After catching long-term leader Barros, and being waved past by the Brazilian at mid-race an offer Rossi refused the Italian held station in Barros' slipstream until the tense last lap, during which Barros outbraked himself at the first corner. This put Rossi temporarily alongside the Brazilian but at the very next curve Barros re-asserted himself and hung on to take his second win of the year on the RC211V four-stroke. The race was fully a minute and five seconds faster than the previous fastest Valencia race, in 2000.

Rossi, Barros and Tohru Ukawa (Repsol Honda Team RC211V) have all taken wins on the new V5 Honda during 2002, with 14 of the 16 MotoGP races won on Hondas, and all 16 races taken by the new breed of 990cc four-stroke machines.

A start-line collision between Yamaha riders Carlos Checa and Jose Luis Cardoso looked severe enough to call a temporary halt to the 30-lap race but Checa escaped injury and Cardoso suffered only a severely contused abdomen. The race itself proved to be a somewhat destructive affair for many other teams, however, with a further six riders failing to cross the finish line, but only one Honda numbered among them.

Out front from the start, Barros was unaware of the early dramas being played out behind and his win was a vindication of his general 2002 season form. Usually the fastest two-stroke rider when in charge of his early season NSR500, and then a force to be reckoned with at each race since he took delivery of his four-stroke machine, Barros has proved a match for even Rossi in the last few races.

"It is so special to win this race in Spain because I have been made to feel very at home here," said the Brazilian. "I have ridden for this team for four years and it was nice to make my last ride for the team a winning one. In the race I tried to push hard but I saw Valentino was right behind me at half race distance. I made a mistake in the last lap and Valentino went past but I stole the next corner and defended my position to take the win."

Disappointed not to equal Michael Doohan's record of 12 premier class wins in a season, Rossi nonetheless attained a new record championship points total, 355.

"Today Alex was faster than me," said a disarmingly honest world champion after another top class ride. "Every time I ride with Alex I have to go at 110% for all the race and I only get a chance to win if he makes a mistake. I was at the limit today. On the last lap I went past Alex only to find that he braked 50 meters later than me for the next corner to take the lead again. In the end I am happy to make the podium in Valencia, something I have never done before, and to take the points record."

Daijiro Kato (Fortuna Honda Gresini RC211V) scored a fourth place finish on his four-stroke, taking the IRTA Rookie of the Year prize for being the best new rider of the season along the way. In contention for a podium finish early on but inexorably slipping back as the race continued, Kato experienced some issues with rear traction.

"Today the bike was sliding a little at the rear and I could not run the same pace as the leaders," explained Kato. "My finishing position helped me in the championship and to improve my feeling with the RCV. I'm really happy to be the best newcomer. Anyway my objective for next year is to improve even more."

Third place for Max Biaggi (Yamaha) at Valencia deprived Ukawa of second place overall in the championship battle, although Ukawa's season was affected somewhat by injuries picked up at Donington. Finishing fifth at Valencia, Ukawa explained his final race of the year.

"All in all a pretty disappointing weekend," he said in summation. "I never felt particularly comfortable with the bike's set-up. We made some changes to the bike for the race after warm-up, which was a bit of a gamble, but we had nothing to lose. I had to beat Biaggi to regain second place in the championship. The gamble didn't pay off and I had to settle for third."

Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Kanemoto Racing Honda NSR500) had another excellent race result after his occasionally tough season, scoring seventh place and the status of top two-stroke at Valencia.

"This has been a hard weekend for us because we started at the bottom but worked ourselves up to this position," said an enthused van den Goorbergh. "When we got to the ten laps to go mark I knew I had the energy and the tyres for it and we were the top two-stroke team again."

Tetsuya Harada (Pramac Honda NSR500) had a difficult last race of his career, entering the pits on lap nine but rejoining the fray shortly thereafter, scoring two points for his 14th and last place.

Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500) suffered the misfortune of a crash in his final ride for his current team, running out of track on lap 19. Capirossi nonetheless took the unofficial honour of top two-stroke rider throughout the season, placing eighth overall in the championship table.

"I was really enjoying that but I was riding way too fast and I crashed!" said Capirossi. "I went into the corner too hot and lost the front end. But it was really good fun out there today."

