On the afternoon of Oct. 21, Daijiro Kato screeched across the finish line on his 250cc Honda to win the Malaysian Grand Prix -- and with it his first World Motorcycle Road Racing Champion's crown.

Speaking barely an hour later, Japan's fifth-ever motorbike GP world titleholder said: "I didn't have any tension this morning. I slept well and I felt the same as usual. During the race, everything was normal, only it was very hot -- around 38 degrees -- so I had to concentrate hard till the end.

"Now, of course, I am happy, but I'm the same person I was this morning."

Cool, or what? Certainly modest. Kato had just become world champion, and what assembled journalists were expecting to hear was along the lines of: "I was so nervous this morning," or "I was so happy, I shed a few tears after I passed that checkered flag."

Whatever he said, though, what Kato has done is incredible.

Imagine riding a motorbike at speeds of nearly 300 kph, racing against the best riders in the world and beating them.

Imagine the risks. Motorbike racers are brave as a breed. Sometimes their tire slides in a corner and they hit another machine. Sometimes they crash, and though leathers and gravel traps help prevent many injuries, there are still fatalities, and plenty of broken bones. Yet these people seem to have no fear.

Instead, they seem to enjoy their rivalry, controlling slides, slipstreaming each other, crossing other riders' lines at corners and then accelerating out, burning rubber while fighting to keep their front wheel on the ground.

For five years I used to race myself, though I was only a novice female 125cc rider in what is mainly a man's sport.

But even at that level, when I got over 200 kph the force of the air made tears run down my face, and after a while my hands would be shaking, because tension made me grip the bars too hard. What's more, at that speed your vision is normally reduced to only a small space in front of you -- what we call "tunnel vision." Once you get used to it, though, you can even make out the sign board shown to you by the pit crew as you flash past.

Braking at the entrance of a corner is the crucial part of racing. This is where you can pass other riders -- if you are brave enough to brake late. The top riders are usually hard brakers and they try to delay deceleration till the last moment. Braking a mere 10 cm further along the track than your competitor can often shave off the split seconds it takes to decide a race.

When I used to compete, I hated rainy races because they were scary. Tires slide everywhere if you accelerate or brake too hard on a wet track, so you have to use your throttle with caution. And with the water spray from bikes in front, you can hardly see what is happening ahead.

Some riders, however, actually prefer wet conditions, especially those on less powerful machines. This is because a wet track minimizes the advantage of the more powerful bikes, as they can't be ridden at full power. Instead, smooth riding, without doing anything too suddenly, becomes crucial.

Even without the rain, track type gives certain riders an edge. Donington Park Circuit in England is a high-speed course where machines with the highest power and top speed prevail. My favorite was Suzuka in Mie Prefecture, a mixture of long straights, wide corners, S-curves and tight turns that is said to be one of the most technical race tracks in the world. Even now, when I go to Suzuka, I remember the thrilling days when I used to race there.

I don't race any more, though. I quit because I crashed during a wet practice and seriously injured my left thigh. Like I said, I always hated racing in the wet.

Of course, top racing riders are different from us; despite adverse weather conditions and even serious crashes, they never give up.

But what is it that makes them so different? Natural talent is obviously important, and you're either born with or without it. Physical and mental strength are also necessary -- and can be developed through training and effort. Exercise can build a body strong enough to be constantly flicking the bike from side to side, and you can also train your mind to eliminate fears and develop self-control.

Then there is the importance of experience, which works with these other factors. The more you race, the better you know how to control yourself during racing.

The deciding factor, though, must be the pure determination to win. To be a champion, you have to concentrate on racing 100 percent, 365 days a year.

"Even when I was dating, I was thinking only about racing," said Mick Doohan, five-time 500cc World Champion. In 1992, just two years before his first win, Doohan had suffered a multiple leg fracture so serious that surgeons considered amputation. But his determination to capture the title was so strong that he fought back to clinch it first in 1994 -- and then again for the next four years.

"They like winning, you know. That makes them different from others," comments Jerry Burgess, chief mechanic to the Honda Works team, whose world champions have included Doohan, Wayne Gardner (1987) and Valentino Rossi (2001). "They like winning and in the end the championship comes as a bonus. They don't think of the championship when a season begins, or calculate points during the season, but just try to win every race."

But even the top riders, no matter how tough, experienced and talented, are pushed to their limit during a race. They wear a mouth guard because they clench their teeth so hard when braking or overtaking other riders.

The bikes, too, are pushed to the limits -- of a performance capacity that far outstrips normal street bikes. The Honda NSR500, for instance, the machine Doohan used to ride, is a two-stroke four-cylinder 500cc. Its maximum power is some 197 Hp and its weight is not more than 131 kg. Compare this with Honda's popular street bike, the four-stroke four-cylinder CBR600F4i. The weight of the CBR is 196 kg and the maximum output of the standard Japanese-market model is a mere 68 Hp. You can see how powerful and light the racing machine is. The Honda NSR 250, on which Daijiro Kato won the world championship, weighs a mere 105 kg, yet its output, though kept secret, is around 100 Hp -- about that of a family car.

Since Honda started its assault on the World Championship in 1959, Japanese makes have dominated the scene, although European manufacturers such as Aprillia, Derbi and Gilera have recently been competitive in the smaller 125cc and 250cc classes.

In fact, there are two motorbike racing World Championships. The better known is the FIM (Federation Internationale de Motorcyclisme) Moto GP (125cc, 250cc and 500cc classes of two-strokes). The other is the World Superbike Championship, which is for production model-based four-strokes.

From next year, though, Moto GP's regulations will change, with the current supreme 500cc class becoming the Moto GP class, in which two-stroke 500cc machines and four-stroke 990cc machines will compete together. Along with this exciting change, other European manufacturers -- such as Ducati, Aprillia and perhaps even BMW -- are expected to join the fray with their four-stroke racers. More exciting new technologies are sure to be seen, and the racing will become even tougher.

World Champion Kato is expected to move up to the Moto GP class when it starts next year. Will he stay so cool competing with the top guys in the supreme class? We can't wait to find out.