Honda RC211V

Valentino Rossi riding Honda RC211V at the 2002 Czech Republic Grand Prix.
Manufacturer	Honda Racing Corporation
Production	2002–2006
Predecessor	Honda NSR500
Successor	Honda RC212V
Class	MotoGP
Engine	990 cc Water-cooled, 75.5° V-5, Four-stroke, DOHC, 20-valves, 4-valves per cylinder
Bore / stroke	72.3 mm × 48.2 mm (2.85 in × 1.90 in)
Wheelbase	1,440 mm
Dimensions	L: 2,040 mm W: 600 mm
Weight	148 kg (dry)
Fuel capacity	24 L

The Honda RC211V is a 990 cc (60 cu in) four-stroke race motorcycle from HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) developed in 2001 to replace the two-stroke Honda NSR500.

It was developed as a direct result of major changes to the regulations for the World Championship motorcycle road racing 500 cc (30.5 cu in) class for the 2002 season. The name of the class was modified to MotoGP, and while two-stroke engines remained limited to 500 cc (30.5 cu in) and four cylinders, four-stroke engines were now allowed to be as large as 990 cc (60 cu in) and from three to six cylinders – which led many teams to switch to four-stroke designs.

The model name designates the following:^[1]

• RC = Honda's traditional racing prefix for 4-stroke bikes
• 211 = first works bike of the 21st century
• V = V engine

The RC211V was replaced in 2007 by the RC212V.

2002

In 2002, the debut year of the RC211V, Honda and Valentino Rossi dominated by winning the constructors' championship by more than 100 points over their nearest rival. The bike underwent small modifications over the season, but it did not as yet have traction control so much as a handlebar-mounted power management system with three settings for different needs during a race.^[2]

Factory riders: Valentino Rossi, Tohru Ukawa

Satellite riders (in the latter part of the season): Alex Barros, Daijiro Kato

2003

Among other changes in 2003, power was increased from about 200 to 240 bhp. Traction control was also added.^[3]

Factory riders: Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden, Daijiro Kato, Sete Gibernau

Satellite riders: Max Biaggi, Tohru Ukawa, Makoto Tamada, Ryuichi Kiyonari

2004

For 2004, a new, inverted rear suspension link was added, and a new exhaust was introduced at the Sachsenring round.^[4] The RC211V riders were unable to keep Rossi (now on a Yamaha YZR-M1) from winning his fourth premier-class championship, and no clear candidate appeared to take over Rossi's role of lead development rider for Honda.

Factory riders: Alex Barros, Nicky Hayden, Sete Gibernau

Satellite riders: Max Biaggi, Colin Edwards, Makoto Tamada

2005

2005 would be the first time in four years Honda lost the constructors' championship in the premier class. The RC211V chassis underwent frequent revision and rewelding, with reversions to the 2003 design.^[5] After the race at Brno, Honda tested a new bike which both Hayden and Biaggi said was an improvement, and was thereafter known as the "Brno bike".^[6]

Factory riders: Max Biaggi, Nicky Hayden, Sete Gibernau

Satellite riders: Alex Barros, Makoto Tamada, Marco Melandri, Troy Bayliss

2006

In 2006, the RC211V came in three flavors: the "Brno bike" to be ridden by Hayden, a 2006 bike with a special chassis for Pedrosa, and a 2006 bike to be ridden by Melandri, Elías, Stoner, and Tamada; Melandri and Stoner eventually got the special Pedrosa chassis.^[7] Hayden's RC211V was modified to put the crankshaft higher, the clutch and gearbox lower, and to lengthen the swing arm; the goal was to centralize mass and improve stability. After the Jerez round, Hayden was the fastest Honda rider in testing.^[8] At the British GP, HRC gave Hayden a new chassis, but Hayden complained that he didn't have enough time to test it. Hayden had started the year with the same clutch as Pedrosa, but four rounds later it was shelved in favor of a clutch Hayden had used in previous years; at the Brno round, he had a problem with the clutch that contributed to a 9th-place finish. Honda and Hayden had difficulty finding a clutch that would allow a good launch at the start but also work well throughout the race. Hayden eventually won the rider championship and Honda reclaimed the constructors' championship.^[9]

Factory riders: Nicky Hayden, Dani Pedrosa

Satellite riders: Makoto Tamada, Marco Melandri, Toni Elías, Casey Stoner

The RC211V was retired when rules dictated a switch to 800 cc (49 cu in) capacity; Honda's bike for 2007 was the RC212V.

Successes

In five seasons of MotoGP racing the Honda RC211V won 48 races out of 82 (58.5%) contested. It also won three-rider world championships (Rossi 2002, 2003 and Hayden 2006) and four constructor titles (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006).

