YOKOHAMA — Three-time motorcycle Grand Prix winner Norifumi Abe died Sunday after his motorbike collided with a truck that apparently made an illegal U-turn. He was 32. Abe, nicknamed "Norick," joined the 500 cc MotoGP, the world's premier motorcycling championship, in 1994 and earned his first victory in the 1996 Japanese Grand Prix. He also won the 1999 Brazil and 2000 Japanese Grand Prix races. In total, Abe made the podium 17 times out of his 144 Grand Prix appearances, riding Yamaha models. His last race in MotoGP was the 2004 Valencia Grand Prix.

According to police, a truck made an illegal U-turn from the left lane of a four-lane road in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, colliding with Abe's motorbike, which had been coming up behind in the right-hand lane.

Valentino Rossi has paid tribute to Japanese rider Norick Abe, who was killed in a road accident last weekend.

Italian Rossi was a huge fan of Norick Abe and when he started his world championship career in 1996 he arrived with the nickname ‘Rossifumi’, such was his support for the three-times 500 MotoGP winner Norifumi.

Valentino Rossi’s support for Norick Abe started when he watched him as a wild card riding for Honda as a wild card in the 1994 Japanese MotoGP in Suzuka.

Norick Abe was fighting with legends Mick Doohan and Kevin Schwantz before he crashed late in an enthralling race.

That performance dazzled a 14-year-old Rossi, who today (Thursday) in Phillip Island spoke of his sadness at the death of Abe when his scooter collided with a truck making an illegal U-turn in Japan. Norick Abe was 32.

Valentino Rossi, who was already mourning the loss last month of rally hero Colin McRae, who died in a helicopter crash, told MCN: “For me this not a great year.

“Two of my idols died in a little over two weeks, so it is incredible. When I was young I have all the posters of Norick and McRae in my room. I had three or four posters of Colin and also some of Norick, so for me this is very bad.

"I remember always looking at his debut 500 race in Suzuka 1994 when Norick was fighting with Kevin and Mick and he overtook them everywhere.

“I remember for two or three months I always looked at the video of the race before I went to school. I wake at 7am each day and looked at the video until Norick crashed and then I would go to school.

“For me was he was a big inspiration. He was one of my idols because he had a strange style on the bike and that race was unbelievable. It is very bad it happened.”