There was something else for the brand new RC211V. The exhaust note was both unique and good natured, adding an intriguing rasp to the quest boom of a V4. As in the old days of the 125 Five and 250 Six, Hondas took the lead on the World Championship soundtrack.
The new V5 was first seen in 2001 when Honda’s youngest champion Valentino Rossi and teammates tested it after winning the Suzuka 8 Hours on a V4 series four-stroke Honda. Among other things, the first version was very compact. A little too much for the lanky Rossi, who was underutilized. At the end of the season, after winning the final two-stroke championship and his first of seven premier-class crowns, he said so. “Maybe I’ll stay on the two-stroke next year.”
The next version was bigger and Valentino tested it directly with the NSR in Jerez, where he was alarmed that Japanese driver Daijiro Kato was setting a faster lap time on the NSR than on the RCV. But building a new four-stroke model that the star driver could refuse did not fit Honda’s script.
Time would tell they were right. For 2002, the first four-stroke year, 500cc two-stroke engines were allowed to compete with the 990s. You fought well – but didn’t win a race. The extra torque on the four-strokes meant they could jump forward when accelerating and then get in the way on corners.
In the middle of the year Rossi was still longing for the easier and more personal two-stroke. “Riding this bike is great fun. I like it a lot. But for me the two-stroke was better. It had more heart. Adjusting the bike was more difficult – if it wasn’t 100 percent it would be a disaster. It is also a great challenge for the mechanics. But in the end, the four-stroke is now better than the two-stroke. “Gradually, but surely, the V5 won his respect and then his affection.
More importantly, it has won races. Rossi hit his own total of 11, which had been set on the NSR the previous year; Repsol Honda teammate Tohru Ukawa won one more and satellite team driver Alex Barros two more, marking the first RCV 14 win out of 16 races. The router had started on Honda’s home route in Suzuka, which was originally commissioned by Soichiro himself.