, or was a Japanese professional

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

road racer Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily closed public ...

.Norifume Abe career statistics at MotoGP.com
/ref> He competed in the

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

world championships from to . Abe died in a road traffic crash in October 2007.

Career

Abe was born to , a paved flat track rider, in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. When he was eleven, Abe began racing

minibikes A minibike is a two-wheeled, motorized, off-highway recreational vehicle popularized in the 1960s and 1970s, but available continuously from a wide variety of manufacturers since 1959. Their off-highway nature and (in many countries) typically ent ...

and spent his earlier career competing in

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

. He turned to

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

when he was fifteen and also competed in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1992, Abe was the runner up in the 250 cc category for the domestic National A championship.Norifumi Abe profile at www.f1network.net
/ref> The following year at the

All Japan Road Race Championship The is the premiere motorcycle road racing championship in Japan. It is run by the Motorcycle Federation of Japan (MFJ) (日本モーターサイクルスポーツ協会) – the Japanese affiliate of the FIM. History The MFJ was formed in 1 ...

, 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 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Japanese Grand Prix as a "

wild card Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

". He shocked the field by challenging for the win until three laps from the finish before falling off. Abe's performance impressed

Kenny Roberts Kenneth Leroy Roberts (born December 31, 1951) is an American former professional motorcycle racer and racing team owner. In 1978, he became the first American to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship. He was also a two-time w ...

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

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 Valentino Rossi ( ; ; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian racing driver, former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed "the Doctor", Rossi is widely considered one of the greate ...

, 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 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, and his first win and fifth overall in the championship a year later. His team in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

was run by another former champion,

Wayne Rainey Wayne Wesley Rainey (born October 23, 1960) is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships in 1984 and from 1988 to 1993. He won the 500cc World Championship th ...

, and Abe took regular points finishes over the next two seasons, including four podiums. He joined the d'Antin

Antena 3 Antena 3 may refer to: *Antena 3 (Portugal), a national radio channel produced by the Portuguese public broadcasting entity Rádio e Televisão de Portugal *Antena 3 (Romania), a Romanian television channel owned by Intact Media Group *Antena 3 (Spa ...

team in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, won at

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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 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

was the first year of

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

regulations, and Abe did not get on well with the

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

machinery. As such, when D'Antin switched over to the

Yamaha YZR-M1 The Yamaha YZR-M1 is an Inline-four engine, inline-four motorcycle specifically developed by Yamaha Motor Company to race in the current MotoGP series. It succeeded the Yamaha YZR500, YZR500 by the 2002 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, 2002 ...

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 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, but was unsuccessful, and was moved to Yamaha's returning

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...

squad for

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. He continued to race there in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

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 The Yamaha TMAX (or T-Max) series of Scooter (motorcycle), maxi-scooters has been manufactured by Yamaha Motor Company for the European market since its debut at July 2000 press events in Naples, Italy and Iwata, Shizuoka, Iwata, Japan, combini ...

scooter in

Kawasaki, Kanagawa Kawasaki, officially Kawasaki City, is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, one of the main cities of the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area. It is the second most populated city in Kanagawa Prefecture after Yokohama ...

, Abe was involved in a traffic crash with a truck, which made an illegal

U-turn A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the U, letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as ...

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 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, his son joined VFT Racing Yamaha to compete in the

Supersport World Championship The Supersport World Championship, abbreviated to WorldSSP, is a motorcycle racing competition on hard-surfaced circuits, based on mid-sized sports motorcycles. Competition machines were originally based on production-based motorcycles with 600& ...

Career statistics

Source:

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year

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