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The year 2002 will see Honda field at least two 4 stoke GP Motorcycles. They are also aiming to supply non-factory \"satellite\" teams with motors.
Confirmed details are not yet available in fact some have not yet been decided.
Honda Racing\'s Chairperson Yasuo Ikenoya said not even the number of cylinders had been decided. But he added \"We will not use exotic materials, including beryllium - which is expensive and may be dangerous to health,\" he said. \"And we will not use F1 technology such as air (pneumatic) valves. The lesson we will learn from F1 is that we do not want to change the engine every practice session, as is necessary there,\"
Honda is anticipating a two-bike team at first running along the 2 strokes. While costs would be high in the first season it is expected cost would drop with more teams running Honda motors.
Ikenoya added some numbers not disclosed by Honda before with regard to their engines, \"I am telling for the first time that the service life of a crankshaft of a current NSR500 two-stroke is 3000km [1860 miles]. We aim to achieve the same for the four-stroke. With our Superbike the only maintenance at the track is changing the clutch. We aim for the same with the GP bike,\"
HRC had started development of the new four-stroke in April. They are still studying the number of cylinders - two to six. \"It\'s still all on the drawing board, but we will decide by the end of the year so that we can announce the GP bike on January 15, along with our new production models,\" said Ikenoya, and there is still discussion on if there would be use of oval pistons.
With regards to 2001, Ikenoya\'s press statement said, Honda will produce 500 NSR two-strokes for six riders next year, and one of them will go to current 250cc rider Tohru Ukawa. Other riders already contracted were Alex Criville and Valentino Rossi, with the other three bikes up for grabs.
This leaves current factory Repsol team riders Tadayuki Okada in limbo, with Okada likely to move to World Superbikes. (Writers note: This would be a problem for Aaron Slight as it is unlikely Honda will run 3 bikes).
Honda\'s other rider from this year, Sete Gibernau, has already signed a contract to ride for Suzuki next year (See earlier story).
Factory supported riders Alex Barros and Loris Capirossi will most likely continue with their current rides for Sito Pons team, leaving just one bike up for grabs.
