Norifumi "Norick" Abe Dies In Stupid Traffic Accident |
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File under Celebrities
Author: Mike Werner
Location: Normandy, France
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Norifumi "Norick" Abe  died after a 500cc motorcycle he was riding collided with a truck that made an illegal u-turn on a road in Kwasaki, near Tokyo, on the night of Sunday October 7, 2007. The three-time motorcycle Grand Prix champion, Abe was taken to a hospital but died later. He was 32.
Abe, nicknamed ''Norick,'' joined the 500 cc MotoGP, the world's premier motorcycling championship, in 1994 and earned his first victory in the 1996 Japanese Grand Prix. He also won the 1999 Brazil and 2000 Japanese Grand Prix races. In total, Abe made the podium 17 times out of his 144 Grand Prix appearances, riding Yamaha models. His last race in MotoGP was the 2004 Valencia Grand Prix.
After leaving the Grand Prix world championship, he had competed in Japan for the All Japan Superbike Championship. This year, he joined the All Japan Road Race Championship and finished third.
Abe began riding motorbikes at the age of 5 and won the 500 cc title at the All Japan Road Race Championship at the age of 18, becoming the youngest title winner.
Of all the stupid ways for a great motorcycle racer to die .... in a common traffic accident...
Click here to read more about Norick
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