From a press release issued by Lawdog Sports Management:

Lee Bivens captures Nicky Hayden

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Team Kohtake RSC’s Ryuichi Kiyonari took the overall race and JSB1000 class wins at round eight of the nine-round All-Japan Road Race Series, at the rain-soaked 2.3-mile TI Aida Circuit in Southern Japan October 20. Kiyonari rode a Honda CBR954RR to beat Suzuki test rider Yukio Kagayama, on the GSV-R MotoGP prototype, and Team Cabin Honda’s Makoto Tamada, on a RC51, second and third overall, respectively, in the wet race. Tamada finished first in the Superbike class, but Prototype machines, such as the Suzuki ridden by Kagayama, race only for exhibition purposes and don’t earn points in the All-Japan Road Race Series.

Superbike points leader Atsushi Watanabe finished 12th overall and fifth in Superbike on his Suzuki GSX-R750 at TI Aida, one lap down to Kiyonari. Watanabe could have theoretically clinched the 2002 All-Japan Superbike Championship, but his low finish combined with Tamada’s Superbike class win puts Tamada within 12 points of Watanabe going into the final round of the series this weekend at Suzuka Circuit.

To win the Championship Watanabe must finish third or better if Tamada wins the final Superbike race. Five points behind Tamada and 17 points behind Watanabe, YSP Racing & Presto’s Wataru Yoshikawa has an outside chance of winning the title on his Yamaha YZF-R7 after finishing seventh overall and third in Superbike at TI Aida.

The win was Kiyonari’s first entry in JSB1000 during the 2002 season, and the Honda rider now sits ninth in the JSB1000 point standings. Suzuki GSX-R1000 rider Akira Tamitsuji, 11th overall and fifth in JSB1000 at TI Aida, leads the JSB1000 Championship by four points over Tatsuya Yamaguchi going into the final round at Suzuka.

All-Japan Road Race Series Round Eight Results:

1. Ryuichi Kiyomari, JSB1000, Honda CBR954RR, 25 laps, 45:39.760

– Yukio Kagayama, Prototype, Suzuki GSV-R, -52.252 seconds

2. Makoto Tamada, Superbike, Honda RC51, -56.238 seconds

3. Yuichi Takeda, Superbike, Honda RC51, -69.312 seconds

4. Tatsuya Yamaguchi, JSB1000, Honda CBR954RR, -82.455 seconds

5. Osamu Deguchi, JSB1000, Honda CBR954RR, -84.203 seconds

6. Wataru Yoshikawa, Superbike, Yamaha YZF-R7, -90.050 seconds

– Keichi Kitagawa, Prototype, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -92.992 seconds

7. Takeshi Tsujimura, Superbike, Yamaha YZF-R7, -102.723 seconds

8. Hiroaki Kawase, JSB1000, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap

9. Akira Tamitsuji, JSB1000, Suzuki GSX-R1000, -1 lap

10. Atsushi Watanabe, Superbike, Suzuki GSX-R750, -1 lap

From a press release issued by Suzuki:

SUZUKI SAYS THANK YOU TO TELEFÓNICA MOVISTAR

October 31st: Team Suzuki says goodbye to their sponsors of three years, Telefónica MoviStar, after this weekend’s Valencia GP. This brings to an end a successful association between the Japanese racing factory and the Spanish telecommunications giant – a partnership that has yielded five Grand Prix wins, and victory in the 500cc World Championship in 2000.

“We joined forces with Telefónica MoviStar in 2000, after starting negotiations the previous year, when the team had regained its usual championship-winning potential – Kenny Roberts Jr. won four GPs in 1999. and finished second in the World Championship,” said team manager Garry Taylor.

“The next year was even better. Kenny won four more races, but more importantly scored highly in almost every event to win the World Championship. It was a great year for the Suzuki team, and for Telefónica MoviStar as well.

“Last year we added another win with Sete at Valencia – a home triumph for the rider and the sponsors,” continued Taylor.

“We understand that this sponsorship has now run its course, and on behalf of Suzuki Motor Corporation, I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support.

“Telefónica MoviStar has been a fantastic sponsor to the team and to the factory race department –very professional, always supportive in good times and bad, and above all highly enthusiastic at every level. It’s been a pleasure working with them over the past three years, and we all wish them well in their new venture.

“For our part, I’d like to think we’ve made a very positive contribution to their increased brand awareness. We’ve certainly learned a lot from them,” Taylor said.

“Next year Team Suzuki will continue to contest the MotoGP World Championship with an all-new Mk2 version of the 990cc four-stroke machine V4 GSV-R,” he added.

