# Makoto Tamada

Makoto Tamada (玉田誠) (born November 4, 1976, in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is a former Japanese professional motorcycle racer currently working as a rider instructor in Suzuka Racing School. He is one of the few riders to win races in both MotoGP and Superbike World Championship.

## Career
### Early career

After a junior career in minibikes, he won a regional 250cc championship in 1994. He then spent 4 years in the main Japanese 250cc series, finishing 4th on a private bike in 1998. He entered the MFJ Superbike championship in 1999. He finished in the championship top 5 for the next 4 years, but came to international fame as a wild card in the Superbike World Championship round at Sugo, upsetting the regulars to win both races in 2001, and a further race in 2002, being the only rider other than Colin Edwards or Troy Bayliss to have won a race during the 2002 season.

### MotoGP World Championship

This helped earn him a call up to MotoGP in 2003, for Pramac Honda. The first season was a learning year, peaking with a 3rd place at Rio and two front row starts, finishing 11th overall. He joined Sito Pons' Camel Honda a year later. 2004 was his strongest MotoGP season to date, with wins at Rio and Motegi and 6th overall. He was the only Honda rider to use Bridgestone tyres, which appear to suit his style.
The Konica Minolta Honda team was formed in late 2004 with him in mind, and he spent 2 years there using Michelin rubber. Unfortunately a broken wrist sustained early in the season prevented him from reaching the championship top 10, although he did finish 3rd at his home race. He was also short of top results in 2006. At the Sachsenring he ran 3rd early on, and was still in the top 6 when he went out wide to avoid Kenny Roberts, Jr. crashing, only to be hit by the American's riderless bike.
In 2007 he joined the Tech 3 Yamaha team in MotoGP using Dunlop tyres, alongside French rider Sylvain Guintoli. He was generally outpaced by his rookie teammate and finished the season 18th.

### Superbike World Championship

He was left with no options in MotoGP so for 2008 he turned his focus on the Superbike World Championship. Kawasaki expressed their desire to hire him, quoting: "Tamada has been a target for Kawasaki for some time and his signing consolidates the PSG-1 team and Kawasaki’s mutual commitment to gain success in the forthcoming season."
He joins the Italian factory supported Kawasaki team, PSG-1 Kawasaki Corse, where he will pilot the all-new 2008 Kawasaki ZX-10R along with Frenchman Regis Laconi who rode for them in both 2006 and 2007. For 2009 he remained a factory Kawasaki rider, as they switched their support to the English Paul Bird Motorsport team, alongside Australian Broc Parkes.
On October 6, 2009, Kawasaki announced that Tamada would not be offered a contract for 2010. His place will be taken by former MotoGP rider Chris Vermeulen.

### 2010

In 2010 Tamada returned to WSBK in a one-off outing for the Reitwagen BMW team at Portimao in Portugal. He retired from the first race and finished 19th in the second race.

### 2011

On July 31, 2011, Tamada competed in the Suzuka 8 Hour race for the Musashi RT Harc-Pro team. He rode alongside former 500cc racer Tadayuki Okada and Takumi Takahashi. The team eventually took third position in the race, roughly one and a half minutes after the winning team finished.
In late August it was announced that Tamada will race in the Nurburgring round of the 2011 World Superbike Championship for the Castrol Honda team. He will replace Spaniard Ruben Xaus who is sitting out the race due to a back injury.

### 2012

Tamada was appointed official trainer of the inaugural Asia Dream Cup season by Honda in 2012. The Asia Dream Cup races with Honda CBR250R. Two riders from each Asian country is selected. Tamada was appointed to train the young riders to one day become a World Championship rider.
In July, Tamada competed in the Suzuka 8 Hours with Honda Team Asia. Teammates were Malaysian rider, Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman and Japanese veteran, Chojun Kameya. They qualified 10th. Early mechanical problems forced them to a 25th finish.

