Norifumi Abe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Norifumi Abe | |
| Nationality |  Japanese |
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| Grand Prix motorcycle racing career | |
| Active years | 1994 - 2004 |
| Teams | Yamaha |
| Grands Prix | 144 |
| Championships | None |
| Wins | 3 |
| Podium finishes | 17 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First Grand Prix | 1994 500 cc Japanese Grand Prix |
| First win | 1996 500 cc Japanese Grand Prix |
| Last win | 2000 500 cc Japanese Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 2004 MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix |
Norifumi "Norick" Abe 阿部典史 (Abe Norifumi?), or ノリック・アベ (Norick Abe), (September 7, 1975 – October 7, 2007)[1][2] was a Japanese motorcycle road racer who was previously a 500 cc/MotoGP rider.
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[edit] Biography
Abe was born to Mitsuo Abe (阿部 光雄), an Auto Race rider, in Tokyo. When he was eleven, Abe began racing minibikes and spent his earlier career competing in motocross. He turned to road racing when he was fifteen and also competed in the United States. In 1992, Abe was the runner up in the 250 cc category for the domestic National A championship. The following year at the All Japan Road Race Championship, Abe won the 500 cc title in the category's final year and became the youngest title winner.
In 1994, while racing in his home championship, Abe had a chance to race at the 1994 Japanese Grand Prix as a 'wild card'. He shocked the field by challenging for the win until three laps from the finish before falling off. Abe's performance impressed Kenny Roberts' Yamaha team, and was offered two more rides that year which yielded two 6th places and earned him a full-time Grand Prix ride for the 1995 season. This performance also so impresses a 14 year old Valentino Rossi, that he took on the nickname "Rossifumi" and used it in his early career in deference to such a committed and spectacular racer.
Abe took his first podium finish in 1995, and his first win and 5th overall in the championship a year later. His team in 1997 was run by another former champion, Wayne Rainey, and Abe took regular points finishes over the next two seasons, including four podiums. He joined the D'Antin team in 1999, won at Rio de Janeiro that year, and won again at Suzuka a year later. Abe spent two seasons on less competitive machinery, yet his race results ensured his 100% record of top 10 championship finishes continued.
However, 2002 was the first year of MotoGP regulations, and Abe did not get on well with the four stroke machinery. As such, when D'Antin switched over to the Yamaha YZR-M1 for 2003, Abe left the team and acted as a factory test rider and occasional wild card racer for Yamaha. He got another chance on the Tech 3 Yamaha team for 2004, but was unsuccessful, and was moved to Yamaha's returning World Superbike squad for 2005. Despite having less factory support than Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt, Abe finished in the championship top 10. In 2006 he was less competitive, failing to score a podium.
In 2007, Abe competed in the All Japan Superbike Championship, again on a Yamaha.
[edit] Death
On October 7, 2007 while riding a 500 cc Yamaha T-Max scooter in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Abe was involved in a traffic accident with a truck, which made an illegal U-turn in front of him, at 6:20pm local time. He was pronounced dead two and a half hours later at 8:50pm at the hospital where he was taken for treatment [1][3].
[edit] 500 cc/MotoGP career statistics [4]
| Season | Class | Motorcycle | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 500 cc | Yamaha YZR500 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 17th |
| 1995 | 500 cc | Yamaha YZR500 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 9th |
| 1996 | 500 cc | Yamaha YZR500 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 148 | 5th |
| 1997 | 500 cc | Yamaha YZR500 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 126 | 7th |
| 1998 | 500 cc | Yamaha YZR500 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 128 | 6th |
| 1999 | 500 cc | Yamaha YZR500 | 16 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 136 | 6th |
| 2000 | 500 cc | Yamaha YZR500 | 16 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 147 | 8th |
| 2001 | 500 cc | Yamaha YZR500 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 137 | 7th |
| 2002 | MotoGP | Yamaha YZR-M1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 129 | 6th |
| 2003 | MotoGP | Yamaha YZR-M1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 16th |
| 2004 | MotoGP | Yamaha YZR-M1 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 74 | 13th |
| Total | 144 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1157 |
[edit] References
- ^ a b "'Legendary rider’ Norick Abe dies in motorbike, truck collision", Japan News Review. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
- ^ "FIM Release On Norick Abe", SuperbikePlanet.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
- ^ "Yamaha Release On Norick Abe's Death", SuperbikePlanet.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
- ^ "Rider Statistics - Norick Abe", MotoGP.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
[edit] External links
- NorickAbe.com - Official site
- Norick Abe at the F1 Network
- Norick Abe's funeral images at SuperbikePlanet.com
