Honda RC211V

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.

Honda RC211V
Valentino Rossi riding Honda RC211V at the 2002 Czech Republic Grand Prix.
ManufacturerHonda Racing Corporation
Production2002–2006
PredecessorHonda NSR500
SuccessorHonda RC212V
ClassMotoGP
Engine990 cc Water-cooled, 75.5° V-5, Four-stroke, DOHC, 20-valves, 4-valves per cylinder
Bore / stroke72.3 mm × 48.2 mm (2.85 in × 1.90 in)
Wheelbase1,440 mm
DimensionsL: 2,040 mm
W: 600 mm
Weight148 kg (dry)
Fuel capacity24 L

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]

2003 2004 2005 2006
Length 2,050 mm (80.7 in)
Width 600 mm (23.6 in) 645 mm (25.4 in)
Height 1,130 mm (44.5 in)
Wheelbase 1,440 mm (56.7 in)
Road clearance 130 mm (5.1 in)
Weight around 148 kg (326 lb)
Engine type water-cooled, four-stroke, DOHC 4 Valve, V-5
Displacement 990 cc (60 cu in)
Max power 240 PS (237 HP) 256 PS (252 HP)
Frame type Twin-spar
Front wheel 17 in (43 cm) 16.5 in (42 cm)[11][12]
Rear wheel 16.5 in (42 cm)
Front suspension Telescopic
Rear suspension Unit Pro-Link New Unit Pro-Link
Fuel capacity 24 L (5.3 imp gal; 6.3 US gal) 22 L (4.8 imp gal; 5.8 US gal)

Complete MotoGP results

Motorcycle summary

Title won
Rider: (Valentino Rossi 2002, 2003)
(Nicky Hayden 2006)
Constructors: (2002, 2003 2006)
Race Won: 48
2002: Rossi 11, Barros 2, Ukawa 1 (14 in total)
2003: Rossi 9, Gibernau 4, Biaggi 2 (15 in total)
2004: Gibernau 4, Tamada 2, Biaggi 1 (7 in total)
2005: Melandri 2, Hayden 1, Barros 1 (4 in total)
2006: Melandri 3, Pedrosa 2, Hayden 2, Elias 1 (8 in total)

Poles: 46
2002: Rossi 7, Barros 1, Kato 1 (9 in total)
2003: Rossi 9, Biaggi 3, Sete Gibernau 1 (13 in total)
2004: Gibernau 5, Tamada 2, Biaggi 1 (8 in total)
2005: Gibernau 5, Hayden 4, Barros 1 (10 in total)
2006: Pedrosa 4, Hayden 1, Stoner 1 (6 in total)

