Austin MotoGP 2016

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Hayden’s RCV debut

11 November 2002

Honda’s MotoGP new boy Nicky Hayden made his RCV debut at Motegi in Japan yesterday. The 21-year-old American completed just 50 laps of the Twin Ring circuit on the 220bhp V5 – a world away from the...

MotoGP 2003: The teams, the riders

11 November 2002

This year’s MotoGP silly season, as the annual contract hunt is known, will go down as one of the most unpredictable and protracted in living memory. But the fog of confusion has lifted and here’s...

Update: Rossi crashes out of Rally

11 November 2002

Valentino Rossi scored a spectacular first in the Rally of Britain this morning – by being the first person to retire. After climbing to 25th place after last night’s special stage, this morning the...

Vincent takes No.1 plate to KTM

11 November 2002

Newly crowned 125cc world champion Arnaud Vincent will take his number one plate to KTM for next season. Vincent, who became the first Frenchman ever to win the title, will ride alongside 2000...

First MotoGP tests underway

04 November 2002

The 2002 season only finished on Sunday, but riders are already testing ahead of next season. Max Biaggi and Sete Giberanu remained behind at Valencia, the scene of Sunday’s season finale, to get...

Yamaha announces new sponsor

04 November 2002

Yamaha has just signed a two-year deal with the tobacco giant Altadis to sponsor its factory MotoGP squad. Altadis is the parent company to Fortuna, Spain’s number one selling brand of cigarettes.

McCoy to test Kawasaki ZX-RR

04 November 2002

Garry McCoy will join Regis Laconi to test Kawasaki’s ZX-RR MotoGP four-stroke this Tuesday. The pair will remain behind in Valencia, the scene of Sunday’s final GP of the 2002 season, for the...

Capirossi tests Ducati MotGP bike

04 November 2002

Loris Capirossi made his debut on the Desmosedeci MotoGP bike today as his Ducati Corse team began testing at Valencia. It was the 29-year-old Italian’s first chance to ride a four-stroke and he put...

Haga to join Edwards at Aprilia

04 November 2002

Aprilia has confirmed that the Samurai of Slide himself Noriyuki Haga will join Colin Edwards on the Aprilia RS3 in MotoGP next year. The squad will also switch to the favoured Michelin tyres away...

Barros signs for Gauloises Yamaha

04 November 2002

Alex Barros has ended his four-year relationship with Honda to move to the Gauloises Yamaha squad. The 32-year-old Brazilian, revitalised by Honda RCV four-stroke, took two wins this season for the...

Barros denies Rossi record in Valencia

01 November 2002

Brazilian Alex Barros denied Valentino Rossi an historic 12th win in one season when he nicked the win in the final 2002 MotoGP round in Valencia today. There was drama right at the start, when Carlos...

Biaggi on pole in Valencia

01 November 2002

If they weren’t already ruing their dismissal of Max Biaggi in August Yamaha bosses must certainly be kicking themselves hard now after the mercurial Italian slotted his M1 on pole in Valencia...

Barros on provisional pole in Valencia

01 November 2002

Alex Barros has taken provisional pole in Valencia ahead of the final MotoGP round of 2002 on Sunday. The Brazilian posted a time of 1’33.584 on his West Honda RCV, edging out Yamaha’s Max Biaggi by...

KTM names Locatelli in 125 squad

28 October 2002

KTM has named one of the riders it will field in the 2003 125GP season. Roberto Locatelli, the 2000 125cc champion, returns to the minnow class after an indifferent 2002 season in the 250s. He’ll be...

Bayliss to debut Ducati at Valencia

28 October 2002

Troy Bayliss will give Ducati’s new MotoGP machine its public debut at the Valencia Grand Prix on November 3. He’ll be riding the Desmosedeci V4 four-stroke on a few demonstration laps ahead of the...

Buster Roberts passes away

28 October 2002

THE Grand Prix racing paddock is in mourning after the death of one of its biggest personalities. Buster Roberts, father to Kenny Roberts Snr, passed away last night (October 27) in hospital in California after a brief illness. He was 81. Buster was the driving forced behind the dynasty which has seen two generations of Roberts win GP world titles, having put Kenny Snr on a bike before his eighth...

Telefonica rings changes at Suzuki

28 October 2002

Telefonica Movistar, the Spanish mobile phone giant, has ended its two-year association with the Suzuki MotoGP squad. This weekend’s Valencia GP will be the last time Suzukis will sport the famous...

Rossi wins in Oz

21 October 2002

Valentino Rossi continued his amazing season with victory in Australia. He finished at the head of five Hondas, sharing the podium with Alex Barros and Tohru Ukawa. Daijiro Katoh and Jurgen van den Goorbergh took fourth and fifth. Max Biaggi was the leading non-Honda, ahead of Nobuastsu Aoki who finished seventh on the Proton KR. Eighth was Olivier Jacque, ninth Kenny Roberts Jr and tenth Jeremy...

