A dream came true for Daijiro Katoh this afternoon when he sensationally won the Malaysian Grand Prix and by doing so became 2001 250cc World Champion.
After taking a perfect start the Japanese star kept the lead until the end, leaving sole championship rival Tetsuya Harada in his wake to win by almost 15 seconds. The record breaking rider has now won 10 races this season, and totally dominated the 250 class, making him a worthy World Champion.
“I still can't believe I won the Championship,” smiled Katoh afterwards. “I don't feel like to be the World Champion yet, as the race has just finished and everything is happening so quickly.
“Throughout the week-end it seemed that Harada had problems, at every single session, so I guess I had some advantage over him. Anyway, all I wanted to do was to win, that was my priority and I kept maximum concentration and finally I won and. I'm very happy!
“To become World Champion was my only aim and I made it, so that's just great!” enthused the quiet Honda hero. “I will not have the time to celebrate, as I'm flying back to Japan tonight, but I wish I will have some time later on in Japan or in Italy to take the chance and celebrate with my team.”
An emotional Fausto Gresini, Team Manager of Telefonica MoviStar outfit, added: “Today we crowned our dream, a dream which was born on the very first day I decided to start a new adventure in racing as team manager. It's a very special day for all of us who had been working hard always with great passion believing every day in our job.
“It was a fantastic year for us and it was absolutely important that we never gave up during bad times. We had maximum support from HRC who believed in us as all our sponsors did and at this moment emotions are so big that I can just say a big thank you to everyone who had trusted me and my team.”
Gresini now looks set to move up to the Premier
MotoGP class for 2002 - with none other than Daijiro Katoh...
