Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south; the kanji that make up Japan's name mean "sun origin", it is called the "Land of the Rising Sun". Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands; the four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area and are referred to as home islands. The country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions, with Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one; the population of 127 million is the world's tenth largest. 90.7 % of people live in cities. About 13.8 million people live in the capital of Japan. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world with over 38 million people. Archaeological research indicates; the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD.
Influence from other regions China, followed by periods of isolation from Western Europe, has characterized Japan's history. From the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shōguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a long period of isolation in the early 17th century, ended in 1853 when a United States fleet pressured Japan to open to the West. After nearly two decades of internal conflict and insurrection, the Imperial Court regained its political power in 1868 through the help of several clans from Chōshū and Satsuma – and the Empire of Japan was established. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victories in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism; the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the Japanese surrender. Since adopting its revised constitution on May 3, 1947, during the occupation led by SCAP, the sovereign state of Japan has maintained a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with an Emperor and an elected legislature called the National Diet.
Japan is a member of the ASEAN Plus mechanism, UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the G20, is considered a great power. Its economy is the world's third-largest by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by purchasing power parity, it is the world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer. Japan benefits from a skilled and educated workforce. Although it has renounced its right to declare war, Japan maintains a modern military with the world's eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a developed country with a high standard of living and Human Development Index, its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, but is experiencing issues due to an aging population and low birthrate. Japan is renowned for its historical and extensive cinema, influential music industry, video gaming, rich cuisine and its major contributions to science and modern technology; the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, pronounced Nihon or Nippon and means "the origin of the sun".
The character nichi means "sun" or "day". The compound therefore means "origin of the sun" and is the source of the popular Western epithet "Land of the Rising Sun"; the earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, the Old Book of Tang. At the end of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan requested that Nihon be used as the name of their country; this name may have its origin in a letter sent in 607 and recorded in the official history of the Sui dynasty. Prince Shōtoku, the Regent of Japan, sent a mission to China with a letter in which he called himself "the Emperor of the Land where the Sun rises"; the message said: "Here, I, the emperor of the country where the sun rises, send a letter to the emperor of the country where the sun sets. How are you". Prior to the adoption of Nihon, other terms such as Yamato and Wakoku were used; the term Wa is a homophone of Wo 倭, used by the Chinese as a designation for the Japanese as early as the third century Three Kingdoms period.
Another form of Wa, Wei in Chinese) was used for an early state in Japan called Nakoku during the Han dynasty. However, the Japanese disliked some connotation of Wa 倭, it was therefore replaced with the substitute character Wa, meaning "togetherness, harmony"; the English word Japan derives from the historical Chinese pronunciation of 日本. The Old Mandarin or early Wu Chinese pronunciation of Japan was recorded by Marco Polo as Cipangu. In modern Shanghainese, a Wu dialect, the pronunciation of characters 日本; the old Malay word for Japan, Japun or Japang, was borrowed from a southern coastal Chinese dialect Fukienese or Ningpo – and this Malay word was encountered by Portuguese traders in Southeast Asia in the 16th century. These Early Portuguese traders brought the word
Spain
Spain the Kingdom of Spain, is a country located in Europe. Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula, its territory includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country. Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are part of Spanish territory; the country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar. With an area of 505,990 km2, Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, the fourth largest country in the European continent. By population, Spain is the fifth in the European Union. Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago. Iberian cultures along with ancient Phoenician, Greek and Carthaginian settlements developed on the peninsula until it came under Roman rule around 200 BCE, after which the region was named Hispania, based on the earlier Phoenician name Spn or Spania.
At the end of the Western Roman Empire the Germanic tribal confederations migrated from Central Europe, invaded the Iberian peninsula and established independent realms in its western provinces, including the Suebi and Vandals. The Visigoths would forcibly integrate all remaining independent territories in the peninsula, including Byzantine provinces, into the Kingdom of Toledo, which more or less unified politically and all the former Roman provinces or successor kingdoms of what was documented as Hispania. In the early eighth century the Visigothic Kingdom fell to the Moors of the Umayyad Islamic Caliphate, who arrived to rule most of the peninsula in the year 726, leaving only a handful of small Christian realms in the north and lasting up to seven centuries in the Kingdom of Granada; this led to many wars during a long reconquering period across the Iberian Peninsula, which led to the creation of the Kingdom of Leon, Kingdom of Castile, Kingdom of Aragon and Kingdom of Navarre as the main Christian kingdoms to face the invasion.