### 2013

Honda and Tamada's agency, Speed of Japan both announced Tamada's full time ride in the Asia Road Racing Championship in the Supersports 600 class with MUSASHi Boon Siew Honda Racing, the factory team for Honda in the series. He is replacing in Ryuichi Kiyonari, who won the title in 2012 and has gone back to BSB in 2013.
Tamada, stating that it took him more time to get used to a 600cc machine at the beginning of the season, actually made it fast. He got his first podium finish at Race 2 of Round 1 in Sepang. He then got his first win at Race 1 at Round 3, and went on winning Race 2.
However, he suffered the later half of the season from injuries he got from a crash during the Suzuka 8 Hours practice. Fractures of the left clavicle and scapula, as well as fractures on the left ankle were found. Furthermore, a minor amputation of the left middle finger was found. This made Tamada pull out of the Suzuka 8 Hours race, as well as, Round 4 and 5 of the Asia Road Racing Championship.

## Career statistics
### Career highlights

1995–11th, All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship #73 Honda RS250R 1996–14th, All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship #11 Honda RS250R 1997–6th, All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship #14 Honda RS250R 1998–4th, All Japan Road Race GP250 Championship #6 Honda RS250R 1999–5th, All Japan Road Race Superbike Championship #100 Honda RVF750 RC45 2000–3rd, All Japan Road Race Superbike Championship #100 Honda RVF750 RC45 2001–2nd, All Japan Road Race Superbike Championship #100 Honda VTR1000F 2002–4th, All Japan Road Race Superbike Championship #100 Honda VTR1000F 2003–11th, MotoGP #6 Honda RC211V 2004–6th, MotoGP #6 Honda RC211V 2005–11th, MotoGP #6 Honda RC211V 2006–12th, MotoGP #6 Honda RC211V 2007–18th, MotoGP #6 Yamaha YZR-M1 2008–20th, Superbike World Championship #100 Kawasaki ZX-10R 2009–27th, Superbike World Championship #100 Kawasaki ZX-10R 2011–3rd, Suzuka 8 Hours #634 Honda CBR1000RR 2012–25th, Suzuka 8 Hours #25 Honda CBR1000RR 2013–8th, Asia Road Race SS600 Championship #100 Honda CBR600RR 2014–6th, Asia Road Race SS600 Championship #100 Honda CBR600RR

### Grand Prix motorcycle racing
#### By season

| Season | Class | Motorcycle | Team | Number | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd | WCh |
| 1998 | 250cc | Honda NSR250 | Team Kotake | 53 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC | – |
| 2003 | MotoGP | Honda RC211V | Pramac Honda | 6 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 87 | 11th | – |
| 2004 | MotoGP | Honda RC211V | Camel Honda | 6 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 150 | 6th | – |
| 2005 | MotoGP | Honda RC211V | Konica Minolta Honda | 6 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 91 | 11th | – |
| 2006 | MotoGP | Honda RC211V | Konica Minolta Honda | 6 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 96 | 12th | – |
| 2007 | MotoGP | Yamaha YZR-M1 | Dunlop Yamaha Tech3 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 18th | – |
| Total | | | | | 82 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 462 | | 0 |

#### Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Pos | Pts |
| 1998 | 250cc | Honda | JPN 16 | MAL | SPA | ITA | FRA | MAD | NED | GBR | GER | CZE | IMO | CAT | AUS | ARG | | | | | NC | 0 |
| 2003 | MotoGP | Honda | JPN Ret | RSA 14 | SPA 6 | FRA Ret | ITA 4 | CAT 7 | NED 16 | GBR 13 | GER 13 | CZE 9 | POR 10 | BRA 3 | PAC DSQ | MAL 10 | AUS 10 | VAL 10 | | | 11th | 87 |
| 2004 | MotoGP | Honda | RSA 8 | SPA Ret | FRA 9 | ITA Ret | CAT Ret | NED 12 | BRA 1 | GER 6 | GBR 14 | CZE 4 | POR 2 | JPN 1 | QAT 10 | MAL 5 | AUS 8 | VAL 5 | | | 6th | 150 |
| 2005 | MotoGP | Honda | SPA 8 | POR DNS | CHN | FRA | ITA 8 | CAT Ret | NED 14 | USA 7 | GBR 7 | GER 10 | CZE 10 | JPN 3 | MAL 12 | QAT Ret | AUS 8 | TUR 9 | VAL 9 | | 11th | 91 |
| 2006 | MotoGP | Honda | SPA 10 | QAT 14 | TUR 10 | CHN 6 | FRA 7 | ITA 9 | CAT 7 | NED 11 | GBR 11 | GER Ret | USA 11 | CZE 13 | MAL 14 | AUS 10 | JPN 10 | POR 5 | VAL 12 | | 12th | 96 |
| 2007 | MotoGP | Yamaha | QAT 16 | SPA 14 | TUR 14 | CHN Ret | FRA 9 | ITA 15 | CAT 12 | GBR 15 | NED 13 | GER 13 | USA 8 | CZE 17 | RSM 14 | POR Ret | JPN 12 | AUS 16 | MAL 18 | VAL 15 | 18th | 38 |

### Superbike World Championship
#### Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Bike | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | Pos | Pts |
| Year | Bike | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | Pos | Pts |
| 1999 | Honda | RSA | RSA | AUS | AUS | GBR | GBR | SPA | SPA | ITA | ITA | GER | GER | SMR | SMR | USA | USA | EUR | EUR | AUT | AUT | NED | NED | GER | GER | JPN 10 | JPN 10 | | | 38th | 12 |
| 2000 | Honda | RSA | RSA | AUS | AUS | JPN 7 | JPN Ret | GBR | GBR | ITA | ITA | GER | GER | SMR | SMR | SPA | SPA | USA | USA | EUR | EUR | NED | NED | GER | GER | GBR | GBR | | | 37th | 9 |
| 2001 | Honda | SPA | SPA | RSA | RSA | AUS | AUS | JPN 1 | JPN 1 | ITA | ITA | GBR | GBR | GER | GER | SMR | SMR | USA | USA | EUR | EUR | GER | GER | NED | NED | ITA | ITA | | | 15th | 50 |
| 2002 | Honda | SPA | SPA | AUS | AUS | RSA | RSA | JPN 2 | JPN 1 | ITA | ITA | GBR | GBR | GER | GER | SMR | SMR | USA | USA | GBR | GBR | GER | GER | NED | NED | ITA | ITA | | | 18th | 45 |
| 2008 | Kawasaki | QAT Ret | QAT 12 | AUS Ret | AUS 14 | SPA 9 | SPA Ret | NED 8 | NED 9 | ITA Ret | ITA Ret | USA 19 | USA 13 | GER 9 | GER 13 | SMR Ret | SMR Ret | CZE 16 | CZE 17 | GBR 18 | GBR 18 | EUR Ret | EUR 16 | ITA 20 | ITA 19 | FRA 18 | FRA 18 | POR 19 | POR 24 | 20th | 41 |
| 2009 | Kawasaki | AUS 18 | AUS 17 | QAT DNS | QAT DNS | SPA 14 | SPA Ret | NED 17 | NED Ret | ITA DNS | ITA DNS | RSA | RSA | USA | USA | SMR | SMR | GBR | GBR | CZE 10 | CZE Ret | GER DNS | GER DNS | ITA Ret | ITA DNS | FRA | FRA | POR 12 | POR 16 | 27th | 12 |
| 2010 | BMW | AUS | AUS | POR Ret | POR 19 | SPA | SPA | NED | NED | ITA | ITA | RSA | RSA | USA | USA | SMR | SMR | CZE | CZE | GBR | GBR | GER | GER | ITA | ITA | FRA | FRA | | | NC | 0 |
| 2011 | Honda | AUS | AUS | EUR | EUR | NED | NED | ITA | ITA | USA | USA | SMR | SMR | SPA | SPA | CZE | CZE | GBR | GBR | GER 17 | GER Ret | ITA | ITA | FRA | FRA | POR | POR | | | NC | 0 |