The Honda V-5 four-stroke ridden by Valentino Rossi so thoroughly dominated two days of tests at the Catalunya circuit attended by all of Honda’s rivals that many observers were left shaking their heads. Yamaha star Max Biaggi, who tested aboard the highly-touted M1, offered to congratulate Honda on a job well done, and then stated he needed an additional 20 horsepower from his Yamaha four-stroke before the first race in Suzuka.
As we suspected in our article on February 5, 2002, contrary to earlier expectations, big horsepower numbers will be important in early April at Suzuka, and Honda’s five-cylinder machine is clearly making the biggest numbers at the moment.