Barros back on top, Down Under

21 October 2002

Alex Barros has continued his excellent run of form on the Honda RCV with a provisional pole start in Friday’s qualifying ahead of the Australian MotoGP round on Sunday. The West Honda rider ‘s time of 1’33.002 around the 2.78 mile Phillip Island circuit was just a tenth ahead of home favourite Garry McCoy on the Red Bull Yamaha YZR two-stroke. As if to prove the strokers have one last hurrah left...

Rossi warms up for rally debut

21 October 2002

Valentino Rossi has been warming up for his rallying debut in next month’s Rally of Great Britain with a special test of his World Rally Championship (WRC) – spec Peugeot 206. There’s a rare personal...

McWilliams takes pole in Phillip Island

21 October 2002

Jeremy McWilliams has put the Proton KR on pole position for Sunday’s MotoGP in Australia. He qualified 0.4 seconds ahead of Australian Gary McCoy. The other Proton KR of Nobuatsu Aoki qualified in...

Biaggi scraps for Sepang victory

14 October 2002

Max Biaggi finally broke his four-stroke duck with a win in the searing heat of Sepang in Sunday’s Malaysian round of the MotoGP calendar. The Malboro Yamaha rider benefited from the three-way scrap...

2003 Grand Prix Calendar

14 October 2002

The FIM has just released the details of dates and venues for the 2003 Grand Prix calendar. Round 1: April 6, Suzuka, Japan Round 2: April 27, Welkom, South Africa Round 3: May 11, Jerez, Spain Round...

Barros builds with Sepang pole

14 October 2002

Alex Barros is emerging as the unlikely challenger to the dominance of Valentino Rossi in MotoGP after taking pole in Sepang today ahead of Sunday’s Malaysion Grand Prix. Despite only having sat on...

Ukawa leads Honda charge in Sepang

07 October 2002

Tohru Ukawa blazed to provisional pole in Sepang today, setting himself at the head of an all-Honda four-stroke front row ahead of Sunday’s MotoGP round in Malaysia. The Japanese rider’s time of...

Pitt to ride ZX-RR at Sepang

07 October 2002

Aussie Andrew Pitt will replace the injured Akira Yanagawa on Kawasaki’s ZX-RR MotoGP machine for the rest of the season, starting with the Malaysian GP in Sepang on October13. The 2001 World...

Abe lands M1 for Phillip Island, Valencia

07 October 2002

It has been confirmed by the factory that Norick Abe will get a four-stroke M1 MotoGP machine from Yamaha to contest the final two rounds of the season. Abe, the leading Yamaha two-stroke rider in the...

McWilliams and Aoki re-sign for Roberts

07 October 2002

Jeremy McWilliams will continue to partner Nobuatso Aoki in the Proton/Kenny Roberts set-up in 2003 it has just been announced. The pair will ride the new Proton/KR V5 four-stroke currently under...

Kato grabs provisional pole in Motegi

01 October 2002

Daijiro Kato put on a show for his home fans with a last gasp stunner to take provisional pole at the Twin Ring in Motegi today. With just a few minutes remaining in the session, Yamaha’s Max Biaggi...

Barros makes good on RCV in Motegi

01 October 2002

Alex Barros repaid Honda and team boss Sito Pons’ faith with a win in Motegi on his debut ride on the West Honda RCV four-stroke as Honda took a one-two-three in today’s MotoGP race. A tense race-long...

Katoh confirms Motegi pole

01 October 2002

Daijiro Katoh will start from pole position in Sunday’s Japanese round of the MotoGP championship after no-one challenged his time of 1.49.052, set during Friday’s qualifying, in Saturday’s...

Roberts re-signs with Suzuki

01 October 2002

Kenny Roberts has just inked a new contract that will keep him with the factory Suzuki MotoGP squad for the next two years. It comes on the back of his maiden podium in the new class, scored at the...

Barros gets RCV for Motegi GP

30 September 2002

Alex Barros has been confirmed as the beneficiary of the sole RCV four-stroke available to the West Honda squad for the rest of the 2002 MotoGP season. Barros said: ” I am very excited about my...

MotoGP’s musical chairs

23 September 2002

The silly season is well and truly upon us. As contract time approaches, Yamaha and Suzuki both feature in the latest tranche of rumour and manoeuvre. Norick Abe is said to be on the verge of quitting...

McWilliams cracks collarbone in Rio

23 September 2002

While Valentino Rossi was popping champaign corks to celebrate his win in Rio and new MotoGp title, Jeremy McWilliams was popping painkillers after his bike seized, spitting the Ulsterman off,...

Rossi to test BAR F1 car

23 September 2002

Valentino Rossi is lined up to test an F1 car at the end of the year. The boss of British American Racing (BAR) David Richards has reached an agreement with the 23-year-old’s Repsol Honda squad to try...