#74 — Remembering Daijiro Kato, Twenty-Three Years On

MotoGP · Honda Racing · 20 April 2026

Twenty-three years ago today, motorcycle racing lost one of the most gifted riders it had ever seen. Daijiro Kato — #74, Honda, Fortuna livery — passed away on April 20, 2003, thirteen days after a crash at his home race in Suzuka. He was 26 years old.

Every April 20, fans around the world pause. In Japan, the emotion runs especially deep. Kato wasn't just a champion — he was the proof that Japanese riders could stand at the very top of Grand Prix motorcycle racing and dominate it.

The Rider Who Redefined What Was Possible

Daijiro Kato arrived in the premier class carrying the weight of a generation's expectations — and he handled it with a calm brilliance that made it look effortless. In 2001, he had destroyed the 250cc World Championship, winning the title with a margin that announced he was ready for MotoGP before he'd even arrived.

His RC211V debut season in 2002 produced a maiden podium at Le Mans and a string of performances that established him immediately as one of the fastest riders on the grid. He wasn't adapting to MotoGP. He was learning it while leading it.

The Honda Fortuna livery he wore became one of the most recognisable designs in the paddock — bold, vivid, unmistakably his. When you saw #74 threading through a corner, you were watching something rare. A rider entirely at peace with the bike beneath him.

Suzuka, April 6, 2003

The Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka was the race Kato was born to win. Fifty thousand fans packed into the grandstands, the entire country watching. On lap one, in the chaos of the opening sequence, contact. A fall. An impact that nobody could undo, no matter how much the world wanted it to.

He passed away on April 20th, surrounded by those who loved him. The paddock fell silent in a way it rarely does. Valentino Rossi, who had competed against Kato for years across the 250 class and into MotoGP, said what many were thinking: that #74 had been one of the few riders who truly scared him.

What He Left Behind

The number 74 has never been reassigned in MotoGP. It sits in the record books, attached to his name and his alone. That's not a rule — it's a gesture from a sport that understood what it had lost.

In Japan, he remains an icon. Not just of motorcycle racing, but of a certain kind of quiet, total commitment — the rider who said everything with his riding and needed no other words. The Fortuna Honda livery he wore has become one of the most beloved in the sport's history: a design that carries his memory every time it appears.

Today, twenty-three years on, a new generation of MotoGP fans are discovering who he was. And those who were there remember exactly where they were when they heard the news.

Our Tribute — The #74 Honda Fortuna Case

We built this case because some liveries deserve to be carried with you. The Daijiro Kato #74 Honda Fortuna phone case recreates the design that sits in Japanese motorsport history — the same colours, the same spirit, on the device you hold every day.

It's not merchandise. It's a reminder.

• Daijiro Kato — #74 Honda Fortuna MotoGP Case
  The livery of a legend. The number that will never be reused.
  → Shop the #74 Kato Case

Available for iPhone 15, 16 & 17 series, Samsung Galaxy S24/S25/S26, and Google Pixel. Free worldwide shipping on every order.

74. Always. 🏁

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