Specifications

V-5 MotoGP engine

Specifications as per manufacturer:^[10]

Complete MotoGP results

RC211V results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) (the teams are bold indicate factory teams; the riders are bold indicate the rider rode a factory bikes in the satellite teams)

Year	Tyres	Team	No.	Rider	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	RC
2002	M				JPN	RSA	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	BRA	PAC	MAL	AUS	VAL
		Repsol Honda Team	11	Tohru Ukawa	Ret	1	3	2	3	2	5	WD	3	3	3	Ret	4	4	3	5		209	3rd
			46	Valentino Rossi	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	Ret	1	1	2	2	1	2		355	1st
		Team HRC	72	Shinichi Ito	4																	13	21st
		West Honda Pons	4	Alex Barros													1	3	2	1		86 (204)	4th
		Fortuna Honda Gresini	74	Daijiro Kato										2	Ret	Ret	Ret	5	4	4		55 (117)	7th
2003	M				JPN	RSA	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	BRA	PAC	MAL	AUS	VAL
		Repsol Honda	46	Valentino Rossi	1	2	1	2	1	2	3	3	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1		357	1st
			69	Nicky Hayden	7	7	Ret	12	12	9	11	8	5	6	9	5	3	4	3	16		130	5th
		Telefónica Movistar Honda	15	Sete Gibernau	4	1	Ret	1	7	3	1	2	1	2	4	2	4	2	4	2		277	2nd
			74	Daijiro Kato	Ret																	0	NC
			23	Ryuichi Kiyonari				13	13	11	17	14	18	15	16	15	11	21	19	14		22	20th
		Camel Pramac Pons	3	Max Biaggi	2	3	2	5	3	14	2	1	Ret	5	2	4	1	3	17	4		228	3rd
			11	Tohru Ukawa	20	6	4	7	6	6	12	Ret	6	8	5	7	7	7	5	Ret		123	8th
	B	Pramac Honda	6	Makoto Tamada	Ret	14	6	Ret	4	7	16	13	13	9	10	3	DSQ	10	10	10		87	11th
2004	M				RSA	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	BRA	GER	GBR	CZE	POR	JPN	QAT	MAL	AUS	VAL
		Repsol Honda	4	Alex Barros	4	3	7	6	Ret	Ret	5	2	9	Ret	3	4	4	3	5	6		165	4th
			69	Nicky Hayden	5	5	11	Ret	Ret	5	3	3	4	Ret		Ret	5	4	6	Ret		117	8th
		HRC	72	Tohru Ukawa												Ret						0	NC
		Telefónica Movistar Honda MotoGP	15	Sete Gibernau	3	1	1	2	2	2	Ret	Ret	3	1	4	6	1	7	2	4		257	2nd
			45	Colin Edwards	7	7	5	12	5	6	6	5	2	7	9	Ret	2	11	4	8		157	5th
		Camel Honda	3	Max Biaggi	2	2	3	3	8	4	2	1	12	3	Ret	Ret	6	2	7	2		217	3rd
	B		6	Makoto Tamada	8	Ret	9	Ret	Ret	12	1	6	14	4	2	1	10	5	8	5		150	6th
2005	M				ESP	POR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	USA	GBR	GER	CZE	JPN	MAL	QAT	AUS	TUR	VAL
		Repsol Honda Team	3	Max Biaggi	7	3	5	5	2	6	6	4	Ret	4	3	2	6	Ret	Ret	12	6	173	5th
			69	Nicky Hayden	Ret	7	9	6	6	5	4	1	Ret	3	5	7	4	3	2	3	2	206	3rd
		Movistar Honda MotoGP	15	Sete Gibernau	2	Ret	4	2	Ret	2	5	5	Ret	2	Ret	Ret	Ret	5	5	4	Ret	150	7th
			33	Marco Melandri	3	4	3	4	4	3	2	Ret	Ret	7	6	Ret	5	2	4	1	1	220	2nd
		Camel Honda[N 1]	4	Alex Barros	4	1	11	Ret	7	4	7	Ret	3	5	4	Ret	8	9	Ret	9	5	147	8th
			12	Troy Bayliss	6	11	Ret	10	13	8	11	6	Ret	Ret	9							54	15th
			17	Chris Vermeulen															11	11		10	21st
			54	Ryuichi Kiyonari																	12	4	25th
			67	Shane Byrne													14	13				5 (6)	24th
			72	Tohru Ukawa												Ret						0 (1)	27th
		Konica Minolta Honda	6	Makoto Tamada	8	DNS			8	Ret	14	7	7	10	10	3	12	Ret	8	8	9	91	11th
			16	Jurgen van den Goorbergh			6	14														12	20th
2006	M				ESP	QAT	TUR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	USA	CZE	MAL	AUS	JPN	POR	VAL
		Repsol Honda Team	26	Dani Pedrosa	2	6	14	1	3	4	Ret	3	1	4	2	3	3	15	7	Ret	4	215	5th
			69	Nicky Hayden	3	2	3	2	5	3	2	1	7	3	1	9	4	5	5	Ret	3	254	1st
		Konica Minolta Honda	6	Makoto Tamada	10	14	10	6	7	9	7	11	11	Ret	11	13	14	10	10	5	12	96	12th
		Fortuna Honda	24	Toni Elías	4	8	5	11	9	7	Ret	DNS		11	15	11	Ret	9	6	1	6	116	9th
			33	Marco Melandri	5	7	1	7	1	6	Ret	7	3	2	3	5	9	1	3	8	5	228	4th
			84	Michel Fabrizio									DNS									0	NC
		Honda LCR	27	Casey Stoner	6	5	2	5	4	Ret	Ret	4	4	DNS	Ret	6	8	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	119	8th

1. ↑ Due to tobacco advertising, the team was known as Honda Pons at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.

See also

• List of motorcycles by type of engine

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Honda RC211V.

External links

• Honda Worldwide | MotoGP – official Honda MotoGP site