128 replies to this topic

[skinnylizard]

im not sure where to post this but i just thought i would let people know Daijiro Kato who rides for the Movistar Honda in the FIM 500 caa class cartwheeled of the circuit and was seriously injured. his heart stopped beating and timely resucitation was what brought him back. he is a coma at the time i last checked.
hears hoping he gets better.
xxx
www.pi-media.com
www.eranstudio.com

[senninha]

Be strong, Daijiro.

[RJL]

Dreadful news. Fingers crossed.

[gerry nassar]

Yeah - I saw the crash during the race - It was very bad!

I wish him well!

[StickShift]

A few more tidbits...

His Birthday is today
His second son was born last week
The cause for his accident is unknown, he just veered off in a braking zone
The surgeon who worked on him gave him a 15% chance of surviving
Even if he does survive, he is parylyzed from the neck down. He'll need to be on a respirator for life.

[skinnylizard]

ive spoken to a mate and in general this has turned out to be a pretty fu***d up weekend all around for a variety of reasons. i hope things get better coz this is going to be a long year otherwise.
i hope Kato fights back ...
xxx
www.pi-media.com
www.eranstudio.com

[ruther]

Terrible accident - when I turned TV on, it already had happened...although I have seen a replay of him "laid" on the track - awful

The first thought that comes to my mind when these accidents happens is about drivers' family feelings - probably they were watching the race right there, it was his home race, and it's terrible.

What did happen?? Was the accident caught on tape?

[nicohu]

It's really sad and I really hope Kato san can pull through. From what I read at Motogp.com, the accident happened right after the 130R, where Kato suddenly went left when he tried to brake for the chicane. According to Gibernau, who was behind Kato and witnessed the crash, he hit the barrier at around 200km/h.

I haven't seen the footage on TV, but it must have been a horrific accident.

My thoughts go out to his family and his team.

Nico

[rmhorton]

I saw the accident live, it was pretty bad.

The strangest thing to me, being used to F1 procedures was to see him being swiftly lifted off the track onto a stretcher and off the track. No safety car, just local yellows.

Now I am not suggesting that him being moved made his injuries worse, but with all the info regarding head and neck injuries it was strange that the race wasn't stopped and his injuries being accessed where he was.

They just seemed to want to get the track clear.....that's the way F1 was during the 60's...I thought every form of racing had moved on from that.

Roger

[HSJ]

That was a horrible crash, hope he makes it.

[speedy]

Originally posted by rmhorton
I saw the accident live, it was pretty bad.

The strangest thing to me, being used to F1 procedures was to see him being swiftly lifted off the track onto a stretcher and off the track. No safety car, just local yellows.

Now I am not suggesting that him being moved made his injuries worse, but with all the info regarding head and neck injuries it was strange that the race wasn't stopped and his injuries being accessed where he was.

They just seemed to want to get the track clear.....that's the way F1 was during the 60's...I thought every form of racing had moved on from that.

Roger

I noted that too - actually I was schocked to see the marshals simply lifting him up and carrying away.

It was a horrible accident, hope he can recover.

[nicohu]

I just saw that part of the race on Motogp.com and I agree, what the marshalls did was alarming. I don't think anything was done to secure Kato's neck area and he was just dragged onto the stretcher so they could clear the track. The marshalls should have done better to properly secure kato, especially for a crash like that.

Nico

[Ghostrider]

Very sad to hear that Katoh is so severely hurt. Hope he pulls through.

[Tomecek]

I feel very sorry

[Ray Bell]

Sometimes they put injured people into a coma so they can stabilise them...

I don't know if this is the case in this instance, but it was what happened with Karl Wendlinger after his crash at Monaco in '94.

All the same, I'm a total optimist... let's just say we all hope he pulls through. Terrible thing for his wife to endure...

[schuy]

Yeah Ray, these things do happen quite a lot.

Daijiro is such a young guy, so talented.
I am with him in strength and mind.
Be strong.

[CLX]

A guy on TV just said he's dead.

[Shiftin]

Originally posted by CLX
A guy on TV just said he's dead.

That's very very sad.

[Ghostrider]

[Silver Arrow]

has it been confirmed elsewhere?

[Rediscoveryx]

There's no news about that on www.motogp.com

[Silver Arrow]

could someone confirm this (or hopefully unconfirm)
there is also someone in the motogp forum saying that there is this rumour

please let it not be true

[idrumond]

I was whatching the race live and was shocked by the marshall procedures to remove him from the track.

The race should've been red-flagged for Christ's sake!

I really hope this rumor of Kato being dead is false.

[Rediscoveryx]

Originally posted by idrumond
I really hope this rumor of Kato being dead is false.

There's been no news of this anywhere that I'm aware of, and it's been more than an hour since the rumour was posted here, so it's hopefully not true

[Captain Cranckcase]

Originally posted by CLX
A guy on TV just said he's dead.

What country are you in and what channel did you hear this news on? This is sad as it looks like he will never race again. People were talking him up as a possible challenger to Rossi in the future.

