was a Grand Prix

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

road racer born in Chiba, Japan. He competed in 250cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing from 1995 to 1998. He was killed in an accident during tyre testing for Dunlop at

Okayama International Circuit Okayama International Circuit (岡山国際サーキット), formerly known as TI Circuit Aida (TIサーキット英田) before 2005, is a private motorsport race track in Mimasaka, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. TI was the abbreviation of "Tanak ...

in Japan.

Early career

He competed in the 250cc All-Japan Road Racing Championship from 1991 to 1996. In 1993 he was signed by Suzuki who were entering the Championship for the first time with the RGV250. Numata took the machine to its first victory at Round 9 of the championship. He went on to give Suzuki its first ever 250cc national title in 1995, beating Honda’s

Tohru Ukawa (born May 18, 1973) is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Japan. Ukawa began his Grand Prix career in 1994, racing in the 250cc world championships. He finished second to Valentino Rossi in the 1999 World Championship. In 2002, ...

, and repeated the feat again the following year beating future 250cc World Champion

Daijiro Kato was a Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, the 2001 250cc world champion, and the 2000 and 2002 Suzuka 8 Hours winner. He died as a result of injuries sustained after a crash during the 2003 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit ...

Grand Prix Career

He got a wild card ride in both the

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

and 1996

Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the Japanese Gran ...

and while a non-finisher in 1995, rode an impressive race in 1996 to finish 2nd behind then 250cc World Champion

Max Biaggi Massimiliano "Max" Biaggi (; born 26 June 1971) is an Italian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who achieved six World Championships. With four 250 cc road race titles and two in World Superbikes, he is one of only two ri ...

. Numata then competed for two years in the 250cc World Championships with Suzuki. However, the machine received little development as the factory were concentrating on their 500cc effort. Numata finished

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

in 12th position, and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

in 16th but in each case he finished well ahead of his team-mates on similar machinery. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, Numata had a one-off ride on the

Muz 500 The Muz 500 was a motorcycle that competed in the and 500 cc Road Racing World Championship. Muz 500 The Muz 500 started out as essentially the same machine as the ELF 500 ROC. The Muz 500 competed in the 500 cc World Championship in ...

as a replacement rider for

Luca Cadalora Luca Cadalora (born 17 May 1963) is an Italian former professional motorcycle racer who is the 125 cc World Champion, and 250 cc World Champion and 8-time Premier Class race winner. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing from ...

in the 500cc class, finishing 13th in the race.

Post Grand Prix Career

He also made one-off appearances in Supersport World Championship 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 ...

races in and , but retired on each occasion. Numata, like many of the top Japanese riders, was also a regular competitor in the Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance race. He competed in the event on seven occasions between 1991 and 2002, his best finish being a 4th place in 1993 partnered with

Akira Yanagawa is a Japanese former professional motorcycle road racer. He won three World Superbike Championship races and finished on the podium on 20 further occasions. Career He started racing on mini-bikes before becoming Japan's 250cc champion in 1989. ...

. From 2004 to 2007 he competed in the All Japan Road Race Championships in the 600cc class, finishing 5th and 6th in 2004 and 2005 respectively. At the time of his death, he held 11th place in the 2007 Championship.

References

Results of All-Japan Road Racing Championships

Results for the Grand Prix 250cc class, 1997 to 1998
{{DEFAULTSORT:Numata, Noriyasu 1973 births 2007 deaths Sportspeople from Chiba Prefecture 500cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders Japanese motorcycle racers Superbike World Championship riders Supersport World Championship riders