WE ALL know how seriously Japanese workers take their work. At the motor-cycling Grand Prix in Italy last weekend, Tetsuya Harada clearly went through the pain barrier. World 250cc championship leader Harada, who broke the fibia of his left leg on the Saturday saw no reason to pull out of the race on Sunday. He subsequently crashed again.

Harada decided to race despite the accident in which his leg was crushed by his bike. He stalled on the starting grid and had to work his way up through the field from 12th place to second.

As he bore down on race leader Valentino Rossi, the Japanese rider lost control on a left-hand curve and slid off the track, twisting his already broken leg in the fall. Undaunted, he somehow remounted and finished 10th. Now, that is taking company loyalty to the limit.