[CLX]

Hum, this rumor sucks... I read a site confirmong it and left for lunch. When I was back, the same site had denied it...

[Rediscoveryx]

Well atleast we know that it's just a rumour now. Thanks for clearing that up CLX

[Ghostrider]

Originally posted by CLX
Hum, this rumor sucks... I read a site confirmong it and left for lunch. When I was back, the same site had denied it...

Well, rumours like these are really annoying, but at the same time it is a good thing if they are denying it because then it might not be true.

[madmac]

I saw it to, it was pretty horrific. I have my fingers crossed for Kato.

[nigel red5]

http://news.bbc.co.u...kes/2921943.stm

Daijiro still fighting... I really hope he pulls through.

[A.Will]

I also saw the crash live it was horrifying, I have never seen a bike so destroyed after an accident, I hope to God he isn't dead . But that was a shambles, they always do it in motogp the way they just chuck the guy on the stretcher and carry him away, maybe now they will realise they have to take more care, good luck Dajiro.

[Scudetto]

Originally posted by Ghostrider


Well, rumours like these are really annoying, but at the same time it is a good thing if they are denying it because then it might not be true.

Well, this story, which was less than 10 minutes old when I posted this, states he's still in a coma.

My prayers for his speedy recovery.

[BuonoBruttoCattivo]

The rumors are false!
Daijiro improved slightly in the ambulance (they opened his heart procedure, heart rate sustained normal) but then went into deep coma and the situation right now is critical and grave.
There is absolutely no prognosis from the doctors which prefer not to give any comments as of now. His conditions have not improved overnight, undergoing treatments currently.
This is from Gazzetta.it BTW.

Vale planning to write a formal letter to prostest dangerous Suzuka circuit layout, especially critical of the location where Melandri crashed Sat.

Katoh. Hang in there guy.

[Ghostrider]

Thanx for the info Scudetto and BBC!! Hope he pulls through.

[Viktor]

Where did Melandri crash?

/Viktor

[911]

Hang in there, Kato.. We are thinking of you.

[MPJay]

Marco crashed on the fast right hander between the hairpin and Spoon i believe, its one of the places Valentino Rossi has complained about, the wall is too close to the track. My thoughts are with Kato Sans family, i hope he can pull through.

I would have to say that motorcycle racing is the last bastion of the old school of racing, especially events like the Isle of Mann TT. If you are lucky you merely have a low side or high side into the gravel or an air fence, and have a broken leg like Marco......having a bare body impact any kind of solid surface at 200k like poor Daijiro had and you become another statistic of the dangers of the passion that we here see as spectators. I'm just hoping he can beat the odds.

[Bjorn]

http://www.timesonli...-638426,00.html

Doesn't look too good The drivers seem to be furious and want the race removed from the calentar entirely.

[POLAR]

Lets pray and hope for the best, wathever that is. My thoughts are with his family now.

Polar

[Chris G.]

Thoughts and prayers to Kato and family.

[LB_13]

It was a horrible accident
I hope he will survive

[Shadow]

Originally posted by Bjorn
http://www.timesonli...-638426,00.html

Doesn't look too good The drivers seem to be furious and want the race removed from the calentar entirely.

Well, if U take into account that Kato are almost killed, Barros raced with a broken knee, and the Melandri crash... They had reasons to complain!

Hope Kato survive !

[Pookie]

I hope he pulls through.

[Silver Arrow]

according to Motogp.com (the little ticker tape scrolling headline thing)
Kato's condition has been upgraded from "critical" to "serious but stable" condition after 24 hours in the hospital
hang in there Kato

[911]

That is a very encouraging sign, Silver Arrow. I hope he can survive and then make a full recovery.

[balaclava]

[confucius]

This is extremely sad news. And from that article the marshalls did a poor job of attending to him, granted they had to make quick decisions and get the track safe as possible as quickly as possible. Maybe there should be greater blame put on the course official for not stopping the race as has been said many times already.

I hate to sound morbid or anything, but is there anywhere I can get footage of the crash? The 250 (? might have been 125s) race where the two riders touched on the approach to 130R was scary enough, and the rider that went straight off over the chicane after that at high speed was pretty lucky too.

[Nasty McBastard]

the guy in the 125's who shot over the chicane at a fair old clip on the last lap is also the same bloke who 1 corner earlier, was sideways on the grass approaching 130r.....an interesting 2 corners for him (it was checchinello BTW).

as for footage of the accident. it seems like all tv cameras missed it, and from what i read on the motogp site, it doest even look like its been caught on suzukas CCTV.....probably not a bad thing.

[AdrianM]

MotoGP.com is reporting that his condition is better but still critical. His heart rate is the strongest it has been since the accident: http://motogp.com/en/motogp/index.html

[Ghostrider]

Originally posted by AdrianM
MotoGP.com is reporting that his condition is better but still critical. His heart rate is the strongest it has been since the accident: http://motogp.com/en/motogp/index.html

Good news!! Thanx for the update!