“We have signed Kenny Roberts Jr. for at least two more years, while the factory has redoubled its commitment to turning our new four-stroke racer from the first-year prototype to a serious championship contender. We are very focused on winning the championship again.

“We hope to make an announcement shortly about our second rider, and new sponsorship plans,” Taylor concluded.

Roadracing World contributer Beth “Wednesday Addams” Wyse and Website Editor
Melissa “Cheerleader of the Beast” Berkoff. Photo by Bob Branam/Branam’s Photography.

From a press release issued by FIM:

Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix

Valencia Grand Prix: wild-card riders

125cc class:

51 – Alvaro Bautista, SPA – Aprilia, Team Atietico de Madrid

52 – Julian Simon, SPA – Honda, Telefonica Movistar Jr. Team

59 – Vincent Braillard, SUI – Honda, Team Philippe Coulon

71 – Ruben Catalan, SPA – Aprilia, MIR Racing

98 – Chris Peris, CDN – Honda, Bikecards.com

250cc class:

34 – Eric Bataille, FRA – Honda, Cibertel Honda BQR

38 – Alvaro Molina, SPA – Yamaha, Kolmer Racing Team

39 – Luis Manuel Castro Garcia, SPA – Yamaha, Cordoba Patrimonio Human

74 – Angel Rodriguez, SPA Aprilia, PS Racing Team

90 – Chuck Sorensen, USA – Aprilia, Team Stargel Aprilia

MotoGP class:

29 – David Garcia, SPA – Proton, Proton Team KR

84 – Andrew Pitt, AUS – Kawasaki, Kawasaki Racing Team

From a press release issued by Honda Racing Information:

2002 MotoGP World Championship, Round 16
Comunitat Valencia Grand Prix, Valencia, Spain
November 1/2/3

HONDA RIDERS JOUST FOR FINAL SHARE OF MotoGP GLORY

The inaugural season of four-stroke based MotoGP racing screeches to a breathless halt this coming weekend at the Circuito Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, with the majority of the top riders setting out to underline the supremacy of Honda men and machines yet again.

The new breed of 990cc four-strokes, introduced into MotoGP at the first round at Suzuka, way back in April, have won all the 15 races so far and Honda RC211V riders have wrought victories in 13 of those. This virtual monopoly of the top step of the podium has seen Honda win the Manufacturer’s Championship in some style, with the current Honda score of 365 points proving to be incredibly close to the theoretical season maximum of 400 and with Valencia still to be counted, a final total of 390 is a distinct possibility.

The strength in depth of the entire Honda effort is further exemplified by the number of total podium places scored by Honda riders so far, 32 from a possible 45, a ratio of over 70%. Of those 32, no fewer than 27 (60% of the total) were scored by riders of the awesome RC211V V5 four-stroke, the dominant machine of the new MotoGP era.

The pre-eminent rider of the modern era, Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team RC211V), has been an equally assertive force in the Rider’s Championship, cantering to his latest crown with four rounds left to run, and taking 11 race wins thus far.

The most recent of his successes came at the penultimate Phillip Island round on 20 October and it proved to be Rossi’s 50th career win in all classes of Grand Prix competition. One more maximum points score would bring Rossi’s total to 12 premier class wins in a season, a mark which would equal that previously set by another Honda GP legend, Michael Doohan.

Valencia could well bring yet another record to the prolific 23-year-old Italian rider, as only a further five points will improve his current haul to equal Michael Doohan’s total of 340 in a single year. Having only one DNF on his copybook this year, and no other finish worse than second, the formbook favours Rossi to set a new points record once the Valencian dust has settled.

The Ricardo Tormo track has not been the kindest circuit to Rossi or Honda in the three-year history of the most recently inaugurated Spanish-based GP, with no premier class Honda rider having ever won at the 4.005km circuit near Cheste, situated in the outskirts of the city of Valencia itself. Rossi, now four-times a world champion (125cc in 1997, 250cc in 1999, 500cc with Honda last season and now the first ruler in MotoGP) has never won at Valencia in any class, despite his frequently demonstrated speed. Second-quickest in qualifying last season, Rossi’s chances of the win were overturned in the race after a downpour in the run up to the start made it a lottery in terms of tyre choice – a gamble that Rossi ultimately lost to finish 11th.

Rossi’s Repsol Honda Team has tested at Valencia this season, shortly before the Estoril MotoGP race, with Rossi setting comparable times with his best of the 2001 weekend, while working his way through a series of potential suspension and chassis set-ups.

