was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

professional

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

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 and auto racer.

Motorsports career

Born in the

Hyōgo Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Hyōgo Prefecture has a population of 5,469,762 () and has a geographic area of . Hyōgo Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the east, Osaka Prefecture to the southeast, an ...

, Katayama began his Grand Prix career in 1964 with

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

. He enjoyed his best season in 1967 when he won two races, including the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

held at the challenging

Circuit de Charade The Circuit de Charade, also known as Circuit Louis Rosier and Circuit Clermont-Ferrand, is a motorsport race track in Saint-Genès-Champanelle near Clermont-Ferrand in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. The circuit, buil ...

. He finished the season in second place behind his Suzuki teammate,

Hans-Georg Anscheidt Hans-Georg Anscheidt (born 23 December 1935 at Königsberg) is a retired German Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Grand Prix motorcycle road racing List of Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champions, World Champion. He won three consecutive Fédé ...

in the 50cc world championship. He also finished the 1967 season in fourth place in the 125cc championship. Katayama won four Grand Prix races in his career. Katayama would later switch to cars, competing in domestic series mainly as

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

's factory driver until he retired at the end of 1990. He finished second in the 1983 James Hardie 1000, held at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

co-driving with four-time winner

Allan Moffat Allan George Moffat OBE (born 10 November 1939 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian-Australian racing driver known for his four championships in the Australian Touring Car Championship, six wins in the Sandown 500 and his four ...

in a factory supported

Mazda RX-7 The Mazda RX-7 is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, rotary engine-powered sports car that was manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1978 until 2002 across three generations, all of which made use of a compact, lightweight Wankel rotary engine. ...

. His previous visits to the race were in 1977 when he spectacularly rolled his

Mazda RX-3 The is an automobile which was produced by Mazda in Japan from 1971 to 1978. It was sold as the Mazda 808 in some export markets including Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and as the Mazda 818 in many others - this was mostly due to Peugeot hav ...

at Murray's Corner on lap 103, and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

where he finished in 6th place again partnering Moffat. In 1990, Katayama placed 20th overall and won the GTP class in the

1990 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 58th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 16 and 17 June 1990. Background Two chicanes were introduced along the Mulsanne Straight prior to the race. This was done to reduce the maximum speed of the cars ...

driving a

Mazda 767 300px, Mazda 767B Central Circuit, Hyōgo Prefecture The Mazda 767/767B are prototype racing cars that were built by Mazdaspeed for the 24 Hours of Le Mans running under the IMSA-spec GTP class. The 767 replaced the 757 in 1988, upgrading to a ...

Career Results

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Katayama 1977 Bathurst crash video
1940 births 2016 deaths Sportspeople from Hyōgo Prefecture Japanese motorcycle racers Japanese racing drivers 50cc World Championship riders 125cc World Championship riders 250cc World Championship riders 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers {{Japan-motorcycle-racing-bio-stub Long Distance Series drivers Japanese Sportscar Championship drivers Australian Endurance Championship drivers