Following the Moorish conquest, Europeans began a gradual process of retaking the region known as the Reconquista, which by the late 15th century culminated in the emergence of Spain as a unified country under the Catholic Monarchs. Until Aragon had been an independent kingdom, which had expanded toward the eastern Mediterranean, incorporating Sicily and Naples, had competed with Genoa and Venice. In the early modern period, Spain became the world's first global empire and the most powerful country in the world, leaving a large cultural and linguistic legacy that includes more than 570 million Hispanophones, making Spanish the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese. During the Golden Age there were many advancements in the arts, with world-famous painters such as Diego Velázquez; the most famous Spanish literary work, Don Quixote, was published during the Golden Age. Spain hosts the world's third-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Spain is a secular parliamentary democracy and a parliamentary monarchy, with King Felipe VI as head of state.
It is a major developed country and a high income country, with the world's fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP and sixteenth largest by purchasing power parity. It is a member of the United Nations, the European Union, the Eurozone, the Council of Europe, the Organization of Ibero-American States, the Union for the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Schengen Area, the World Trade Organization and many other international organisations. While not an official member, Spain has a "Permanent Invitation" to the G20 summits, participating in every summit, which makes Spain a de facto member of the group; the origins of the Roman name Hispania, from which the modern name España was derived, are uncertain due to inadequate evidence, although it is documented that the Phoenicians and Carthaginians referred to the region as Spania, therefore the most accepted etymology is a Semitic-Phoenician one.
Down the centuries there have been a number of accounts and hypotheses: The Renaissance scholar Antonio de Nebrija proposed that the word Hispania evolved from the Iberian word Hispalis, meaning "city of the western world". Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the term span is the Phoenician word spy, meaning "to forge metals". Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean "the land where metals are forged", it may be a derivation of the Phoenician I-Shpania, meaning "island of rabbits", "land of rabbits" or "edge", a reference to Spain's location at the end of the Mediterranean. The word in question means "Hyrax" due to Phoenicians confusing the two animals. Hispania may derive from the poetic use of the term Hesperia, reflecting the Greek perception of Italy as a "western land" or "land of the setting sun" (Hesperia
Alex Hofmann
Alexander Hofmann is a retired Grand Prix motorcycle racer, who now works on German television coverage of the sport. He is nicknamed ` The Hoff' in a nod to David Hasselhoff, he raced in Motocross in his early teens, before entering the German 125cc championship for the first time in 1995, the European series alongside it a year later. In 1997 he was runner-up in the German series, started the German 125cc World Championship race as a wild card. In 1998 he moved up to 250cc, winning every race in the German championship and winning the European title, as well as coming 10th in a one-off in the 250cc World Championship. From 1999 to 2001 Hofmann was a regular in this series, although without taking a podium finish, missing 8 races in 2000 due to injury, he started 2002 without a ride, but made his MotoGP debut as a stand-in rider for Garry McCoy at the WCM Red Bull team filling in for Loris Capirossi for Sito Pons' team. He was hired to be Kawasaki's test rider role in 2003. In two starts, he scored points both times.
He and Shinya Nakano replaced McCoy and Andrew Pitt as full-time racers in 2004. The next two years were difficult due to injuries through his love of Motocross. Points were rare and Kawasaki chose Randy de Puniet for 2006 over Hofmann. In 2006 he joined the D'Antin Pramac team, riding on a 2006 customer version of the works Ducati alongside José Luis Cardoso; when their factory rider Sete Gibernau was injured at the Circuit de Catalunya, Hofmann was appointed as his replacement for the next 2 races, before returning to D'Antin for his home race at Sachsenring, dropping out early. In 2007 he remained alongside the veteran Alex Barros. Fifth place at Le Mans took him to 10th in the championship after five rounds, ahead of reigning champion Nicky Hayden, he was a strong 8th at Assen. Preparation for his home round at the Sachsenring were hampered by a hand injury suffered when a friend closed a car door onto it, but he scored minor points in the race, he injured his hand in practice at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
He was replaced at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca by Iván Silva at Brno. He returned to racing at Misano but he was fired by the team following the Portuguese Grand Prix, after pulling out of the race while in with a chance of scoring points, due to a lack of motivation, he never raced again. His girlfriend is called Romina Rados, he loves action sports such as BMX bikes. At 1.80m he is tall for a motorcycle racer. His favourite food is Italian, he is fluent in German, French and Italian. After his racing career he started working as MotoGP commentator for the German TV station Sport1, where his knowledge from his own racing career and multilingualism prove helpful, he became a test driver for Aprilia helping to develop the RSV4 and now KTM and their MotoGP project. Official website Official MotoGP profile Bio at EastCoast wheels Crash.net profile
Yamaha Motor Company
Yamaha Motor Company Limited is a Japanese manufacturer of motorcycles, marine products such as boats and outboard motors, other motorized products. The company was established in 1955 upon separation from Yamaha Corporation, is headquartered in Iwata, Japan; the company conducts development and marketing operations through 109 consolidated subsidiaries as of 2012. Led by Genichi Kawakami, the company’s first president, Yamaha Motor began production of its first product, the YA-1, in 1955; the 125cc motorcycle won the 3rd Mount Fuji Ascent Race in its class. The company's products includes motorcycles, motorized bicycles, sail boats, personal water craft, swimming pools, utility boats, fishing boats, outboard motors, 4-wheel ATVs, recreational off-road vehicles, go-kart engines, golf carts, multi-purpose engines, electrical generators, water pumps, small snow throwers, automobile engines, surface mounters, intelligent machinery, industrial-use unmanned helicopters, electrical power units for wheelchairs and helmets.
