Honda RC211V

2002

In 2002, the debut year of the RC211V, Honda and Valentino Rossi dominated by winning the constructors' championship by more than 100 points over their nearest rival. The bike underwent small modifications over the season, but it did not as yet have traction control so much as a handlebar-mounted power management system with three settings for different needs during a race.

:Factory riders: Valentino Rossi, Tohru Ukawa :Satellite riders (in the latter part of the season): Alex Barros, Daijiro Kato

2003

Among other changes in 2003, power was increased from about 200 to 240 bhp. Traction control was also added.

:Factory riders: Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden, Daijiro Kato, Sete Gibernau :Satellite riders: Max Biaggi, Tohru Ukawa, Makoto Tamada, Ryuichi Kiyonari

2004

For 2004, a new, inverted rear suspension link was added, and a new exhaust was introduced at the Sachsenring round. The RC211V riders were unable to keep Rossi (now on a Yamaha YZR-M1) from winning his fourth premier-class championship, and no clear candidate appeared to take over Rossi's role of lead development rider for Honda.

:Factory riders: Alex Barros, Nicky Hayden, Sete Gibernau :Satellite riders: Max Biaggi, Colin Edwards, Makoto Tamada

2005

2005 would be the first time in four years Honda lost the constructors' championship in the premier class. The RC211V chassis underwent frequent revision and rewelding, with reversions to the 2003 design. After the race at Brno, Honda tested a new bike which both Hayden and Biaggi said was an improvement, and was thereafter known as the "Brno bike".

:Factory riders: Max Biaggi, Nicky Hayden, Sete Gibernau :Satellite riders: Alex Barros, Makoto Tamada, Marco Melandri, Troy Bayliss

2006

In 2006, the RC211V came in three flavors: the "Brno bike" to be ridden by Hayden, a 2006 bike with a special chassis for Pedrosa, and a 2006 bike to be ridden by Melandri, Elías, Stoner, and Tamada; Melandri and Stoner eventually got the special Pedrosa chassis. Hayden's RC211V was modified to put the crankshaft higher, the clutch and gearbox lower, and to lengthen the swing arm; the goal was to centralize mass and improve stability. After the Jerez round, Hayden was the fastest Honda rider in testing. At the British GP, HRC gave Hayden a new chassis, but Hayden complained that he didn't have enough time to test it. Hayden had started the year with the same clutch as Pedrosa, but four rounds later it was shelved in favor of a clutch Hayden had used in previous years; at the Brno round, he had a problem with the clutch that contributed to a 9th-place finish. Honda and Hayden had difficulty finding a clutch that would allow a good launch at the start but also work well throughout the race. Hayden eventually won the rider championship and Honda reclaimed the constructors' championship.

:Factory riders: Nicky Hayden, Dani Pedrosa :Satellite riders: Makoto Tamada, Marco Melandri, Toni Elías, Casey Stoner

The RC211V was retired when rules dictated a switch to 800 cc capacity; Honda's bike for 2007 was the RC212V.

Successes

In five seasons of MotoGP racing the Honda RC211V won 48 races out of 82 (58.5%) contested. It also won three-rider world championships (Rossi 2002, 2003 and Hayden 2006) and four constructor titles (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006).

Specifications

Specifications as per manufacturer:

Complete MotoGP results

Motorcycle summary

Title won

Rider: (Valentino Rossi , ) (Nicky Hayden )

Constructors: (, )

Race Won: 48

2002: Rossi 11, Barros 2, Ukawa 1 (14 in total)

2003: Rossi 9, Gibernau 4, Biaggi 2 (15 in total)

2004: Gibernau 4, Tamada 2, Biaggi 1 (7 in total)

2005: Melandri 2, Hayden 1, Barros 1 (4 in total)

2006: Melandri 3, Pedrosa 2, Hayden 2, Elias 1 (8 in total)

Poles: 46

2002: Rossi 7, Barros 1, Kato 1 (9 in total)

2003: Rossi 9, Biaggi 3, Sete Gibernau 1 (13 in total)

2004: Gibernau 5, Tamada 2, Biaggi 1 (8 in total)

2005: Gibernau 5, Hayden 4, Barros 1 (10 in total)

2006: Pedrosa 4, Hayden 1, Stoner 1 (6 in total)

RC211V results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) (the teams are bold indicate factory teams; the riders are bold indicate the rider rode a factory bikes in the satellite teams)

References

References

1. "MotoGP 項目別に見るRC211V エンジン技術の進化".
2. "We Ride Honda's RC211V GP bike!". [[Motorcyclist (magazine).
3. Scott, M. "Different Strokes," page 26. ''Motocourse 2002–2003''. Richmond, Hazleton Publishing Ltd., 2002.
4. Spalding, N. "Better By Design," page 24. ''Motocourse 2003–2004''. Richmond, Hazleton Publishing Ltd., 2003.
5. [http://world.honda.com/WGP/2004/0718.html Honda Worldwide. WGP 2004 German Grand Prix, Sachsenring] World.honda.com, 2004-07-18.
6. Ryder, J.: ''MotoGP Season Review 2005''. Page 37. Sparkford, Haynes Publishing, 2005.
7. [http://www.speedtv.com/articles/moto/motogp/19322/ Honda Racing Corporation Brno Test] {{webarchive. link. (2007-09-30 ''Speedtv.com,'' 2005-09-02.)
8. Ryder, J.: ''MotoGP Season Review 2006''. Page 35. Sparkford, Haynes Publishing, 2006.
9. link. (2007-04-24 ''Cyclenews.com'', 2006-03-28.)
10. Spalding, N.: "The Ghost Bike". ''MotoGP Season Review 2006''. Pages 26–29. Sparkford, Haynes Publishing, 2006.
11. "Honda RC211V specifications". Honda Racing.
12. (2006-10-30). "King Nicky wins another World title for Michelin". Michelin.
13. (2007-02-27). "Michelin: It's all about the front now.". Crash.net.