2002 | Page 4

Rossi takes four stroke to victory at Suzuka

01 April 2002

Valentino Rossi has begun his first season on a four stroke with victory at Suzuka. The four strokes took the first four places, as Rossi was followed home by Suzuki’s Akira Ryo, Yamaha’s Carlos Checa...

Rossi: two strokes can beat me

25 March 2002

Valentino Rossi has been beaten in testing for the second time this year by a two-stroke NSR, and he reckons it won’t be the last time. Daijiro Katoh was again the man. His best lap of 2:04.40 was...

Aprilia GP team meets the world

25 March 2002

In a glittering ceremony at the firm’s Italian HQ, has Aprilia revealed the final look of its four-stroke Grand Prix contender and team. Company chief Ivano Beggio introduced the gorgeous RS3 ‘Cube’...

Kawasaki GP prototype tests chassis at Suzuka

25 March 2002

Kawasaki’s four-stroke GP machine prototype debuted a new aluminium twin-spar chassis at the Suzuka tests. On the day that the factory unveiled concept images of the new ZX-RR machine(see right)...

Roberts: Help me win or I’m off

18 March 2002

Kenny Roberts will quit Suzuki if its new GSV-R four-stroke is not competitive this season. He told MCN: ” If I have to get on a more competitive bike in 2003, that is what I’ll do. I want to be back...

2002-03-25

18 March 2002

KAWASAKI has just released the first pictures and early details of its new four-stroke GP machine. The factory has confirmed that the bike, called the ZX-RR Ninja, will be an in-line four-cylinder...

Katoh edges out Rossi in Suzuka test

18 March 2002

THE four-strokes won’t have it all their own way in the new Moto-GP class if Daijiro Katoh’s performance was anything to go by on the last day of Honda’s Suzuka test. He edged out Valentino Rossi on...

MCN Sport magazine out now

11 March 2002

Don’t miss MCN Sport’s latest issue. It’s out nowand comes complete with our greatest ever season preview, Rossi’s go-faster secrets and why James Toseland is fitter than David Beckham. And on top of...

IRTA test: Rossi leads the way

11 March 2002

18,000 fans turned out to see Valentino Rossi dominate the IRTA GP test at the Catalunya circuit near Barcelona at the weekend. It was the first clash between the new four-stroke title contenders and...

Rossi & co head-to-head this weekend

04 March 2002

Valentino Rossi will clash with his major GP rivals on Saturday in the first meeting of all the new four-strokes at the Catalunya circuit near Barcelona. The reigning world champion though will be...

Just how good is Rossi?

04 March 2002

With the big GP tests coming up at Barcelona this weekend, Valentino Rossi remains THE man to beat this season. But what gives him the edge? We’ve got all the datalogging info to reveal exactly where...

McCrae firm signs up schoolboy Chaz

01 March 2002

British teenager Chaz Davies has been signed by a new sports management company run by former world rally champion Colin McRae. The 15-year-old, who will ride a kitted Aprilia in this year’s world 125...

Riba quits WSS to take Criville ride

01 March 2002

Spanish World Supersport star Pere Riba has quit his Honda team to take Alex Criville’s vacant works Yamaha GP slot. It was confirmed on Friday morning in Spain that negotiations between Riba and team...

Criville up all night to solve fainting fits

25 February 2002

Alex Criville will be locked in a room and made to stay awake for over two days in a bid to pinpoint the cause of the fainting fits which forced him to take a break from GPs this season. One of the...

First blood to two-strokes at GP test

18 February 2002

Yamaha’s supposedly ” best ” bike, in the hands of its ” best ” riders, was left trailing in the wake of Gary McCoy’s two-stroke at Valencia’s opening ITRA test. In fact, McCoy’s YZR (a full 14kg...

McCoy faces race to be fit

18 February 2002

TOP GP rider Garry McCoy has been flown by private plane to Austria for a specialist assessment on a double break of his right leg. The Red Bull Yamaha 500 rider was airlifted from Estoril in Portugal...

Criville: I’ll be back… I hope

18 February 2002

Former world 500 champion Alex Criville’s ” retirement ” will be short-lived, if he can win his battle against fainting fits. Criville revealed his decision to pull out for at least six months, on...

Davies, 15, makes GP test debut

18 February 2002

Chaz Davies clocked the 29th fastest time on day one of the 125cc IRTA tests at Valencia, which conclude on Tuesday. British schoolboy Davies, 15, only completed 27 laps but managed a respectable time...

Harada crashes in testing

18 February 2002

Honda rider Tetsuya Harada’s 2002 world championship preparations have suffered a massive blow after he highsided his NSR500 and broke a collarbone in tests at Estoril. The former world 250 champion...

