Mari Igata
Mari Igata was a pioneering Japanese professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. She would become the first woman to race in the Suzuka 8 Hours and the All Japan Road Race Championship. A member of the Showa era, Igata is remembered for breaking barriers for Japanese women in sport, as well as creating opportunities for the next generation with her Team Mari racing school. Igata was the elder sister of championship racer Tomoko Igata.
Background
Mari Igata was born in Bunkyō, Tokyo in 1958. Igata became interested in motorcycles early, buying a 50cc Honda Dax in her second year of high school.In 1975 at age 18, Mari was hired by Honda as an administrative typist. She soon turned to racing when she learned about Honda's "Blue Helmets" team. Initially, she was turned away, but kept returning to the team's club room, performing menial tasks such as refueling the bikes until they suggested giving her a 125cc to ride.
In 1978, she made her competitive debut, initially on 125cc motorcycles. In 1982, she was the second woman in Japan to be promoted to an International A-class license when she was 24 years old. From 1983 to 1984 she participated in the Suzuka 8 Hours Endurance Road Race, becoming the first woman in the world to do so. By 1985, she placed 5th in the All Japan Championship International A-class 125 rankings. Her fifth-place ranking would be the highest result achieved by a woman for 39 years, when Shizuka Okazaki placed fourth in the rankings in 2024.
In 1987 at age 30, Mari had an accident at Tsukuba while racing in the All Japan Road Race Championship. Coming into the final corner, she fell, breaking her femur and pelvis, and suffering internal organ damage. Igata had to relearn how to walk, and found riding a motorcycle painful. Despite efforts to return to racing, she eventually retired from competitive sport in 1990.