Alex Barros, West Honda Pons, 1st: "I just want to thank everybody involved. I've waited 15 years for a factory bike and now I've got one I showed what I can do. The bike was fantastic today, and the team worked so hard to make it happen. In the race I got a good start and tried to break away but Rossi came with me and stayed right behind me. I waved him passed at one point but after two laps,  as we were slower so I passed him again. I made a small mistake at the first corner of the last lap and thought to myself 'S*** I 've led the race for 29-laps only to throw it away on the last lap' But I outbraked him into the next corner and held him off till the flag"

Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda Team, 2nd : "That was a very hard race. I followed Alex and my tactics had to be to wait for him to make a mistake. It was possible to remain behind him for all of the race but riding at 110%. On the last lap Alex did make a mistake at the hair-pin but it was not possible to overtake as I was 10 15 meters behind. In the end I am happy to make the podium at Valencia, something I have never done before and to take the points record. But in the end we don't race for the record. It's been a fantastic season for me; we now need to stop and get ready to re-start for next year."

Daijiro Kato, Fortuna Honda Gresini, 4th: "Today my bike was sliding a little on the rear and I couldn't run the same pace as the leaders. My finishing position helped me in the championship and to improve my feeling with the RCV. I'm really happy to be 'Rookie of the Year.' Anyway my objective for next year is to improve even more."

Fausto Gresini: "Our good result confirms that we need to improve more to get to the top in MotoGP. This race gave us more experience that will be really helpful for next season. Next winter there will be much testing, looking to be competitive very quickly at the beginning of next season. We will start on Tuesday, here in Valencia: we don't have any time to lose."

Tohru Ukawa, Repsol Honda Team, 5th: "All in all a pretty a pretty disappointing weekend. I never felt particularly comfortable with the bikes set-up. We had the crash of course on Friday and I never really found my rhythm again for the weekend. We made some changes to the bike for the race from the warm up this morning. It was a bit of a gamble but we had nothing to lose. I had to beat Biaggi to regain the second place in the championship. The gamble didn't pay off and I have to settle for third. I'm not happy but I tried my best. The team have worked so hard this season I would like to thank them all for this effort."

Repsol Honda Team manager Noriaki Nakata: "As team Manager I am very proud of what we have achieved this season. The Riders' Championship, The Team Championship and we've contributed towards achieving the manufacturer's Award for Honda. We couldn't have hoped for more from the new RC211V. The machine has won 14 of the 16 races and now holds 11 lap records. The result is a tribute to a huge team effort and I would personally like to thank all those individuals and associated sponsors for such a memorable year."

Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Kanemoto Honda, 7th: "That was a really hard fight with the four-strokes and Jeremy (McWilliams). This has been a hard week for us, we started at the bottom and worked our way to this position. I knew it would be a hard race around here, it's very physical, so I trained hard for it. I didn't get away from the start too good and had to pick y way through the field. At halfway I was about 12th 13th but I was riding well in front of Hopkins but behind Abe, Jacque and Jeremy."

"When we got to the 10-laps to go mark I knew I had the energy and the tyres to go for it. I got passed Abe and Jacque and set off after Jeremy. I caught him on the penultimate lap and I could see he was having some sort of problem so I got passed him and went away. I'm really happy wit this result, for the whole team. We were the first two-stroke again. We've had a hard year developing tyres and I'm so pleased everything has come good at the end. It gave me a chance to show I'm able to run as fast as most riders in the class. MotoGP is the most competitive of all motorsports."

Team owner manager Erv Kanemoto: "Well, it worked out pretty good today, Jurgen rode very well and the tyres were really good. I'm very happy with this, we've worked hard to find the consistency we need at this level and we have given Bridgestone very strong base to work from in winter testing for net season. I have to thank Jurgen, al the guys in the team for their efforts this year and Bridgestone for their continuing development process. It's still not going to be easy for them but at least they have a firm base to start from. After qualifying for the race we were running at pole time of last year, set y a two-stroke. Bridgestone have come a long way in one year to equal that time."

Tetsuya Harada, Pramac Honda racing Team, 14th: "From the start I had problems with the settings and tyres so on the ninth lap I entered the pit to change the rear tyre. But this was my last race and I wanted to finish it. I rejoined the race and ended my career. I was very emotional and I cannot say anything now. I just want to thank all the people who have supported me during these years in GP, my wife Miyuki and the Pramac team who gave me this opportunity. This year has been very hard but I won't forget the Pramac Team and their fantastic staff."

Loris Capirossi, West Honda Pons, dnf: "I was really enjoying that race but I was riding way too fast and I crashed. I went into the turn too hard and lost the front end. Pity because it was fun out there today."