Tadayuki Okada

Tadayuki 'Taddy' Okada (born February 13, 1967) is a Japanese professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was runner-up in the 1994 250cc and in the 1997 500cc World Championship.

Early career

Okada won the 250cc All Japan Road Race Championship in 3 successive years from 1989 to 1991 for Honda, who took him to the 250cc World Championship in 1993. He was runner-up in the series in 1994, and fourth in 1995.

500cc and beyond

Okada stepped up to 500cc in 1996, helping develop the V-twin Honda NSR500V and finished the season in 7th overall. In 1997, he had three wins and finished second to Mick Doohan. He missed several races in 1998 due to a wrist injury but bounced back in 1999 to finish third in the championship, with wins at Assen, Brno and Phillip Island. Going into the final round of the season he was second in points, but lost out to final-race winner Kenny Roberts, Jr.. After a largely unsuccessful 2000 he switched to the Superbike World Championship for , without winning a race although taking three podium finishes and 8th overall, choosing to retire at the end of the year. Okada made a one-off wildcard appearance at the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello in June 2008, finishing 14th, in the first race for the pneumatic valved Honda RC212V.

Grand Prix career statistics

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
1989	250cc	Honda NSR250	1	0	0	0	0	10	28th
1990	250cc	Honda NSR250	1	0	0	0	0	0	-
1991	250cc	Honda NSR250	1	0	0	0	0	0	-
1992	250cc	Honda NSR250	1	0	1	0	0	15	13th
1993	250cc	Honda NSR250	13	0	3	0	0	120	8th
1994	250cc	Honda NSR250	14	2	6	0	0	214	2nd
1995	250cc	Honda NSR250	13	0	5	0	1	136	4th
1996	500cc	Honda NSR500V	15	0	3	1	1	132	7th
1997	500cc	Honda NSR500	15	1	8	3	2	197	2nd
1998	500cc	Honda NSR500	9	0	3	0	1	106	8th
1999	500cc	Honda NSR500	16	3	6	3	2	211	3rd
2000	500cc	Honda NSR500	16	0	1	0	1	107	11th
2008	MotoGP	Honda RC212V	1	0	0	0	0	2	-
Total			116	6	36	7	8	1250

References

External links

• Tadayuki Okada profile at Crash.net