Katsuhiro Tottori's Fatal Crash @ Macau 1994 (Aftermath)

2023-11-22 92

The second heat of the 1994 Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix was marred by a number of crashes, including a fatal accident involving the Japanese rider Katsuhiro Tottori.

Tokyo, Japan, born Katsuhiro Tottori, 27-year-old professional racer, was making his debut on the Circuito da Guia 6.11-kilometer street course in Macau. He apparently died on the spot when he crashed on a fast straight near the finish line, being thrown over a concrete barrier. Earlier that year he had raced in the Grand Prix of Portugal at Estoril. About three months before his death Katsuhiro Tottori finished 33rd in the 1994 Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race, sharing a Racing Team Honeybee-entered Honda VFR750R with Masayuki Yamanaka.

Three other competitors were hospitalised at Macau during the two-heat event. Ken Watson of Australia and the Japanese Akihiro Yamada collided shortly after the start of the second heat, and also the British rider Dave Leach sustained injuries in a crash.

The Scottish motorcyclist Steve Hislop rode his Yamaha 500 to a second consecutive victory at the Macao Motorcycle Grand Prix, from Mike "Spike" Edwards, second and Phillip McCallen, third. Hislop, an 11-time Isle of Man Tourist Trophy winner, who had already won at Macau also in 1990, lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2003.

R.I.P