Ukyo Katayama | |
---|---|
Born | 29 1963 {{{birth_place}}} |
Died | {{{death_date}}} {{{death_place}}} |
Formula One career | |
Nationality | Japanese |
Years | 1992–1997 |
\Ukyo Katayama (born May 29, 1963) is a Japanese racing driver, most notable for competing six years in Formula One. He participated in 97 Grands Prix, debuting on March 1, 1992. He scored a total of five championship points, all of them for the Tyrrell team in 1994.
He also competed in the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing 2nd overall and 1st in the GTP class.
Biography[]
Katayama was born in Tokyo. He first raced in Europe in 1986 in France before returning home to win the Japanese F3000 series in 1991.
Formula One[]
His sponsors, Japan Tobacco, arranged a Formula One seat for Katayama in 1992 with Cabin brand, with the Larrousse team. The car was unreliable and a distinct midfielder, with team-mate Bertrand Gachot getting the lion's share of the team's meagre resources. However, Katayama impressed by running in 5th at the Canadian GP until his engine blew, but was eventually left with a brace of 9th places as his best result.
Japan Tobacco managed to arrange a switch to Tyrrell for 1993, but the team were at a nadir, with the interim 020C essentially three years old, and the new 021 proving uncompetitive. 10th place at the Hungarian GP was his best result.
1994 was to see a considerable turnaround for Tyrrell and Katayama. He impressed with the new 022, with three points-scoring finishes, a number of good qualifying performances, and generally being faster than his more experienced and acclaimed team-mate Mark Blundell. He was consistently a top-6 runner, but the car proved to be unreliable, leading him to 12 retirements, including the German GP, in which he was running 3rd before his throttle stuck open. However, in the four races that he did finish, he scored two 5th places, one 6th, and one 7th, good enough for 5 World Championship points.
After his 1994 performance, he was allegedly offered a contract with a top team for the 1995 season, but in Katayama's words, "he couldn't sign it". It would later emerge that in 1994 he had been diagnosed with cancer in his back; while non-threatening, it was painful, and his Grand Prix commitments delayed treatment. Katayama did not announce this until he retired from Formula One, not wanting anyone's sympathy to make excuses for him.
He stayed on with Tyrrell for the next two seasons, but suffered a loss of form, with two 7th places in high-attrition races his best results, thus scoring no points whilst being outpaced by rookie team-mate Mika Salo. During these years he was highly disadvantaged by the regulation changes which led to higher cockpit sides, a response to the death of Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino GP.
After leaving Tyrrell, his Mild Seven (another brand of Japan Tobacco) backing landed him a seat at Minardi, but they too were at a low ebb, and two 10th places were his best result. At his home Grand Prix, he emotionally announced his retirement from Formula One.
After Formula One[]
As a racing driver[]
Still popular in his homeland, Katayama has since dabbled in sportscars and GT racing, as well as his other love of mountaineering. One of his most notable performance post F1 was at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans, when during the last hour, as he was lapping traffic and closing up the leading BMW in his Toyota GT-One, sharing with compatriots Keiichi Tsuchiya and Toshio Suzuki, his car suffered a tyre blowout and, while he managed to keep the car on the track, he was forced to slowly make his way around the track to return to the pits for a new set. In the process the GT-One lost the chance to contend with the lead BMW, and thus lost the race. The lone GT-One would come home 2nd overall. As a consolation prize, the GT-One would win the GTP class, although it was the only car in the class to actually finish.
In 2008, he was one of several retired F1 drivers to compete in the new Speedcar Series.
As a motorsport director[]
In year 2000, He established TeamUKYO which participated in JGTC/Super GT (2001-2002 in GT500 and 2011 in GT300), also in Dakar Rally (2002-2005, 2007).
As a mountain climber[]
Katayama is a lover of mountain climbing. He has often been climbing mountains since his F1 era.
In 2001 he climbed the world's sixth-highest mountain, Cho Oyu. On December 1, 2006, it was reported that he had achieved his lifetime ambition of climbing Manaslu, the eighth-highest mountain in the world, after an unsuccessful attempt in 2004.[1]
On December 18, 2009, it was reported that he had been missing whilst climbing Mount Fuji with two friends. Upon calling a police search and rescue team, they informed the police that one of their climbing party had died, and another was presumed to be dying. Eventually, Katayama was found alive while two fellow climbers were found dead.[2]
As of the end of 2010, Katayama summited five of the Seven Summits: Mont Blanc (climbed in 1996), Kilimanjaro (1998), Elbrus (1998), McKinley (2008), Aconcagua (2009), and Vinson Massif (2010)[3]
Other sports[]
He has been participating other sporting events as an official invitee, such as Honolulu Marathon and Honolulu Century Ride. He has also started a cycling team called Team Ukyo.[4]
Media appearances[]
He is now a commentator of Formula One in Japan, for Fuji TV. In 1996 he was a guest judge on Iron Chef.
