Norifumi Abe

Norifumi Abe
Norick Abe on the Yamaha YZR500
Nationality	Japanese
Born	(1975-09-07)7 September 1975
Died	7 October 2007(2007-10-07) (aged 32) Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1994 – 2004 First race 1994 500 cc Japanese Grand Prix Last race 2004 MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix First win 1996 500 cc Japanese Grand Prix Last win 2000 500 cc Japanese Grand Prix Team(s) Yamaha Championships None Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 144 3 17 0 1 1157

Norifumi "Norick" Abe (阿部典史, Abe Norifumi, September 7, 1975 – October 7, 2007),^[1][2] or Norick Abe (ノリック・アベ) was a Japanese motorcycle road racer who was previously a 500 cc/MotoGP rider.^[3] He died in a road traffic accident.

Biography

Abe was born to Mitsuo Abe (阿部光雄, Abe Mitsuo), 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.^[4] 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.^[4]

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.^[4] Abe's performance impressed Kenny Roberts's 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.^[3] 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 5th overall in the championship a year later.^[3] 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.^[3] 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.^[3] 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 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, failing to score a podium.^[5]

In 2007, Abe competed in the All Japan Superbike Championship, again on a Yamaha.^[4]

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][6]

Grand Prix career statistics^[3]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

• NorickAbe.com - Official site
• Norick Abe at the F1 Network
• Norick Abe's funeral images at SuperbikePlanet.com