From a press release:

HONDA RACING NEWS

HRC RC211V Test
Phillip Island, Australia, December 19.

Weather, fine and sunny; temperature, 25 degrees C; track conditions, good.

Rossi and Ukawa on Lap Record Pace at Phillip Island

HRC winter testing of the RC211V 5-cylinder four-stroke machine they will enter in the 2002 World Championship. Team riders Valentino Rossi, the reigning 500cc World Champion, teammate Tohru Ukawa and test rider Shinich Itoh all put in a hard day on the 990cc V-5.

The first day of the test centered around tyres and suspension settings and the riders were happy with their day’s work. Rossi setting fastest time at 1:32.44. Three-tenths of a second under the lap record for the 4.448-km Australian circuit. Teammate Ukawa was not far off record pace.

The Honda Gresini team brought Daijiro Katoh to the test where he renewed his acquaintance with the NSR500 he will race in 2002. The 250cc World Champion put in a best time of 1:33.6.

Team Kanemoto Honda continued with their Bridgestone tyre testing programme at the HRC test. Team rider Jurgen v.d. Goorbergh gaining more experience of both machine and tyres.

Valentino Rossi: “Today it was a real pleasure for me to ride the bike here with beautiful weather and all the track only for us, I did a lot of laps and I tried many tyres, we found some good solution but we still need to work a lot on this bike. We took here the same motorcycles we tested in Spain and also here the bike is fast but of course need a lot of improvement. We will see tomorrow.”

Tohru Ukawa: “I did 82 laps and I tested many things , I am satisfied about this first test day where we spend some time to find the right suspension setting and to test the tires that Michelin brought here. For tomorrow I hope to make a better lap time and find good solution for the setting.”

Jurgen van der Goorbergh: “Here in Phillip Island I feel more comfortable with the bike in comparison with Jerez. I begin to understand better the NSR and its behaviour and I am sure that at the end of this test I can do better then today. Today we tested a huge numbers of new tyres from Bridgestone and for tomorrow we will continue to work on suspension and tyres.”

Daijiro Katoh: “Today at the beginning we worked on the riding position. I changed the handlebar position and we took a new shape fuel tank to fit better my body. After I spent my time to find the right setting and I did many laps to train myself to ride a 500. I have a good feeling with the NSR and of course we have a lot of work to do.”

Lap times:
Valentino Rossi, RC211V, 1:32.44, 59 laps

Tohru Ukawa, RC211V, 1:33.06, 82 laps

Shinichi Itoh, RC211V, 1:34.80, 61 laps

Daijiro Katoh, NSR500, 1:33.6, 62 laps

Jurgen van der Goorbergh, NSR500, 1:34.40, 67 laps