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
Japan Repsol Honda Team 11 Japan Tohru Ukawa Ret 1 3 2 3 2 5 WD 3 3 3 Ret 4 4 3 5 209 3rd
46 Italy Valentino Rossi 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Ret 1 1 2 2 1 2 355 1st
Japan Team HRC 72 Japan Shinichi Ito 4 13 21st
Spain West Honda Pons 4 Brazil Alex Barros 1 3 2 1 86 (204) 4th
Italy Fortuna Honda Gresini 74 Japan 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
Japan Repsol Honda 46 Italy Valentino Rossi 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 357 1st
69 United States Nicky Hayden 7 7 Ret 12 12 9 11 8 5 6 9 5 3 4 3 16 130 5th
Italy Telefónica Movistar Honda 15 Spain Sete Gibernau 4 1 Ret 1 7 3 1 2 1 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 277 2nd
74 Japan Daijiro Kato Ret 0 NC
23 Japan Ryuichi Kiyonari 13 13 11 17 14 18 15 16 15 11 21 19 14 22 20th
Spain Camel Pramac Pons 3 Italy Max Biaggi 2 3 2 5 3 14 2 1 Ret 5 2 4 1 3 17 4 228 3rd
11 Japan Tohru Ukawa 20 6 4 7 6 6 12 Ret 6 8 5 7 7 7 5 Ret 123 8th
B Italy Pramac Honda 6 Japan 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
Japan Repsol Honda 4 Brazil Alex Barros 4 3 7 6 Ret Ret 5 2 9 Ret 3 4 4 3 5 6 165 4th
69 United States Nicky Hayden 5 5 11 Ret Ret 5 3 3 4 Ret Ret 5 4 6 Ret 117 8th
Japan HRC 72 Japan Tohru Ukawa Ret 0 NC
Italy Telefónica Movistar Honda MotoGP 15 Spain Sete Gibernau 3 1 1 2 2 2 Ret Ret 3 1 4 6 1 7 2 4 257 2nd
45 United States Colin Edwards 7 7 5 12 5 6 6 5 2 7 9 Ret 2 11 4 8 157 5th
Spain Camel Honda 3 Italy Max Biaggi 2 2 3 3 8 4 2 1 12 3 Ret Ret 6 2 7 2 217 3rd
B 6 Japan 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
Japan Repsol Honda Team 3 Italy Max Biaggi 7 3 5 5 2 6 6 4 Ret 4 3 2 6 Ret Ret 12 6 173 5th
69 United States Nicky Hayden Ret 7 9 6 6 5 4 1 Ret 3 5 7 4 3 2 3 2 206 3rd
Italy Movistar Honda MotoGP 15 Spain Sete Gibernau 2 Ret 4 2 Ret 2 5 5 Ret 2 Ret Ret Ret 5 5 4 Ret 150 7th
33 Italy Marco Melandri 3 4 3 4 4 3 2 Ret Ret 7 6 Ret 5 2 4 1 1 220 2nd
Spain Camel Honda[N 1] 4 Brazil Alex Barros 4 1 11 Ret 7 4 7 Ret 3 5 4 Ret 8 9 Ret 9 5 147 8th
12 Australia Troy Bayliss 6 11 Ret 10 13 8 11 6 Ret Ret 9 54 15th
17 Australia Chris Vermeulen 11 11 10 21st
54 Japan Ryuichi Kiyonari 12 4 25th
67 United Kingdom Shane Byrne 14 13 5 (6) 24th
72 Japan Tohru Ukawa Ret 0 (1) 27th
Monaco Konica Minolta Honda 6 Japan Makoto Tamada 8 DNS 8 Ret 14 7 7 10 10 3 12 Ret 8 8 9 91 11th
16 Netherlands 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
Japan Repsol Honda Team 26 Spain Dani Pedrosa 2 6 14 1 3 4 Ret 3 1 4 2 3 3 15 7 Ret 4 215 5th
69 United States Nicky Hayden 3 2 3 2 5 3 2 1 7 3 1 9 4 5 5 Ret 3 254 1st
Monaco Konica Minolta Honda 6 Japan Makoto Tamada 10 14 10 6 7 9 7 11 11 Ret 11 13 14 10 10 5 12 96 12th
Italy Fortuna Honda 24 Spain Toni Elías 4 8 5 11 9 7 Ret DNS 11 15 11 Ret 9 6 1 6 116 9th
33 Italy Marco Melandri 5 7 1 7 1 6 Ret 7 3 2 3 5 9 1 3 8 5 228 4th
84 Italy Michel Fabrizio DNS 0 NC
Monaco Honda LCR 27 Australia 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

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Honda RC211V.
  1. "We Ride Honda's RC211V GP bike!". Motorcyclist. Retrieved 2007-02-01.
  2. Scott, M. "Different Strokes," page 26. Motocourse 2002–2003. Richmond, Hazleton Publishing Ltd., 2002.
  3. Spalding, N. "Better By Design," page 24. Motocourse 2003–2004. Richmond, Hazleton Publishing Ltd., 2003.
  4. Honda Worldwide | WGP 2004 German Grand Prix, Sachsenring World.honda.com, 2004-07-18.
  5. Ryder, J.: MotoGP Season Review 2005. Page 37. Sparkford, Haynes Publishing, 2005.
  6. Honda Racing Corporation Brno Test Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Speedtv.com, 2005-09-02.
  7. Ryder, J.: MotoGP Season Review 2006. Page 35. Sparkford, Haynes Publishing, 2006.
  8. Hayden Leads Jerez Test Archived 2007-04-24 at the Wayback Machine Cyclenews.com, 2006-03-28.
  9. Spalding, N.: "The Ghost Bike". MotoGP Season Review 2006. Pages 26–29. Sparkford, Haynes Publishing, 2006.
  10. "Honda RC211V specifications". Honda Racing. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
  11. "King Nicky wins another World title for Michelin". Michelin. 2006-10-30. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
  12. "Michelin: It's all about the front now". Crash.net. 2007-02-27. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2007-03-03. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
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