The company is involved in the import and sales of various types of products, development of tourist businesses and management of leisure, recreational facilities and related services. Yamaha’s motorcycle sales are the second largest in the world outboard motor and Yamaha is the world leader in water vehicle sales; the motorcycle division of Yamaha was founded in 1955, was headed by Genichi Kawakami. Yamaha's initial product was a 125 cc two-cycle, single cylinder motorcycle, the YA-1, a copy of the German DKW RT 125; the YA-1 was a competitive success at racing from the beginning, winning not only the 125cc class in the Mt. Fuji Ascent, but sweeping the podium with first and third place in the All Japan Autobike Endurance Road Race that same year. Early success in racing set the tone for Yamaha, as competition in many varieties of motorcycle racing has been a key endeavor of the company throughout its history fueled by a strong rivalry with Honda and other Japanese manufacturers. Yamaha began competing internationally in 1956 when they entered the Catalina Grand Prix, again with the YA-1, at which they placed sixth.
The YA-1 was followed by the YA-2 of 1957, another 125cc two stroke, but with improved frame and suspension. The YD-1 of 1957 was a 250cc two-stroke twin cylinder motorcycle, resembling the YA-2, but with a larger and more powerful motor. A performance version of this bike, the YDS-1 housed the 250cc two-stroke twin in a double downtube cradle frame and offered the first five-speed transmission in a Japanese motorcycle; this period saw Yamaha offer its first outboard marine engine. By 1963 Yamaha's dedication to both the two-stroke engine and racing paid off with their first victory in international competition, at the Belgium GP, where they won the 250cc class. Success in sales was more impressive, Yamaha set up the first of its international subsidiaries in this period beginning with Thailand in 1964, the Netherlands in 1968. 1965 saw the release of the flagship of the company's lineup. It featured a separate oil supply. In 1967 a new larger displacement model was added to the range, the 350cc two stroke twin R-1.
In 1968 Yamaha launched their first four-stroke motorcycle, the XS-1. The Yamaha XS-1 was a 650cc four-stroke twin, a larger and more powerful machine that equaled the displacement and performance of the popular British bikes of the era, such as the Triumph Bonneville and BSA Gold Star. Yamaha continued on with both the two-stroke line and four-stroke twins at a time that other Japanese manufacturers were moving to four cylinder four-stroke machines, a trend led by Honda in 1969 with the legendary CB-750 four-stroke four-cylinder cycle. Not until 1976 would Yamaha answer the other Japanese brands with a multi-cylinder four stroke of their own; the XS-750 a 750cc triple cylinder machine with shaft final drive was introduced seven years after Honda's breakthrough bike. Yamaha's first four-cylinder model, the XS-1100 followed in 1978, again with shaft drive. Despite being heavier and more touring oriented than its rivals it produced an impressive string of victories in endurance racing; the 1970s saw some of the first dedicated off-road bikes for off-road racing and recreation.