Details of Ducati GP bike emerge

18 February 2002

Details of Ducati’s GP V4 four-stroke are emerging and there is now confirmation that a road bike based on it " is in the plans " . First pictures of the race bike are expected to emerge in three to four weeks. They will show a Ducati unlike any other. The bike is currently being wind-tunnel tested to ensure optimum efficiency. It will have a long nose, a minimalist five-tube trellis frame and be...

Roberts’ test feedback inspires next XRE0

11 February 2002

Suzuki is already working on the next generation of its XRE0 four-stroke engine based on feedback from Kenny Roberts and Sete Gibernau current winter testing at the Eastern Creek circuit in...

Suzuki & Kawasaki four-strokes have it all to do

11 February 2002

SUZUKI and Kawasaki look to have their work cut out to catch Valentino Rossi and the Honda V5 this season… or the next. All three factories tested at Sepang last week, and while Rossi and the RCV were...

£10m Rossi THREE seconds under lap record

11 February 2002

VALENTINO ROSSI and the new Honda RCV four-stroke have gone an incredible THREE SECONDS faster than lap record pace in tests at Sepang, Malaysia. The reigning world champ’s unprecedented performance...

Criville announces retirement

11 February 2002

Former world 500 champion Alex Criville is retiring from racing. Criville, who became Spain’s first world 500 champion in 1999, was expected to hold a press conference during the second day of the...

Ducati reveals plan for V4 engine

04 February 2002

Ducati has broken with its V-twin tradition with its proposed GP engine: It’s going to be a V4. And while company bosses were giving little away when they released the news at 3pm CET on February 4,...

First pictures: Kawasaki’s GP four-stroke

04 February 2002

KAWASAKI’S new four-stroke GP bike has tested at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia – and this early prototype is said to have a lot in common with the firm’s ZX-7R superbike. Underneath the fairing is a...

MZ unveils ‘250bhp’ V4 GP bike

04 February 2002

THESE are the first pictures of MZ’s contender for the new four-stroke MotoGP series. At the bike’s launch in Leipzig, Germany, the firm announced that a version of the bike’s 250bhp, 90-degree V4...

Rossi ends row with Honda

01 February 2002

Valentino Rossi ended his contract row with Honda on Friday and signed a two-year deal to ride the four-stroke RCV. The 22-year-old Italian will fly to Japan tomorrow to officially sign and attend a...

Sauber GP project is revived

01 February 2002

SAUBER’S four-stroke GP project is definitely back on – and the bike could be tested again within six weeks. Development of the GP1, which was given its public debut by Niall Mackenzie in Malaysia...

GP noise limit raised to 125dB

01 February 2002

NOISE limits for the new four-stroke GP class have been raised to make the series more appealing to fans. There had been a concern that under the current limit of 113dB post-race (110dB pre-race),...

Checa tries latest M1 at Almeria

28 January 2002

Carlos Checa has been out on the latest version of Yamaha’s factory four-stroke YZR-M1 at Almeria this week. The Marlboro Yamaha rider evaluated new engine and suspension parts in his first outing...

Ducati to unveil GP engine

28 January 2002

Ducati will unveil details of the new four-stroke GP motor it will race in 2003 on Monday. The Italian marque will release computer aided images of the new engine, plus technical details about the new bike which has been under development since bosses announced at last year’s Spanish GP in Jerez that it would enter the four-stroke fray. Four-stroke mania is gathering more and more momentum with...

Honda confident Rossi will sign

21 January 2002

Valentino Rossi’s contract bust-up with Honda looks like drawing to an amicable conclusion, ending speculation that the reigning world champion might actually walk away to join a rival. Both parties...

McWilliams webchat; full transcript

21 January 2002

GP racer Jeremy McWilliams reckons NSR500 rider Daijiro Katoh will be the man to challenge Honda four-stroke rider Valentino Rossi for the title this season. Biaggi and Nakano will be the men...

Jeremy McWilliams: In his own words

21 January 2002

Flanker: Jezza, what are your thoughts of the up-and-coming season. Do you think you’ll win the title? JeremyMcWilliams: *laughs*. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I had a chance, and I was very encouraged after the first test. Especially lapping within the top four times over a simulated race distance. Genuinely we’re happy. I never thought we’d be so close so soon. I’d never ridden on...

Kawasaki’s four-stroke GP bike to debut this season

21 January 2002

Kawasaki’s new four-cylinder four-stroke GP bike will feature in selected races in this year’s GP world championship. The Japanese company announced on Tuesday morning that its new in-line four is...