Yoshimi Katayama

Yoshimi Katayama
Katayama at the TT at the Dutch TT (24 June 1967)
Nationality	Japanese
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1964 – 1967 First race 1964 125cc Japanese Grand Prix Last race 1967 50cc Belgian Grand Prix First win 1966 50cc Japanese Grand Prix Last win 1967 50cc Dutch TT Team(s) Suzuki Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 17 4 12 0 6 87

Yoshimi Katayama (片山義美, Katayama Yoshimi, May 15, 1940 – March 26, 2016) was a Japanese professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and auto racer.

Motorsports career

Born in the Hyōgo Prefecture, Katayama began his Grand Prix career in 1964 with Suzuki. He enjoyed his best season in 1967 when he won two races, including the French Grand Prix held at the challenging Circuit de Charade. He finished the season in second place behind his Suzuki teammate, Hans-Georg Anscheidt in the 50cc world championship. He also finished the 1967 season in fourth place in the 125cc championship. Katayama won four Grand Prix races in his career.

Katayama would later switch to cars, competing in domestic series mainly as Mazda's factory driver until he retired at the end of 1990. He finished second in the 1983 James Hardie 1000, held at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, Australia co-driving with four-time winner Allan Moffat in a factory supported Mazda RX-7. His previous visits to the race were in 1977 when he spectacularly rolled his Mazda RX-3 at Murray's Corner on lap 103, and 1982 where he finished in 6th place again partnering Moffat.

In 1990, Katayama placed 20th overall and won the GTP class in the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans driving a Mazda 767.

Career Results

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Year	Class	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Points	Rank	Wins
1964	125cc	Suzuki	USA	ESP	FRA	IOM	NED		FRG	DDR	ULS	FIN	NAT	JPN 3		4	11th	0
1965	125cc	Suzuki	USA	FRG	ESP	FRA	IOM	NED 2		DDR	CZE	ULS	FIN	NAT	JPN	6	11th	0
	250cc	Suzuki	USA	FRG	ESP	FRA	IOM	NED 4	BEL 4	DDR	CZE	ULS	FIN	NAT	JPN	6	14th	0
1966	50cc	Suzuki	ESP	FRG		NED 5						IOM	NAT	JPN 1		10	5th	1
	125cc	Suzuki	ESP	FRG		NED		DDR	CZE	FIN 5	ULS	IOM	NAT	JPN 2		14	6th	0
1967	50cc	Suzuki	ESP 2	FRG	FRA 1	IOM	NED 1	BEL 2								28	2nd	2
	125cc	Suzuki	ESP 3	FRG 1	FRA 3	IOM	NED 4		DDR	CZE	FIN	ULS	NAT	CAN	JPN	19	4th	1

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1977	Craven Mild Racing	Geoff Leeds	Mazda RX-3	2001cc – 3000cc	103	DNF	DNF
1982	Peter Stuyvesant International Racing	Allan Moffat	Mazda RX-7	A	156	6th	6th
1983	Peter Stuyvesant International	Allan Moffat	Mazda RX-7	A	162	2nd	2nd

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1983	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Yojiro Terada Takashi Yorino	Mazda 717C	C Jr.	302	12th	1st
1984	B. F. Goodrich Company	John Morton John O'Steen	Lola T616-Mazda	C2	320	10th	1st
1985	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Yojiro Terada Takashi Yorino	Mazda 737C	C2	264	24th	6th
1986	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Yojiro Terada Takashi Yorino	Mazda 757	GTP	59	DNF	DNF
1987	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Yojiro Terada Takashi Yorino	Mazda 757	GTP	34	DNF	DNF
1988	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Marc Duez David Leslie	Mazda 767	GTP	330	17th	2nd
1990	Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd.	Yojiro Terada Takashi Yorino	Mazda 767B	GTP	304	20th	1st

External links

• Katayama 1977 Bathurst crash video