Helmet[]
Katayama's helmet was blue with a red and white stripe crossing the rear area and going in the sides forming an obliquous T letter, and a vertical red and white stripe going across the top (until the visor)
http://f-lap.net/_src/sc1278/ukyo05.jpg
Racing record[]
Complete Japanese Formula 3000 results[]
(key)
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | BA-TSU RACING TEAM | SUZ 11 |
FUJ Ret |
MIN Ret |
SUZ 7 |
SUG 5 |
FUJ 8 |
SUZ 12 |
SUZ Ret |
11th | 2 | |||
1989 | Footwork FORMULA | SUZ 9 |
FUJ Ret |
MIN | SUZ Ret |
SUG Ret |
FUJ 15 |
SUZ 18 |
SUZ 7 |
NC | 0 | |||
1990 | CABIN RACING TEAM with HEROES | SUZ Ret |
FUJ 3 |
MIN 5 |
SUZ Ret |
SUG 12 |
FUJ 5 |
FUJ 2 |
SUZ 3 |
FUJ Ret |
SUZ DSQ |
5th | 18 | |
1991 | CABIN RACING TEAM with HEROES | SUZ 1 |
AUT 4 |
FUJ 9 |
MIN Ret |
SUZ 1 |
SUG 6 |
FUJ 2 |
SUZ 2 |
FUJ C |
SUZ 10 |
FUJ 2 |
1st | 40 |
Complete Formula One results[]
(key)
Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | WDC | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | Central Park Venturi Larrousse | Venturi Larrousse LC92 | Lamborghini V12 | RSA 12 |
MEX 12 |
BRA 9 |
ESP DNQ |
SMR Ret |
MON DNPQ |
CAN Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR Ret |
GER Ret |
HUN Ret |
BEL 17 |
ITA 9 |
POR Ret |
JPN 11 |
AUS Ret |
NC | 0 | |
1993 | Tyrrell Racing Organisation | Tyrrell 020C | Yamaha V10 | RSA Ret |
BRA Ret |
EUR Ret |
SMR Ret |
ESP Ret |
MON Ret |
CAN 17 |
FRA Ret |
GBR 13 |
NC | 0 | ||||||||
Tyrrell 021 | Yamaha V10 | GER Ret |
HUN 10 |
BEL 15 |
ITA 14 |
POR Ret |
JPN Ret |
AUS Ret |
||||||||||||||
1994 | Tyrrell Racing Organisation | Tyrrell 022 | Yamaha V10 | BRA 5 |
PAC Ret |
SMR 5 |
MON Ret |
ESP Ret |
CAN Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR 6 |
GER Ret |
HUN Ret |
BEL Ret |
ITA Ret |
POR Ret |
EUR 7 |
JPN Ret |
AUS Ret |
17th | 5 | |
1995 | Nokia Tyrrell Yamaha | Tyrrell 023 | Yamaha V10 | BRA Ret |
ARG 8 |
SMR Ret |
ESP Ret |
MON Ret |
CAN Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR Ret |
GER 7 |
HUN Ret |
BEL Ret |
ITA 10 |
POR Ret |
EUR |
PAC 14 |
JPN Ret |
AUS Ret |
NC | 0 |
1996 | Tyrrell Yamaha | Tyrrell 024 | Yamaha V10 | AUS 11 |
BRA 9 |
ARG Ret |
EUR DSQ |
SMR Ret |
MON Ret |
ESP Ret |
CAN Ret |
FRA Ret |
GBR Ret |
GER Ret |
HUN 7 |
BEL 8 |
ITA 10 |
POR 12 |
JPN Ret |
NC | 0 | |
1997 | Minardi Team | Minardi M197 | Hart V8 | AUS Ret |
BRA 18 |
ARG Ret |
SMR 11 |
MON 10 |
ESP Ret |
CAN Ret |
FRA 11 |
GBR Ret |
GER Ret |
HUN 10 |
BEL 14 |
ITA Ret |
AUT 11 |
LUX Ret |
JPN Ret |
EUR 17 |
NC | 0 |
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results[]
Year | Class | No | Tyres | Car | Team | Co-Drivers | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | C1 | 30 | M | Courage C22 Porsche Type-935 2.8L Turbo Flat-6 |
Courage Compétition | Paul Belmondo François Migault |
66 | DNF | DNF |
1992 | C1 | 7 | G | Toyota TS010 Toyota RV10 3.5L V10 |
Toyota Team Tom's | Geoff Lees David Brabham |
192 | DNF | DNF |
1998 | GT1 | 27 | M | Toyota GT-One Toyota R36V 3.6L Turbo V8 |
Toyota Motorsports Toyota Team Europe |
Toshio Suzuki Keiichi Tsuchiya |
326 | 9th | 8th |
1999 | LMGTP | 3 | M | Toyota GT-One Toyota R36V 3.6L Turbo V8 |
Toyota Motorsports Toyota Team Europe |
Keiichi Tsuchiya Toshio Suzuki |
364 | 2nd | 1st |
2002 | LMP900 | 18 | M | Courage C60 Peugeot A32 3.2L Turbo V6 |
Pescarolo Sport | Eric Hélary Stéphane Ortelli |
144 | DNF | DNF |
2003 | LMP900 | 9 | Y | Dome S101 Mugen MF408S 4.0L V8 |
Kondo Racing | Masahiko Kondo Ryo Fukuda |
322 | 13th | 8th |
References[]
- ↑ "Katayama scales Mt. Manaslu". Autosport.com. 2006-12-01. http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/55853. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
- ↑ "Former F1 driver Katayama says fellow climbers died on Mount Fuji". Mainichi Shimbun. 2009-12-19. http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20091219p2a00m0na014000c.html. Retrieved 2009-12-19.
- ↑ "ビンソンマシフ登頂成功". Ukyo Katayama official website. 2010-12-27. http://ukyo-katayama.cocolog-nifty.com/ukyo/2010/12/post-9e3d.html. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
- ↑ Tsuji, Kei. "Doi Yukihiro ga Chīmu Ukyo e no iseki". Cyclowired. http://www.cyclowired.jp/?q=node/94554. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ukyo Katayama |
- Ukyo Katayama at F1DB.
- F1 Rejects article about Katayama's 1994 season.
- Chequered Flag Motorsport's Profile of Katayama and other Japanese F1 drivers
Preceded by: Kazuyoshi Hoshino |
Japanese Formula 3000 Champion 1991 |
Succeeded by: Mauro Martini |
This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Ukyo Katayama. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |