Valentino Rossi dominated MotoGP in the early 2000s, winning three riders’ titles on Honda machinery and another four with Yamaha before the end of the decade.
The Italian’s reign as king of the premier class began with the old 500 cc. Championship is the last season. Rossi In the year In 2001, aboard the factory-spec Honda NSR500, he lifted his first top-class title with Nastro Azzurro Honda and made MotoGP his playground in 2002.
Rossi graduated to the factory Honda In the year For the first MotoGP season in 2002, he replaced Alex Creville with Tohru Ukawa. Honda introduced the RC211V in 2002 to usher in the new era of MotoGP replacing the 499c two-stroke engines with 990cc four-stroke units.
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Valentino Rossi has complained ‘a lot’ that Honda’s performance was too small for the start of the MotoGP era.
Rossi won his first MotoGP title in 2002, despite a new era crowning him king. He defended his title with Honda in 2003, before the Urbino native joined Yamaha and continued to lead the field in the 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009 campaigns.
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In the year Rossi scored 11 Grands Prix, 15 podiums and seven pole positions in 16 rounds to win the MotoGP title with Honda in 2002. However, RC211V project leader Tomo Shiozaki recalls how Rossi lamented Honda’s unfair treatment when he joined the brand’s factory team.
“Valentino complained a lot because he grew up with Aprilia and used a lot of big fairings,” Shiozaki said. Motor sports magazine.
But we explained the benefits of our conceptual approach and finally understood. We’ve learned that a larger compaction results in heavier handling and lift.
Valentino Rossi won eight of the first nine races of the MotoGP era
Aprilia machinery allowed Rossi to showcase his talents before joining the ranks of Honda before reaching the 500cc championship. Rossi won 11 of 15 races on his way to the 1997 125cc title, as well as the 1999 250cc title with nine wins.
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In the year A move up to the 500cc class on a Honda NSR500 in 2000 allowed Rossi to showcase his skills, finishing second in the standings as the top Honda rider. Eleven wins in 16 races then gave Rosin the 2001 500cc title, but he was unhappy with Honda’s 2002 MotoGP bike.
In the year Rossi tested the Honda RC211V for the first time in 2002 as the Japanese brand prepared for the start of the MotoGP era.
Despite Rossi’s initial concerns that the RC211V could register project leader Shiozaki, the bike’s first race in 2002, at the start of the MotoGP era, was an instant success.
