP #6

2005–11th, MotoGP #6

2006–12th, MotoGP #6

2007–18th, MotoGP #6

Yamaha YZR-M1 The Yamaha YZR-M1 is an inline-four motorcycle specifically developed by Yamaha Motor Company to race in the current MotoGP series. It succeeded the YZR500 by the 2002 season and was originally developed with a engine. Since then, the YZR-M1 ...

2008–20th,

#100

2009–27th,

#100

2011–3rd, Suzuka 8 Hours #634

Honda CBR1000RR The Honda CBR1000RR, marketed in some countries as the "Fireblade" (capitalized as FireBlade until the 2000s), is a liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder superbike, introduced by Honda in 2004 as the 7th generation of the CBR series of motorcycles ...

2012–25th, Suzuka 8 Hours #25

2013–8th, Asia Road Race SS600 Championship #100

Honda CBR600RR The Honda CBR600RR is a sport bike made by Honda since 2003, part of the CBR series. The CBR600RR was marketed as Honda's top-of-the-line middleweight sport bike, succeeding the 2002 Supersport World Champion 2001–2006 CBR600F4i, which was t ...

2014–6th, Asia Road Race SS600 Championship #100

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Races by year

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

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

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

References

External links

* *
speedofjapan.com
Speed of Japan {{DEFAULTSORT:Tamada, Makoto 1976 births Living people Tech3 MotoGP riders Superbike World Championship riders People from Matsuyama, Ehime Japanese motorcycle racers Pramac Racing MotoGP riders MotoGP World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders