#throwback:
2002 saw a shake-up in the
premier division of motorcycle
road racing - and some guy called
Valentino Rossi was quickest to
A
s the F.I.M. Road
Racing World
Championship entered
its 54th season, the
top division was
experiencing some of the biggest
changes in its history. To the casual
observer this meant a rebranding
of the top-tier 500cc Championship
into the MotoGP - but much more
significantly it saw rule changes, as
two-strokes were phased out in favour
of four-stroke engines. For almost 30
years the top class allowed teams
to run engines either two or four-
stroke, with up to four cylinders (in
the configuration of their choice) and
a maximum displacement of 500cc.
This meant a full field of two-strokes
due to their power-output advantage.
In 2002 manufacturers were offered a
choice: up to 500cc for a two stroke
or up to 990cc for a four-stroke. The
development expense of making the
change meant it was just the four
114 | FreestyleXtreme.com
factory teams that made the initial
jump, but the advantage of the extra
490cc meant that 2002 was the final
season for two-strokes.
One of the outfits running a new four-
stroke setup was Repsol Honda, who
had just welcomed outgoing 500cc
World Champion Valentino Rossi to
their main team. The 23-year-old Italian
had joined the 500cc class two years
earlier, taking second in his debut
season but dominating in 2001 with
eleven wins out of sixteen, to take the
title to his one-man Nastro Azzurro
Honda team.
The season started in April in Japan
at a wet Suzuka and as teams were
stretching to bed-in new engine and
tyre setups, Rossi ran out winner. Next
up was South Africa where Vale had
to make do with second-place to his
teammate Tohru Ukawa, with the first
four bikes across the line Hondas.
Rounds three to nine belonged to
Rossi though, with seven wins in a row
placing the number 46 at the top of the
championship by a margin. Round ten
in the Czech Republic marked Rossi’s
only absence from the podium of the
season due to tyre issues, with Max
Biaggi making his case for second in
the championship with a win.
Rossi bounced back with a win in
Portugal, followed by a victory in Rio
de Janeiro, which wrapped up the title
for Vale with four races still remaining.
He was eventually able to match the
dominance of the previous season
with a win in Australia making it again
eleven out of sixteen wins for the year.
The Doctor won by a significant 140
points on what turned out to be the
second of five straight championships
as he went on to prove that the 2002
title wasn’t just a case of being the
fastest man on a Honda. t
adapt to the changes.