Remembering Peter and Shoya
Shoya Tomizawa lost his life during the Moto2 race at Misano last weekend. Running fourth, he crashed at one of the fastest corners of the circuit and was subsequently hit by Alex de Angelis and Scott Redding who were tucked right behind him.
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The 19-year old Japanese rider, who made history by winning the inaugural Moto2 race in Qatar at the start of the season, was immediately taken to hospital but later succumbed to his injuries.
He raced with number 48 but carried the number 74 of compatriot Daijiro Kato on his leathers. Kato was the last rider to be killed in the Grand Prix class, at Suzuka in 2003, but Tomizawa's passing comes just one week after 13-year old Peter Lenz lost his life in a crash in the second Moriwaki MD250H support race at Indianapolis.
Shoya Tomizawa was born on 10 December 1990 in Chiba, Japan, and it wasn’t long before he discovered his passion for racing. At just three years old he started in the pocket bike class, ever-popular in Japan, and the path of his future was set.
The 2006 season saw him step up to the All Japan Road Race Championship in the 125cc class, aged just 15, and finish runner-up and Rookie of the Year. Again in 2008 he was runner up, this time in the 250cc class, before embarking on his first full season on the world stage, in the then 250cc class.
On a Suter chassis in the inaugural 600cc Moto2 season this year, Shoya shone with two poles, a second place and his win in Qatar from just ten races. As his light grew ever-brighter, it was cruelly extinguished way before its time.
Peter Lenz was just 13 when he lost his life doing what he loved and, like Shoya, what he too was destined to do. Born on 30 May 1997, the American began racing at five years of age and was very successful on a mix of pocket bikes and 50cc motocross machines.
In 2009 he suffered a terrible crash at Portland whilst leading the United States Grand Prix Racers Union West Coast Championship. Mechanical failure put Peter into a tyre wall and he broke his tibia and fibula, his femur and his humerus, and was sidelined for the rest of the season.
He demonstrated his true grit and determination in bouncing back in 2010, strong as ever. At the time that another star was snatched from motorcycle racing, on the warm-up lap for his race at the Indianapolis Grand Prix, Peter was again leading the USGPRU Moriwaki MD250H powered by Honda National and Western Region Championships.
The paddock honoured the memory of Peter with a one minute silence at Misano before the start of the 125cc race.
“We are in a very sad time as last week we lost the talented and very young Peter Lenz at Indianapolis and on Sunday we also lost Tomizawa-san. He was a great young Japanese rider, a wonderful character and a shining light, and both were so young in their motorcycle racing careers" said Hiroshi Yasukawa, Director of Bridgestone Motorsport. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Tomizawa-san and Peter at this tragic time, and their memories shall remain bright in our hearts.”
As Ric Moore said after his son Greg lost his life in the CART World Series race at the California Speedway in Fontana on October 31 1999, "What happened Sunday was beyond everybody but God's control. He loved life and life loved him. And most people in two lifetimes would not have the memories that he took with him."
Peter and Shoya, we miss you both terribly.