# Norifumi Abe

Norifumi "Norick" Abe (阿部典史, Abe Norifumi, September 7, 1975 – October 7, 2007), or Norick Abe (ノリック・アベ) was a Japanese professional motorcycle road racer who was previously a 500 cc/MotoGP rider. He died in a road traffic crash in October 2007.

## Career

Abe was born to Mitsuo Abe (阿部光雄, Abe Mitsuo), a paved flat track 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's Yamaha team, and was offered two more rides that year which yielded two sixth places and earned him a full-time Grand Prix ride for the 1995 season. This performance also 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, and his first win and fifth 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 Antena 3 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 Tech3 Yamaha team for 2004, but was unsuccessful, and was moved to Yamaha's returning Superbike World Championship squad for 2005. He continued to race there in 2006 but failed to score a podium in both seasons.
In 2007, Abe competed in the All Japan Superbike Championship, again on a Yamaha.

### Death

On October 7, 2007, while riding a 500 cc Yamaha T-Max scooter in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Abe was involved in a traffic crash 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 later, at 8:50 p.m., at the hospital where he was taken for treatment.

## Personal life

His son Maiki is also a motorcycle racer who competes in All Japan Road Race Championship. He attended Yamaha VR46 Mastercamp training at Valentino Rossi's ranch in Tavullia, Italy, accompanied by his grandfather Mitsuo. In 2023, his son joined VFT Racing Yamaha to compete in the Supersport World Championship.

## Career statistics

| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Points | 25 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

### Grand Prix motorcycle racing
#### Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Team | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pos | Pts |
| 1994 | 500cc | Mister Yumcha Blue Fox Honda | NSR500 | AUS | MAL | JPN Ret | ESP | AUT | GER | NED | ITA | FRA | | | | | | | | 17th | 20 |
| 1994 | 500cc | Roberts Marlboro Yamaha | YZR500 | | | | | | | | | | GBR DNS | CZE 6 | USA 6 | ARG | EUR | | | 17th | 20 |
| 1995 | 500cc | Roberts Marlboro Yamaha | YZR500 | AUS 9 | MAL Ret | JPN 9 | ESP 4 | GER 8 | ITA 6 | NED 6 | FRA Ret | GBR 18 | CZE Ret | BRA 3 | ARG 6 | EUR Ret | | | | 9th | 81 |
| 1996 | 500cc | Roberts Marlboro Yamaha | YZR500 | MAL 8 | INA 9 | JPN 1 | ESP Ret | ITA 11 | FRA 4 | NED 6 | GER 6 | GBR 3 | AUT 3 | CZE 11 | IMO 5 | CAT 10 | BRA 3 | AUS Ret | | 5th | 148 |
| 1997 | 500cc | Rainey Marlboro Yamaha | YZR500 | MAL 8 | JPN 7 | ESP 7 | ITA 7 | AUT 9 | FRA 7 | NED 10 | IMO 7 | GER Ret | BRA 5 | GBR 9 | CZE 5 | CAT 12 | INA 5 | AUS 3 | | 7th | 126 |
| 1998 | 500cc | Rainey Marlboro Yamaha | YZR500 | JPN 14 | MAL Ret | ESP 6 | ITA 6 | FRA 7 | MAD 2 | NED Ret | GBR 3 | GER Ret | CZE 5 | IMO 6 | CAT 3 | AUS 5 | ARG 4 | | | 6th | 128 |
| 1999 | 500cc | d'Antin Antena 3 Yamaha | YZR500 | MAL Ret | JPN 3 | ESP 5 | FRA 6 | ITA Ret | CAT Ret | NED 6 | GBR 6 | GER 3 | CZE Ret | IMO 11 | VAL 6 | AUS 16 | RSA 9 | BRA 1 | ARG 3 | 6th | 136 |
| 2000 | 500cc | d'Antin Antena 3 Yamaha | YZR500 | RSA 7 | MAL 17 | JPN 1 | ESP Ret | FRA 2 | ITA 5 | CAT 2 | NED 10 | GBR 6 | GER 11 | CZE Ret | POR 9 | VAL Ret | BRA 4 | PAC 5 | AUS 6 | 8th | 147 |
| 2001 | 500cc | d'Antin Antena 3 Yamaha | YZR500 | JPN 4 | RSA 5 | ESP 2 | FRA 4 | ITA 9 | CAT 6 | NED Ret | GBR Ret | GER 4 | CZE 4 | POR Ret | VAL 8 | PAC 4 | AUS 13 | MAL 13 | BRA 6 | 7th | 137 |
| 2002 | MotoGP | d'Antin Antena 3 Yamaha | YZR500 | JPN 5 | RSA 7 | ESP 6 | FRA 4 | ITA 7 | CAT 16 | NED 9 | GBR 4 | GER 6 | CZE 8 | POR 7 | BRA 6 | PAC 8 | MAL 10 | | | 6th | 129 |
| 2002 | MotoGP | d'Antin Antena 3 Yamaha | YZR-M1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | AUS DNS | VAL 10 | 6th | 129 |
| 2003 | MotoGP | Fortuna Yamaha | YZR-M1 | JPN 11 | RSA 8 | ESP | | | | | | | | | | | | | VAL 9 | 16th | 31 |
| 2003 | MotoGP | Yamaha | YZR-M1 | | | | FRA 11 | ITA | CAT | NED | GBR | GER 10 | CZE | POR | BRA | PAC | MAL | AUS | | 16th | 31 |
| 2004 | MotoGP | Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha Tech3 | YZR-M1 | RSA 9 | ESP 11 | FRA Ret | ITA 7 | CAT 9 | NED 11 | BRA 8 | GER Ret | GBR Ret | CZE 8 | POR 10 | JPN Ret | QAT 7 | MAL 12 | AUS 17 | VAL 10 | 13th | 74 |