Daijiro Kato.......

Indeed. Truly unfortunate

danger is never as far from us as we'd like to think.

That's sad....I see these guys each year at our MotoGP around October...and are always amazed by their machine control at ridiculous speeds.
I know Valentino wants to boycot Suzuka until something is done to improve track safety.

Our Phillip Island is one of the fastest circuits in the season....max clocked speed was 324kph, which from memory is 203mph [Mick Doohan, a few years ago].

Bike racing is incredibly dangerous even at the best of times.

He'll be missed...

Guess he wasn't that highly talented after all.....

Peff....could you be any more insensitive?

Peff...NOT even remotely funny! >
Try using that type of rationale on the Shuttle crew and see how entertaining people think you are!
Jafo, word is (via the industry insiders) the thing nipped up .... and in a 240K sweeper not much could be done.
Come to think of it, there must be more than a few circuits that need looking at, Bazz would have been the first to agree.
But then again, racers being racers ... the IoM TT is a good example!
Kato .... a good bloke!

Jafo, the species 'dickus headius' come in all flavours! >

Jafo..Yes...but it would probably get me exiled....

Seriously, I have little pathos for people who kill themselves needlessly. What's the point of going ridiculous speeds? I realize that racing can be a lucrative profession, but I believe people with family responsibilites can find better ways of supporting their families. It just seems incredibly selfish to me to take these risks with a family to consider. I do feel sorry for his wife and children.

Wombat...how dare you compare the shuttle crew (who are advancing science for the benefit of mankind) to a motor bike racer who does it for god only knows what reason!! > Your last comment causes me to think that you might be suffering from a bad case of cranial rectumitis.

Peff...I agree with wombat's reference to the Shuttle crew.....to put things into perspective.
Space jockeys or bike jockeys....same difference.

What you WON'T find is equivalent comments coming from bike racing enthusiasts about the demise of astronauts.

Remember, my job as a race official is to help keep these riders/racers alive so they can entertain the public and their fans.

Your comment is personally something I feel as an insult.

OK, so you wouldn't know a bike racer from your own elbow but try 'tact' and 'sensitivity' when referring to the death of a person that I have known and been responsible for in my 'profession' as an FIM Official.

I am also very insulted by your comments Peff, I am surprised at you.

Jafo, I disagree completely with your 'jockey' reference. In fact, I think it is insulting to the memory of the shuttle astronauts and to their families. The shuttle crew died as a result of their scientific pursuit for the betterment of mankind and not as a result of a need to achieve celebrity and/or entertain the public/fans.

I appologize if I came across as insensitive and insulting.

Apology accepted.

Just remember, however, World famous NASA crew, or World famous MotoGP rider....they are equally deceased and their memory and those who survive them deserve respect.

'Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife,
Throughout the sensual world proclaim,
One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name!'

Thomas Osbert Mordaunt (1730 - 1809)

And still relevant to this day..............

WEll put wombat_1. Not only was he a sports figure, he was a father and a husband. That in itself is a tragedy, even if you get passed the sports part. I know zero about bike races, but can see the personal impact.

"One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name!'" to you, yes. to your family, no.

many of the people who have lived life to the hilt at great risk did so "without a name", and were not bothered in the slightest by that fact. the most heroic deeds i saw in vietnam were not observed and recommended for medals. mr Mordaunt may have lived 79 years, but i don't think he ever quite grew up.

back to the subject: the loss is a real shame.

A.E. Houseman said it well, too, I think: http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ltg/projects/jtap/tutorials/intro/owen/athlete.html

sorry, 'Housman'

i apologize for venting a little off topic in my previous. i had enduring relationships with two people whose life energy was funneled into "having a name", and who happened to care nothing about family, friends, society, love, or any of the various things that make the world a better place to live. the raw nerve which the quote struck is mine, and i should have kept it that way.

BkB ... Mordaunt served during the Seven Years War..... he did pretty well to live to that age I would say.
I always regarded those few lines as relating to being an ideal to live by, not 'making a name' in the conventional sense.
Nothing like the "Piranhas" you allude to.

Peff, you have obviously not ever raced anything at high speeds

Coming from a family that drag races, I can say "the need to speed is in their blood". It's what they do. To them it is as part of life as getting out of bed in the morning.

My husband drag races (as have I, and I assume my daughter will). I am much more confident that my husband would be killed on his way to work in his street car than he ever will on the track. Freak accidents happen everywhere. Just because he died doing something he loved makes it no less of a loss to his family and friends.

wombat - i'd never actually pictured them as piranhas ( i had other terms), but i rather like the allusion!