Capable of winning on every sort of circuit, Rossi is confident that the tight and compactly laid-out Ricardo Tormo track, with a plethora of tricky sections inside a stadium-sized boundary, can be added to his outstanding tally of 11 different 2002 season winning venues.

“We tested at Valencia earlier in the year and I hope that the information we gathered then will help us in the effort for another win,” said motorcycle sport’s latest Superstar. “The championship fight is over but I really want to win another race.”

One championship battle very much alive is that for overall second, with Tohru Ukawa (Repsol Honda Team RC211V), injured at a crucial part of the season, now only one point behind Yamaha rider Max Biaggi. Valencia will thus be a man-to-man showdown for Rossi’s team-mate Ukawa, who feels up to the task. Having been faster than Rossi in testing in August, Ukawa has every right to feel that Valencia will be a good circuit for him.

“I have to beat Biaggi again next weekend to finish second in the championship, and that is what I intend to do,” asserted the resurgent Ukawa.

With a win first time out on the awesome RC211V, at Twin Ring Motegi in early October, Brazilian firecracker Alex Barros (West Honda Pons RC211V) has been something of the star of the MotoGP show ever since, securing third and second places immediately after his first race on the V5 four-stroke. Pushing Rossi all the way in the most recent races, Barros will be out to score another notable success at Valencia, the home country of his Honda Pons team.

Said Barros after an impressive ride in Australia; “Phillip Island was a great race between Valentino and myself. Since I have ridden the same bike as Rossi we are equal on victories with one apiece, and in the last Grand Prix I will try and win again.”

The two-strokes may be an endangered species in the new MotoGP world, but some riders have been able to upset the expected finishing order in individual races, notably Barros before he was given the RC211V and his team mate Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500).

Capirossi is the most successful season-long Honda two-stroke rider, despite his injurious crash at Assen, which put him out of the points in three straight races. Two third places have been his best reward so far on his way to seventh in the table, but the former 125 and 250cc World Champion has attacked wherever possible on his nimble but outgunned NSR. Held back by a problem with vibration from the front end of his machine during the last round in Australia, Capirossi has made his feelings plain about the Valencia race.

“It has been difficult to predict which circuits allow the two-stroke riders to compete for at least a podium, but I hope Valencia is one of them, so that I can add to my score of top three finishes,” said the quietly-determined Italian.

Equipped with an RC211V since the Brno race, way back in round 10, Daijiro Kato (Fortuna Honda Gresini RC211V) has had some excellent rides, albeit frequently marred by ill fortune in the final analysis. He will thus be particularly keen to prove his undoubted talent with a race win before his rookie premier-class campaign winds down to a halt on Sunday evening.

He stated after his fourth place at Phillip Island; “Now I can relax a little then go to Valencia where I hope to finish the season in the best possible way.”

Conducting valuable real race development work for the Bridgestone tyre company, Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Kanemoto Racing Honda NSR500) has been in improving form in the last couple of races, his fifth place at Phillip Island easily his best finish of the year, especially after it backed up a glorious front row qualification. A podium finish was a tantalising prospect after his good PI start, but his eventual fifth was more a product of being out-accelerated down the straights by the four-strokes than any other factor. Encouraged by his ride at Phillip Island, van den Goorbergh hopes to improve on even his season highpoint of fifth place.

“I would like every race to be like Phillip Island, because finally I had an opportunity to show my true abilities,” said the satisfied NSR rider. “Bridgestone’s progress has been amazing and I hope we can continue this level of competitiveness at Valencia, especially as most of the track is all about cornering speed and changes of direction.”

Tetsuya Harada (Pramac Honda NSR500) scorer of three top ten finishes earlier in the year, has been swamped by the increasing numbers of four-stroke machines on the grid in 2002 and now sits 17th in the table.

Robby Rolfo (Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR250) has now secured third place in the 250cc series, and as such is Honda’s highest-placed rider. A race win is missing from his otherwise fulsome season-long CV, and if he can overcome some consistent machine set-up challenges in qualifying, Rolfo will confirm himself as one of only two or three favorites for the Valencia race win.

“I have suffered with a front end feel problems all season. If we can use our time in qualifying well and find a good set-up then anything is possible,” said Rolfo. “I hope to use my hard cornering style to the maximum on this twisty track and I will be trying to win as usual.” Rolfo’s team-mate Emilio Alzamora (Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR250) has had a difficult season in many ways, but the Spanish rider sees Valencia as the perfect place to make his mark.

“I’m waiting for Valencia to put in a good race and to give my fans a good result,” said the former 125cc World Champion.

