Makoto Tamada

Makoto Tamada (玉田誠) (born November 4, 1976, in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan) is a former Japanese professional motorcycle racer currently working as a rider instructor in Suzuka Racing School.

The Konica Minolta Honda team was formed in late 2004 with him in mind, and he spent 2 years there using Michelin rubber.

Unfortunately a broken wrist sustained early in the season prevented him from reaching the championship top 10, although he did finish 3rd at his home race.

At the Sachsenring he ran 3rd early on, and was still in the top 6 when he went out wide to avoid Kenny Roberts, Jr. crashing, only to be hit by the American's riderless bike.

In 2007 he joined the Tech 3 Yamaha team in MotoGP using Dunlop tyres, alongside French rider Sylvain Guintoli.

[2] For 2009 he remained a factory Kawasaki rider, as they switched their support to the English Paul Bird Motorsport team, alongside Australian Broc Parkes.

[3] In 2010 Tamada returned to WSBK in a one-off outing for the Reitwagen BMW team at Portimao in Portugal.

On July 31, 2011, Tamada competed in the Suzuka 8 Hour race for the Musashi RT Harc-Pro team.

In late August it was announced that Tamada will race in the Nurburgring round of the 2011 World Superbike Championship for the Castrol Honda team.