[Norick's Life: A Series] "I thought we could be friends" - Pro Racer & Renn-Tai Producer Takuma Aoki

Norick, whose real name is Norifumi Abe, dreamed of becoming a professional rider, honed his skills at Circuit Akigase, and then went to America for training. He became the youngest ever champion of the All Japan Road Race Championship, debuted in the Motorcycle World Championship, and aimed for the championship in the top class.
Always looking forward, he forged his path as a rider with his head held high, exuding an overwhelming aura and capturing the hearts of fans with his carefree smile.
People who met him in each place where he lived intensely – from Norick's childhood, his friends at Circuit Akigase, to the All Japan Road Race and the Motorcycle World Championship – share their memories with him.

"I thought, 'Maybe riding a 500 is surprisingly easy.'"

My brothers and I rode pocket bikes from childhood and started racing mini bikes, and we also went to Circuit Akigase in Saitama Prefecture. Daijiro Kato and Yuichi Takeda were there, and Norifumi Abe was there too.

So, we might have had near misses, but I don't remember much. I heard rumors that Abe went to America for dirt training. He was only a year older than me and in the same generation, so I vaguely remember thinking, "Is he not going to high school?"

The first time I actually saw him race was in a regional race at Tsukuba. He was rumored to be a rider who could slide really well, and that's when I connected him with his Akigase days and recognized him as "Ah, the guy who went to America."

Then, in 1993, Abe entered the All Japan Road Race Championship (JRR) GP500. I was competing in GP250 for a private team, and it was my third year in JRR. GP500 was the top class, and it wasn't something you could ride easily. That was the common understanding at the time. Yet, I thought, "How can he ride it? What happened for him to be able to do that in his JRR debut season?"

But Abe rode it well, won, and became the champion.

I thought, "Maybe riding a 500 is surprisingly easy." That you could ride it even if you started suddenly...

With his performance at the 1994 Japan GP, Abe went overseas early.

The JRR GP500 class was discontinued, and Superbike (SB) became the top class. I moved up to SB and finished second in the standings. In 1995, I joined HRC.

I competed as a wild card in the Japan GP that year and rode a 500 for the first time. It was just as I imagined – "It's very manageable and surprisingly easy to ride."

Abe's impression from the previous year was strong, so I thought, "I will never lose to Abe." Of course, I didn't want to lose to any other Japanese riders, nor to overseas riders.

Abe and Shinichi Itoh were also competing, and we were fighting for the lead in the final. Mick Doohan won, Daryl Beattie was second, and I finished third to take the podium.

That year, my eldest brother Toku was second in GP250, and my youngest brother Haruchika won in GP125, making headlines as the three Aoki brothers all stood on the podium in WGP across all classes.

In 1996, I made a spot appearance at the Japan GP again. I qualified fourth and was fighting for the lead in the final. Abe followed Alex Crivillé, who had pulled away, with Mick following him, but the pace didn't increase. I, behind them, overtook Mick and chased after them, thinking, "I have to keep up with those two in front..." But I crashed at the Reverse Bank, and the showdown with Abe didn't happen.

However, Abe won that race. I thought, "Winning is amazing." His riding at that time is particularly memorable.

The showdown with Abe never happened

In 1996, I achieved a V2 in JRR SB, and in 1997, I was scheduled to compete in WGP. The machine was not the V4-cylinder NSR500 ridden by Mick Doohan, Alex Crivillé, and Tadayuki Okada, but the NSR500V equipped with a V-twin engine.

It was a lightweight and easy-to-handle machine that Honda introduced with the aim of developing young riders, and I took over the bike that Okada had ridden until the previous year.

My goal was to surpass the times and results left by Okada, but of course, I was also paying attention to Abe's position.

When I was in the same group as Abe, we often got overtaken on the straights. However, I only lost at Donington and Czech Republic, and my ranking was higher.

Still, a true direct confrontation race never really materialized.

We never really talked

In 1998, I was supposed to be able to ride the V4, and it was supposed to be a different kind of season. I was looking forward to racing Abe.

But I got injured, and my WGP participation ended after just one year.

I thought Abe was someone who put in an incredible amount of effort. But I thought he was the kind of rider who hid it, acted nonchalant as if he hadn't done anything, and still produced amazing performances. Though, I don't really know the truth.

In my racing career, there haven't been many riders I considered rivals or whose presence I paid close attention to. I didn't feel that way towards younger riders like Daijiro Kato or Yuichi Takeda. As their senior, I felt "I can't lose to them," so it was different from a sense of competition. If I had to name rivals, it would be Tohru Ukawa and Abe.

For some reason, with riders in the same generation, I feel a sense of "I won't lose." That's why I feel I received truly great motivation from Abe.

Yet, I had no contact with Abe, and we never really talked. Even though we were in the same places in JRR and WGP, we never had a real conversation.

After he transferred from WGP to the Superbike World Championship (WSBK) in 2005, I happened to have a chance to have a meal with him through a mutual acquaintance, and I thought, "He's surprisingly a good guy."

I think we probably had the same impression of each other. I thought that kind of relationship "would continue into the future." I thought, "We could become good friends."

If I hadn't had that time, I don't think I would have felt this sense of loneliness and sadness at Abe's passing.

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