The four-stroke revolution may be arriving earlier than everyone
expected, as tests of Honda's new RC211V in Sepang this weekend
seemed to show. The big-bore engines were previously not expected
to be able to cut the mustard in the MotoGP class until a few races
into the season, but HRC riders Valentino Rossi and Tohru Ukawa
have practically put paid to that notion, before the season has
begun.
500cc World Champion Rossi was riding the bike for the first time
in 2002, but quickly set out to prove that he could lap as fast as
his team-mate Ukawa, who had recently destroyed the circuit record
at the track by over a second. However Rossi, in typically dominant
mood, went one better, by knocking a further second off Ukawa's
unofficial time. While the Japanese rider still went quicker than
he had before (2'04.29), the Italian set a phenomenal 2'03.61,
after completing 67 laps today. The circuit's best official time
was set by Loris Capirossi in last year's qualifying, as he took
pole in a time 2'05.637, while the race lap record stands at
2'06.618, by Rossi himself.
Nevertheless, it seems Rossi still feels the bike has more to
offer, 'This test is good, but we still have some work to do,
especially in braking. We have some problems because the bike is
difficult to stop, but we are at a good stage.' Both he and Ukawa
ran race simulations, the results of which they were pleased with,
although Ukawa crashed heavily six laps from the end of his, the
bike seemingly more damaged than he.
On the Honda NSR500cc, Daijiro Katoh clocked 2'05.35, improving the
time he made at the Sepang track in January. The 250cc World
Champion completed 53 laps, 8 less than his old quarter-litre rival
and now Honda colleague Tetsuya Harada. Harada admitted that he is
still getting used to the change of both category and manufacturer,
as he notched up 2'08.72.
The next time the official Honda machines are out to test will be
at the Montmelo circuit near Barcelona in March, where both the
RC211V and NSR500 will be pitted against all their four-stroke and
two-stroke rivals for the MotoGP crown. At those IRTA tests all the
manufacturers are scheduled to be present and running their new
machines; it promises to be a show not to
Yes....Four strokes rulessssss....See for urself...........
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