(10 December 1990 – 5 September 2010) was a Japanese motorcycle racer. After a successful career in the All Japan Road Race Championship, he switched to

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

and competed in the 250cc class during 2009. In the 2010 season he rode in the newly created

Moto2 Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start of ...

class. Tomizawa won the first race of the new class, at

Losail The Losail International Circuit or Lusail International Circuit (Arabic: حلبة لوسيل الدولية) is a motor racing circuit located just outside the city of Lusail, north of Doha, Qatar. Built in just under a year by 1,000 workers ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

, winning by nearly five seconds from

Alex Debón Alex Debón Latorre (born 1 March 1976 in La Vall d'Uixó, Valencia, Spain) is a former professional motorcycle road racer, who last competed in the Moto2 World Championship. Career He began racing internationally in 2000 after a handful of wil ...

and

Jules Cluzel Jules Cluzel (born 12 October 1988 in Montluçon, Allier) is a French motorcycle racer. In 2019 he competes in the Supersport World Championship riding a Yamaha YZF-R6 The Yamaha YZF-R6 is a sport bike, produced by Yamaha as a 600 class fr ...

. Tomizawa died after sustaining cranial, thoracic and abdominal trauma at the

San Marino Grand Prix The San Marino Grand Prix () was a Formula One championship race which was run at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the town of Imola, near the Apennine mountains in Italy, between 1981 and 2006. It was named after nearby San ...

Career

Tomizawa was born in Asahi City,

Chiba Chiba may refer to: Places China * (), town in Jianli County, Jingzhou, Hubei Japan * Chiba (city), capital of Chiba Prefecture ** Chiba Station, a train station * Chiba Prefecture, a sub-national jurisdiction in the Greater Tokyo Area on ...

. He started pocket bike racing at age 3 in 1994, and moved on to minibikes around 2001. While attending Sousa High School in Chiba, majoring in English, he started to fully participate in the 125cc class of

All Japan Road Race Championship The is the premiere motorcycle road racing championship in Japan. It is run by the Motorcycle Federation of Japan (MFJ) (日本モーターサイクルスポーツ協会) – the Japanese affiliate of the FIM. History The MFJ was formed in 196 ...

and gained 2nd place for 2006 season. Rookie of the Year was an added bonus to start the fast-paced career. Tomizawa appeared on both 125cc and 250cc class in the following year, finishing 3rd in the 125, and 8th in the 250 for 2007 season. In 2008, he focused on the 250cc class and finished 2nd with his eyes set for global challenge. Upon his high school graduation in March 2009, Tomizawa was recruited by new CIPMOTO-GP250 Team, ended his full-time, first international racing year in 17th place with best results at 10th twice at Motegi and

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

respectively riding a Honda RS250R. Tomizawa moved to the new

class, which replaced 250cc, for . Riding a Suter motorbike, he won the inaugural Moto2 race at

, and followed this up with his first Grand Prix

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

and second place at the following round in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He took a further pole position at

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

later in the season. Showing markedly improved form in comparison with his previous years in MotoGP, he was seventh in the championship after ten races. Commentator

Toby Moody Toby Moody is a British sports commentator focused on motor racing. He was for many years the worldwide voice of the MotoGP series on Eurosport TV, and in 2012, lead commentator on the British Touring Car Championship for ITV4. In 2014 he will com ...

described him as a "future star".

Death

Tomizawa was competing in the eleventh round of the inaugural Moto2 World Championship, the

at the

Misano World Circuit The Misano World Circuit (officially known as Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli or Misano Circuit Sic 58, and before 2006 called Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica) is a race track located next to the town of Misano Adriatico (Province of R ...

on 5 September 2010. On lap 12, holding 4th place, Tomizawa fell at the Curvone, a fast right-hand corner, when he was forced wide and lost grip in his rear tire. He was then struck by the motorbikes of

Scott Redding Scott Christopher Redding (born 4 January 1993) is a British motorcycle racer. For 2022 he is contracted to ride in Superbike World Championship with BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team after the 2020 and 2021 seasons with Ducati factory WSBK team ridi ...

and

Alex de Angelis Alex de Angelis (born 26 February 1984) is a Sammarinese retired motorcycle road racer. Career 125cc World Championship Born in Rimini, de Angelis made his debut at world championship level in 1999 in the 125 cc class; his first full season was ...

, and suffered cranial, thoracic and abdominal trauma. He was initially taken to the circuit's medical centre, before being transferred to hospital in

Riccione Riccione (; rgn, Arciôn ) is a ''comune'' in the Province of Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. As of 2018, Riccione had an estimated population of 35,003. History The oldest archaeological findings in Riccione's area date to the 2nd cen ...

. He died from his injuries at 14:20 local time in hospital, aged 19. His death was announced at the end of the

race. The podium flags were lowered to half-mast, and the podium was celebrated without champagne. Tomizawa was the first on-track fatality at Grand Prix level since his countryman

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 Circu ...

was killed in the senior class at Suzuka in 2003. Tomizawa had placed Kato's racing number 74 on his left shoulder as a tribute to him. Questions have been raised about the treatment of Tomizawa in the aftermath of the crash. Both he and Redding were hurriedly removed from the scene and bundled onto stretchers; the stretcher carrying Tomizawa appeared to be dropped in the gravel trap before he was removed. MotoGP Doctor Claudio Macchiagodena explained that "Many times it is very important to quickly have support. In this situation if you remove quickly, in my opinion, you have more possibility o help the patient - a statement which ignores the possibility of spinal injuries.

Alex Hofmann Alexander Hofmann (born 25 May 1980) is a retired Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle racer, who now works on German television coverage of the sport. He is nicknamed 'The Hoff' in English-speaking countries, a nod to David Hasse ...

originally reported on German TV that neither Tomizawa nor Redding had suffered life-threatening injuries; he had apparently received this information from Dorna themselves. It was reported that

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

's state prosecutor, Paolo Giovagnoli, would begin an inquest that might involve criminal proceedings against as yet unnamed individuals.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

By class

Races by year

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomizawa, Shoya 1990 births 2010 deaths People from Asahi, Chiba Sportspeople from Chiba Prefecture Japanese motorcycle racers 125cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders Moto2 World Championship riders Motorcycle racers who died while racing Sport deaths in Italy Filmed deaths in motorsport