For Daniel Pedrosa (Telefonica Movistar Jr Team Honda RS125R), his chances of taking the 125cc crown evaporated during the last three long-haul races, but the young Spaniard knows that another win, to add to his Assen and Motegi triumphs, will be particularly appreciated on his home soil.

“No matter what happens at Valencia I will be third in the championship but my only aim is to win the race in front of the Spanish crowd.”

In addition to Pedrosa’s team-mate Joan Olive, another Junior team member will ride as a wild card at Valencia, Julian Simon.

The 125ccc Championship title is the only one yet to be decided but the unquestioned enthusiasm of the large Spanish crowd will ensure that the ground-breaking 2002 MotoGP year will end on a high note even if the frequent bouts of inclement autumnal weather return once more.

Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.



By John Ulrich

American John Hopkins may have arrived in MotoGP on a Yamaha YZR500 one year too late. Despite his team’s hope that new 990cc MotoGP four-strokes would have teething problems in 2002, giving riders on the tried-and-tested two-stroke 500s a good chance, it hasn’t turned out that way.

Still, Hopkins’ best qualifying result in 2002 to date has been 6th and his best finish to date has been 7th, not bad for a teenager racing a 500 for the first time on GP tracks.

As an interesting diversion, we compared Hopkins’ qualifying times from 2002 with the pole position time from the same race in 2001, when everybody was on two-stroke 500s. The results show that Hopkins, if he had turned the same times on the unchanged-for-2002 YZR500 in 2001, would have taken pole three times.

Of course, this is just speculation, a case of what might have been, and all that really matters is what did happen. In 2002, what did happen is that MotoGP rookie Hopkins was at a distinct disadvantage to rivals on 990cc four-strokes.

Complicating any attempt at comparison is the fact that Hopkins is one of only three regular MotoGP riders on Dunlops in 2002, and the fact that Michelin’s latest MotoGP tires are significantly better than the Michelins used by the entire field in 2001.

The comparison follows:

Suzuka, Japan
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 2:06.302
Hopkins Qualifying Position: 18
Finishing Position: 12
2001 Pole: 2:04.777, Capirossi, NSR500

Welcom, South Africa
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 1:36.092
Hopkins Qualifying Position: 17
Finishing Position: 14
2001 Pole: 1:34.629, Rossi, NSR500

Jerez, Spain
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 1:43.916
Hopkins Qualifying Position: 16
Finishing Position: 13
2001 Pole: 1:42.739, Rossi, NSR500

Lemans, France
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 1:37.707
Hopkins Qualifying Position: 19
Finishing Position: 11
2001 Pole: 1:38.421, Biaggi, YZR500

Mugello, Italy
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 1:52.923
Hopkins Qualifing Position: 13
Finishing Position: 12
2001 Pole: 1:52.554, Rossi, NSR500

Barcelona, Spain
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 1:45.148
Hopkins Qualifing Position: 6
Finishing Position: 10
2001 Pole: 1:45.507, Rossi, NSR500

Assen, Holland
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 2:02.764
Hopkins Qualifying Position: 10
Finishing Position: 7
2001 Pole: 2:00.743, Capirossi, NSR500

Donington, England
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 1:31.977
Hopkins Qualifing Position: 6
Finishing Position: 8
2001 Pole: 1:31.964, Biaggi, YZR500

Sachsen, Germany
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 1:26.551
Hopkins Qualifing Position: 14
Finishing Position: DNS, injury
2001 Pole: 1:26.097, Biaggi, YZR500

Brno, Czech Republic
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 2:00.241
Hopkins Qualifying Position: 7
Finishing Position: DNF, mechanical
2001 Pole: 2:00.347, Biaggi, YZR500

Estoril, Portugal
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 1:41.092
Hopkins Qualifing Position: 15
Finishing Position: 8
2001 Pole: 1:40.076, Biaggi, YZR500

Rio, Brazil
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 1:51.624
Hopkins Qualifying Position: 14
Finishing Position: 14
2001 Pole: 1:51.431, Ukawa, NSR500

Motegi, Japan
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 1:50.849
Hopkins Qualifying Position: 16
Finishing Position: 14
2001 Pole: 1:49.800, Capirossi, NSR500

Sepang, Malaysia
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 2:06.857
Hopkins Qualifying Position: 19
Finishing Position: 18
2001 Pole: 2:05.637, Capirossi, NSR500

Phillip Island, Australia
Hopkins 2002 Qualifying Time: 1:33.424
Hopkins Qualifing Position: 14
Finishing Position: 16
2001 Pole: 1:31.984, Biaggi, YZR500