Norifumi Abe


Norifumi "Norick" Abe, or Norick Abe was a Japanese professional motorcycle road racer who was previously a 500 cc/MotoGP rider. He died in a road traffic accident in October 2007.

Career

Abe was born to Mitsuo Abe, 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. 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 6th 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 5th 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 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.
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 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 later, at 8:50 p.m., at the hospital where he was taken for treatment.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year

YearClassTeamBike12345678910111213141516PosPts
1994500ccMister Yumcha Blue Fox HondaNSR500AUS
MAL
JPN
Ret		ESP
AUT
GER
NED
ITA
FRA
GBR
17th20
1994500ccRoberts Malboro YamahaYZR500CZE
6		USA
6		ARG
EUR
17th20
1995500ccRoberts Malboro YamahaYZR500AUS
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		9th81
1996500ccRoberts Malboro YamahaYZR500MAL
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		5th148
1997500ccRainey Malboro YamahaYZR500MAL
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		7th126
1998500ccRainey Malboro YamahaYZR500JPN
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		6th128
1999500ccd'Antin Antena 3 YamahaYZR500MAL
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		6th136
2000500ccd'Antin Antena 3 YamahaYZR500RSA
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		8th147
2001500ccd'Antin Antena 3 YamahaYZR500JPN
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		7th137
2002MotoGPd'Antin Antena 3 YamahaYZR500JPN
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		6th129
2002MotoGPd'Antin Antena 3 YamahaYZR-M1AUS
DNS		VAL
10		6th129
2003MotoGPFortuna YamahaYZR-M1JPN
11		RSA
8		ESP
VAL
9		16th31
2003MotoGPYamahaYZR-M1FRA
11		ITA
CAT
NED
GBR
GER
10		CZE
POR
BRA
PAC
MAL
AUS
16th31
2004MotoGPGauloises Fortuna Yamaha Tech 3YZR-M1RSA
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		13th74