Japanese racing driver (born 1963)
Ukyo Katayama
(
片山 右京
,
Katayama Uky?
, born 29 May 1963)
is a Japanese former
racing driver
and team manager, most notable for competing for six years in
Formula One
. He participated in 97 Grands Prix, debuting on 1 March 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. He currently serves as a team representative for the Japanese continental cycling team JCL Team UKYO and has done so since 2012.
[1]
Biography
[
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]
Born in
Tokyo
, Katayama spent three years racing in
France
before returning home in 1988 to enter the
Japanese F3000
. He scored three podiums in 1990, and won the championship in 1991 with two wins and three second places.
Formula One
[
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]
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
. At the
1996 Belgian Grand Prix
he finished on the lead lap for the single time in his Formula One career.
[2]
During these years he was highly disadvantaged by the regulation changes which led to higher cockpit sides,
[
citation needed
]
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
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]
As a racing driver
[
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]
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 performances post F1 was at the
1999 24 Hours of Le Mans
, when during the last hour, as he was lapping traffic and closing up to the leading
BMW
in his
Toyota GT-One
, shared 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 BMW. The lone GT-One would come home 2nd overall. Still, the GT-One won the GTP class, although it was the only car in that class to actually finish the race.
In 2008, he was one of several retired F1 drivers to compete in the new
Speedcar Series
.
As a team manager
[
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]
In year 2000, Katayama established
Team UKYO
. The team originally participated in
JGTC
in 2001-2002 in the GT500 class in a collaboration with Cerumo, competing as the No. 33 team with Katayama and future team owner
Masahiko Kondo
as its drivers. The team left the series after the 2002 season before returning in 2011 to lead
Goodsmile Racing
's GT300 program. Katayama led the team to three GT300 titles in
2011
,
2014
, and
2017
.
The team also took part in the
Dakar Rally
in 2002-2005 and 2007, as well as participating as a
UCI Continental
cycling team
starting from 2012.
As a mountain climber
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]
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.
[3]
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.
[4]
As of the end of 2010, Katayama had summited six of the
Seven Summits
:
Mont Blanc
(climbed in 1996),
Kilimanjaro
(1998),
Elbrus
(1998),
Denali
(2008),
Aconcagua
(2009), and
Vinson Massif
(2010)
[5]
Other sports
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]
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
.
[6]
Media appearances
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]
He is now a commentator of Formula One in Japan, for
Fuji TV
. He also co-hosts the motoring program
Samurai Wheels
for
NHK World
. In 1996 he was a guest judge on
Iron Chef
.
Helmet
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Katayama's helmet was blue with a red and white stripe crossing the rear area and going in the sides forming an oblique letter T, and a vertical red and white stripe going across the top (until the visor).
[7]
Racing record
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Career summary
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Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
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]
Complete Japanese Formula 3000 results
[
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]
(
key
)
Complete International Formula 3000 results
[
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]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position; races in
italics
indicate fastest lap.)
Complete Formula One results
[
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]
(
key
)
† Katayama did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.
Complete JGTC results
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]
(
key
)
References
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External links
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]