The new breed of 990cc four-strokes, introduced into MotoGP at the first round at Suzuka, way back in April, have won all the 15 races so far and Honda RC211V riders have wrought victories in 13 of those. This virtual monopoly of the top step of the podium has seen Honda win the Manufacturer's Championship in some style, with the current Honda score of 365 points proving to be incredibly close to the theoretical season maximum of 400 and with Valencia still to be counted, a final total of 390 is a distinct possibility.

The strength in depth of the entire Honda effort is further exemplified by the number of total podium places scored by Honda riders so far, 32 from a possible 45, a ratio of over 70%. Of those 32, no fewer than 27 (60% of the total) were scored by riders of the awesome RC211V V5 four-stroke, the dominant machine of the new MotoGP era.

The pre-eminent rider of the modern era, Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team RC211V), has been an equally assertive force in the Rider's Championship, cantering to his latest crown with four rounds left to run, and taking 11 race wins thus far.

The most recent of his successes came at the penultimate Phillip Island round on 20 October and it proved to be Rossi's 50th career win in all classes of Grand Prix competition. One more maximum points score would bring Rossi's total to 12 premier class wins in a season, a mark which would equal that previously set by another Honda GP legend, Michael Doohan.

Valencia could well bring yet another record to the prolific 23-year-old Italian rider, as only a further five points will improve his current haul to equal Michael Doohan's total of 340 in a single year. Having only one DNF on his copybook this year, and no other finish worse than second, the formbook favours Rossi to set a new points record once the Valencian dust has settled.

The Ricardo Tormo track has not been the kindest circuit to Rossi or Honda in the three-year history of the most recently inaugurated Spanish-based GP, with no premier class Honda rider having ever won at the 4.005km circuit near Cheste, situated in the outskirts of the city of Valencia itself. Rossi, now four-times a world champion (125cc in 1997, 250cc in 1999, 500cc with Honda last season and now the first ruler in MotoGP) has never won at Valencia in any class, despite his frequently demonstrated speed. Second-quickest in qualifying last season, Rossi's chances of the win were overturned in the race after a downpour in the run up to the start made it a lottery in terms of tyre choice - a gamble that Rossi ultimately lost to finish 11th.

Rossi's Repsol Honda Team has tested at Valencia this season, shortly before the Estoril MotoGP race, with Rossi setting comparable times with his best of the 2001 weekend, while working his way through a series of potential suspension and chassis set-ups.

Capable of winning on every sort of circuit, Rossi is confident that the tight and compactly laid-out Ricardo Tormo track, with a plethora of tricky sections inside a stadium-sized boundary, can be added to his outstanding tally of 11 different 2002 season winning venues.

"We tested at Valencia earlier in the year and I hope that the information we gathered then will help us in the effort for another win," said motorcycle sport's latest Superstar. "The championship fight is over but I really want to win another race."

One championship battle very much alive is that for overall second, with Tohru Ukawa (Repsol Honda Team RC211V), injured at a crucial part of the season, now only one point behind Yamaha rider Max Biaggi. Valencia will thus be a man-to-man showdown for Rossi's team-mate Ukawa, who feels up to the task. Having been faster than Rossi in testing in August, Ukawa has every right to feel that Valencia will be a good circuit for him.

"I have to beat Biaggi again next weekend to finish second in the championship, and that is what I intend to do," asserted the resurgent Ukawa.

With a win first time out on the awesome RC211V, at Twin Ring Motegi in early October, Brazilian firecracker Alex Barros (West Honda Pons RC211V) has been something of the star of the MotoGP show ever since, securing third and second places immediately after his first race on the V5 four-stroke. Pushing Rossi all the way in the most recent races, Barros will be out to score another notable success at Valencia, the home country of his Honda Pons team.

Said Barros after an impressive ride in Australia; "Phillip Island was a great race between Valentino and myself. Since I have ridden the same bike as Rossi we are equal on victories with one apiece, and in the last Grand Prix I will try and win again."

The two-strokes may be an endangered species in the new MotoGP world, but some riders have been able to upset the expected finishing order in individual races, notably Barros before he was given the RC211V and his team mate Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500).

Capirossi is the most successful season-long Honda two-stroke rider, despite his injurious crash at Assen, which put him out of the points in three straight races. Two third places have been his best reward so far on his way to seventh in the table, but the former 125 and 250cc World Champion has attacked wherever possible on his nimble but outgunned NSR. Held back by a problem with vibration from the front end of his machine during the last round in Australia, Capirossi has made his feelings plain about the Valencia race.

"It has been difficult to predict which circuits allow the two-stroke riders to compete for at least a podium, but I hope Valencia is one of them, so that I can add to my score of top three finishes," said the quietly-determined Italian.

Equipped with an RC211V since the Brno race, way back in round 10, Daijiro Kato (Fortuna Honda Gresini RC211V) has had some excellent rides, albeit frequently marred by ill fortune in the final analysis. He will thus be particularly keen to prove his undoubted talent with a race win before his rookie premier-class campaign winds down to a halt on Sunday evening.

He stated after his fourth place at Phillip Island; "Now I can relax a little then go to Valencia where I hope to finish the season in the best possible way."

Conducting valuable real race development work for the Bridgestone tyre company, Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Kanemoto Racing Honda NSR500) has been in improving form in the last couple of races, his fifth place at Phillip Island easily his best finish of the year, especially after it backed up a glorious front row qualification. A podium finish was a tantalising prospect after his good PI start, but his eventual fifth was more a product of being out-accelerated down the straights by the four-strokes than any other factor. Encouraged by his ride at Phillip Island, van den Goorbergh hopes to improve on even his season highpoint of fifth place.

"I would like every race to be like Phillip Island, because finally I had an opportunity to show my true abilities," said the satisfied NSR rider. "Bridgestone's progress has been amazing and I hope we can continue this level of competitiveness at Valencia, especially as most of the track is all about cornering speed and changes of direction."

Tetsuya Harada (Pramac Honda NSR500) scorer of three top ten finishes earlier in the year, has been swamped by the increasing numbers of four-stroke machines on the grid in 2002 and now sits 17th in the table.

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