Repsol YPF and Honda Racing renew their sports commitment
Repsol YPF and Honda will continue in 2002 with the technical and sports co-operation they started in 1995, participating in the MotoGP category of the World Championship with Valentino Rossi, the current 500cc World Champion and the Japanese Tohru Ukawa. The riders of the Repsol Honda team will have the new RC211V four-stroke bikes, which make their official race debut on April 7th at the Suzuka circuit, the venue of the Japanese GP. Both companies, leading enterprises in their respective branches of business, will provide considerable human and technical resources for the Repsol Honda team, allowing them to start a season that will be the starting point of a new era in the World Championship in the best possible conditions. The inclusion of the four-stroke engines in the highest category, MotoGP, will allow the competition to make a significant step forward in technology. The full involvement of manufacturers in factory teams will also guarantee the extraordinary level of the Championship. The winner of the last five 500cc World Championships, the team Repsol Honda will be counting on Valentino Rossi, the reigning champion and unquestionable number one of the World Championship. Rossi, sensational during the preseason tests on the aggressive, spectacular RC211V, has shown that he has adapted quickly to the new bike he rode for the first time in Jerez last November. He will be joined by Tohru Ukawa. The Japanese rider, who already took part in the World Championship last year with the Repsol Honda Team, is an expert in riding four-stroke bikes, and with Honda gained three victories in the Suzuka 8 Hours. His knowledge and experience will be highly valuable for the evolution of the new bike. The Sports career of the Repsol Honda team is one of the most brilliant in Motorcycling World Championship history. 53 GP victories, 125 podiums and five World Championship titles in 500, four with Mick Doohan and one with Alex Crivillé, bear witness to their extraordinary development. The agreement signed today between both companies aims to extend this long record of success.