Yamaha was an early innovator in dirt-bike technology, introduced the first single-shock rear suspension, the trademarked "Monoshock" of 1973. It appeared in production on the 1974 Yamaha YZ-250, a model which has continued in production, with many updates, until 2015, making it Yamaha's longest continuous model and name. Yamaha continued racing throughout the 1970s with increasing success in several formats; the decade of the 1970s was capped by the XT500 winning the first Paris-Dakar Rally in 1979. By 1980 the combination of consumer preference and environmental regulation made four strokes popular. Suzuki ended production of their GT two stroke series, including the flagship water-cooled two-stroke 750cc GT-750 in 1977. Kawasaki, who had considerable success throughout the 1970s with their two-stroke triples of 250cc, 350cc, 500cc and 750cc ended production of road-going two strokes in 1980. Yamaha continued to refine and sell two-strokes for the street into the 1980s; these bikes were performance oriented, water-cooled twin cylinder machines, designed to achieve excellent performance t
Nicky Hayden
Nicholas Patrick Hayden, nicknamed "The Kentucky Kid", was an American professional motorcycle racer who won the MotoGP World Championship in 2006. Hayden began racing motorcycles at a young age, he began his road racing career in the CMRA before progressing to the AMA Supersport Championship and to the AMA Superbike Championship. He won the AMA title in 2002 and was approached by the Repsol Honda team to race for them in MotoGP. In his first season he performed well, finishing fifth in the championship and winning the Rookie-of-the-year award. However, this was followed by a difficult second season in which he could only manage eighth overall. Hayden rallied in the 2005 season by scoring his first Grand Prix win at Laguna Seca, finishing third in the standings at the end of the season; the next year, 2006, would be Hayden's greatest in motorcycle racing as he won the 2006 MotoGP world title, breaking Valentino Rossi's five year consecutive streak. He remained with Honda for two more seasons without a world title, before moving to Ducati for 2009.
Hayden had five unsuccessful seasons at Ducati, with his highest finishing championship position a seventh place in 2010. He subsequently moved to the Honda Aspar team in 2014 where he raced for two seasons before making a move to the Superbike World Championship with the Ten Kate Racing Honda team. Hayden finished fifth in his first season in the World Superbike Championship with the highlight of his season being a win in Malaysia. For 2017 Hayden continued with the Red Bull Honda team. On May 17, 2017, Hayden was hit by a car while riding his bicycle in Italy, he suffered a traumatic brain injury and died five days in a local hospital. Hayden was posthumously inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2018. Hayden was born in Kentucky, he started road racing with the CMRA against racers many times older. Hayden would start races from the back of the grid because a family or crew member would have to hold his bike upright as his feet would not yet touch the ground. At age 17, he was racing factory Honda RC45 superbikes while still in high school.
In 1999, he won the AMA Supersport championship on board a privateer Honda. In 2001, his first full season as an AMA superbike racer, he came within 40 points of winning the championship, finishing behind only champion Mat Mladin and runner-up Eric Bostrom; the 2002 season, would see Hayden answering the bell: he won the Daytona 200 on a Honda Superbike en route to becoming the youngest AMA Superbike Champion, defeating reigning triple champion Mat Mladin, among others. He entered the World Superbike round at Laguna Seca, making a solid 4th in the first race before colliding with Noriyuki Haga in race two. Hayden was one of a long line of American road racers to come from the American dirt-track scene. In 1999, Hayden took Rookie of the Year honors, he was declared the AMA's athlete of the Year. In 2000, Hayden won the Springfield Short Track. In 2002, despite racing in just a handful of dirt-track events, Hayden was able to win four races: Springfield Short Track, Springfield TT, Peoria TT. At the Springfield TT race, the three Hayden brothers took the first three places.
The win at the 2002 Peoria TT came after beating thirteen-time Peoria winner, Chris Carr, despite starting from the penalty line. Hayden only lacked a win at a mile track to join Dick Mann, Kenny Roberts Sr. Bubba Shobert, Doug Chandler in the prestigious "Grand Slam Club." After winning his AMA Superbike championship, Hayden was tapped to join not only Honda's MotoGP racing efforts, but what was arguably the premier team in MotoGP racing: Repsol Honda. Hayden became teammate to the defending series champion Valentino Rossi. In his first year of MotoGP racing, he finished fifth in the championship points standings while riding Honda's RC211V, an achievement that won him the Rookie-of-the-Year award. In 2004, Hayden had a difficult year and was critiqued, but he scored his first win in 2005 at Laguna Seca. In 2005, Hayden finished third in the MotoGP championship points standings behind Marco Melandri and series winner Valentino Rossi. For 2006, Hayden was charged with spearheading Repsol Honda's championship aspirations, was the only rider to be handed the full 2006 Honda bike during pre-season testing.
He led the championship from the third race and looked set to break Valentino Rossi's championship-winning streak. In the second to last round at Estoril in Portugal, teammate Dani Pedrosa lost the front-end on the brakes while attempting an ill advised pass on the inside of the turn; the resulting lowside accident took out both bikes. This left Hayden eight points behind Rossi in the championship with one race left to go. In the last race of the season on October 29, 2006 Rossi crashed on lap 5 trying to make up for a poor start. Hayden won the 2006 title that day by finishing 9.3 seconds behind race winner Troy Bayliss. Loris Capirossi finished second. On September 22, 2006, Hayden signed a two-year agreement that allowed for him to race for and develop with the factory Honda Racing Corporation team for the 2007 and 2008 MotoGP seasons, he utilized the 800 cc Honda RC212V, as title holders, his MotoGP racing number changed from 69 to 1 for the 2007 season. 2007 started and finished badly for Hayden, struggling with performance, teammate Dani Pedrosa having shown what the Honda was able to do.
