# Tadayuki Okada

Tadayuki 'Taddy' Okada (born February 13, 1967) is a Japanese former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was runner-up in the 1994 250cc and in the 1997 500cc World Championship.

## Early career

Okada won the 250cc All Japan Road Race Championship in three successive years from 1989 to 1991 for Honda. Honda then entered him into the 250cc World Championship in 1993. He was runner-up in the series in 1994, and fourth in 1995.

## 500cc and beyond

Okada stepped up to 500cc in 1996, helping develop the V-twin Honda NSR500V and finished the season in 7th overall. In 1997, he claimed his first 500cc win in Indonesia and finished second to Mick Doohan. He missed several races in 1998 due to a wrist injury but bounced back in 1999 to finish third in the championship, with wins at Assen, Brno and Phillip Island. Going into the final round of the season he was second in points, but lost out to final-race winner Kenny Roberts Jr. After a largely unsuccessful 2000 he switched to the Superbike World Championship for 2001, without winning a race although taking three podium finishes and 8th overall. Okada chose to retire at the end of the year. He made a one-off wildcard appearance at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix at Mugello in June, finishing 14th, in the first race for the pneumatic valved Honda RC212V.

## Grand Prix career statistics

Points system from 1988 to 1992:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Points | 20 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Points system from 1993 onwards:
| 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 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Class | Team | Machine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Points | Rank | Wins |
| 1989 | 250cc | Cabin-Honda | NSR250 | JPN 6 | AUS - | USA - | ESP - | NAT - | GER - | AUT - | YUG - | NED - | BEL - | FRA - | GBR - | SWE - | CZE - | BRA - | | | | 10 | 28th | 0 |
| 1990 | 250cc | Honda | NSR250 | JPN RET | USA - | ESP - | NAT - | GER - | AUT - | YUG - | NED - | BEL - | FRA - | GBR - | SWE - | CZE - | HUN - | AUS - | | | | 0 | - | 0 |
| 1991 | 250cc | Honda | NSR250 | JPN RET | AUS - | USA - | ESP - | ITA - | GER - | AUT - | EUR - | NED - | FRA - | GBR - | RSM - | CZE - | VDM - | MAL - | | | | 0 | - | 0 |
| 1992 | 250cc | HRC-Honda | NSR250 | JPN 2 | AUS - | MAL - | ESP - | ITA - | EUR - | GER - | NED - | HUN - | FRA - | GBR - | BRA - | RSA - | | | | | | 15 | 13th | 0 |
| 1993 | 250cc | Rothmans-Honda | NSR250 | AUS 4 | MAL 3 | JPN 2 | ESP 7 | AUT RET | GER INJ | NED RET | EUR 2 | RSM 6 | GBR 5 | CZE 11 | ITA 7 | USA 9 | FIM RET | | | | | 120 | 8th | 0 |
| 1994 | 250cc | Kanemoto-Honda | NSR250 | AUS 5 | MAL 2 | JPN 1 | ESP 3 | AUT 4 | GER 5 | NED 2 | ITA 7 | FRA 9 | GBR 2 | CZE 5 | USA 4 | ARG 1 | EUR 4 | | | | | 214 | 2nd | 2 |
| 1995 | 250cc | HRC-Honda | NSR250 | AUS RET | MAL 3 | JPN RET | ESP 6 | GER 3 | ITA 5 | NED 3 | FRA 3 | GBR 8 | CZE 7 | BRA 3 | ARG 7 | EUR 7 | | | | | | 136 | 4th | 0 |
| 1996 | 500cc | Repsol Honda | NSR500V | MAL RET | INA RET | JPN 4 | ESP 3 | ITA 7 | FRA RET | NED 13 | GER 7 | GBR 4 | AUT 11 | CZE 7 | IMO 3 | CAT 5 | BRA 8 | AUS 2 | | | | 132 | 7th | 0 |
| 1997 | 500cc | Repsol Honda | NSR500 | MAL 10 | JPN 3 | ESP 3 | ITA RET | AUT 2 | FRA 3 | NED 12 | IMO 5 | GER 2 | BRA 2 | GBR 2 | CZE RET | CAT 6 | INA 1 | AUS 4 | | | | 197 | 2nd | 1 |
| 1998 | 500cc | Repsol Honda | NSR500 | JPN 2 | MAL RET | ESP 7 | ITA INJ | FRA INJ | MAD INJ | NED 8 | GBR INJ | GER INJ | CZE 4 | IMO 7 | CAT 2 | AUS 9 | ARG 2 | | | | | 106 | 8th | 0 |
| 1999 | 500cc | Repsol Honda | NSR500 | MAL 5 | JPN 15 | ESP 4 | FRA 9 | ITA 3 | CAT 2 | NED 1 | GBR 2 | GER RET | CZE 1 | IMO 4 | VAL 4 | AUS 1 | RSA 4 | BRA 7 | ARG RET | | | 211 | 3rd | 3 |
| 2000 | 500cc | Repsol-Honda | NSR500 | RSA RET | MAL 6 | JPN 3 | ESP 10 | FRA 14 | ITA 8 | CAT 15 | NED 11 | GBR 10 | GER 5 | CZE 10 | POR 7 | VAL 9 | BRA 9 | PAC 10 | AUS 9 | | | 107 | 11th | 0 |
| 2008 | MotoGP | Repsol-Honda | RC212V | QAT - | ESP - | POR - | CHN - | FRA - | ITA 14 | CAT - | GBR - | NED - | GER - | USA - | CZE - | RSM - | INP - | JPN - | AUS - | MAL - | VAL - | 2 | 21st | 0 |