A crash at Le Mans dropped him to eleventh in the standings at this stage. However, during testing before Donington, he requested that most of the electronics be switched off and his times
Shinya Nakano
Shinya Nakano is a retired Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Superbike rider. He is not related to the former Formula One racer Shinji Nakano. Nakano was All-Japan 250cc champion in 1998, the highlight of a long career in both 125cc and 250cc Japanese national championships. Nakano moved to international competition full-time in 1999, adjusting to 250cc Grand Prix racing finishing fourth overall with five podium finishes. In 2000 Nakano and teammate Olivier Jacque battled with Daijiro Kato for the title, which went to Jacque. Nakano set the fastest 250cc lap at Motegi in 2000, a record that stood until 2008 – the longest standing lap record in the series. For 2001 the Tech 3 team moved up to the 500cc World Championship, which would become MotoGP in 2002. Despite having semi-works machinery, Nakano only managed to finish fifth in the championship. Nakano started 2002 on a 500cc two-stroke machine, but the team was able to provide the newer 990cc four-stroke by the end of the season.
2003 was less successful prompting a move to Kawasaki for 2004. Kawasaki suffered a disastrous debut year with Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt, before the team improved with Nakano on board; the team's first podium came at the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix and two seasons of consistent results earned him a pair of 10th place championship finishes. In 2006 Nakano was able to produce strong qualifying runs but less competitive races, a trait of the Bridgestone tyres. Two jump-start penalties did not help Nakano's results. At the 2006 Australian Grand Prix, Nakano started on the front row and lead the early laps, before switching to wet tyres too late and not being competitive on them. For 2007 Nakano joined Konica Minolta Honda. Results were thin in 2007, with only a handful of top 10 race results. Rumors began that Nakano might make the move to the competitive World Superbike Championship for the 2008 season. However, Nakano joined Fausto Gresini's MotoGP team, replacing Toni Elías. Bringing experience with Bridgestone tyres and Honda bikes, he had a solid if unspectacular season, scoring more points in the first half of 2008 than in the whole of 2007.
At Brno, Nakano was given the factory spring-valve Honda RC212V, beginning a string of improved results. Nakano left the Gresini team at the end of the 2008 season, following the team's decision to sign Alice Ducati rider Toni Elías for 2009. In 2009, Nakano was signed by Aprilia along with Max Biaggi for their return to the World Superbike Championship after a three-year absence, he finished the season in 14th place. On October 28, 2009, Nakano announced; the decision followed a season in which he had struggled with injury problems, including a broken collarbone and a neck injury that kept him out of the final three rounds of the season. Media related to Shinya Nakano at Wikimedia Commons Official website
Norifumi Abe
Norifumi "Norick" Abe, or Norick Abe was a Japanese professional motorcycle road racer, a 500 cc/MotoGP rider. He died in a road traffic accident in October 2007. Abe was born to an Auto Race rider, in Tokyo; when he was eleven, Abe spent his earlier career competing in motocross. He turned to road racing when he was fifteen and 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's Yamaha team, 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 so impressed 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, his first win and 5th overall in the championship a year later, his team in 1997 was run by another former champion, Wayne Rainey, Abe took regular points finishes over the next two seasons, including four podiums. He joined the d'Antin Antena 3 team in 1999, won at Rio de Janeiro that year, 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, 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, was moved to Yamaha's returning Superbike World Championship 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. In 2007, Abe competed in the All Japan Superbike Championship, again on a Yamaha. On October 7, 2007 while riding a 500 cc Yamaha T-Max scooter in Kawasaki, Abe was involved in a traffic accident with a truck, which made an illegal U-turn in front of him, at 6:20 p.m. local time. He was pronounced dead two and a half hours at 8:50 p.m. at the hospital where he was taken for treatment. NorickAbe.com - Official site Norick Abe at the F1 Network Norick Abe's funeral images at SuperbikePlanet.com
Makoto Tamada
Max Biaggi
Nicky Hayden
Alex Barros
Carlos Checa
Alex Hofmann
Jeremy McWilliams
Troy Bayliss
Manuel Poggiali
Randy de Puniet
Jakub Smrž
Sebastián Porto
Johan Stigefelt
Mika Kallio
Imre Tóth
Raymond Schouten