- Repsol Honda
Infobox Grand Prix motorcycle team
Short_name =Repsol Honda Team
Last_season = 2008
Long_name =Repsol Honda Team
Base = flagicon|BelgiumAalst, Belgium
Principal = Kazuhiko Yamano
Riders = 2Dani Pedrosa
69Nicky Hayden
Motorcycle =Honda RC212V
Tyres =Michelin
Riders_champ= 8
MGP|1995Michael Doohan MGP|1996Michael Doohan MGP|1997Michael Doohan MGP|1998Michael Doohan MGP|1999Àlex Crivillé
MGP|2002Valentino Rossi
MGP|2003Valentino Rossi
MGP|2006Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda is the official factory team of
Repsol YPF and theHonda Racing Corporation in theMotoGP World Championship.History
In MGP|1995 the team entered a 3 rider lineup with
Mick Doohan Àlex Crivillé andShinichi Itoh riding theHonda NSR500 .Mick Doohan won the World Championship for the second time in a row in Argentina, with one race left for the end of the season with seven race wins,Àlex Crivillé finished the season fourth with 1 race win whileShinichi Itoh finished fifth overall.The team expanded to four riders in MGP|1996 with
Mick Doohan andÀlex Crivillé riding theHonda NSR500 andTadayuki Okada andShinichi Itoh riding theHonda NSR500V .Mick Doohan won his third World Championship with 8 race wins andÀlex Crivillé finished runner-up with two wins . Tadayuki Okada finished seventh and Shinichi Itoh twelfth.The four rider line-up continued in MGP|1997 with
Michael Doohan ,Àlex Crivillé andTadayuki Okada on theHonda NSR500 andTakuma Aoki on theHonda NSR500V . Repsol Honda won all 15 races of the season withMick Doohan winning 12 races, and breakingGiacomo Agostini 's record for victories in one season, on his way to his way to his fourth World Championship.Tadayuki Okada finished runner-up with a race win.Àlex Crivillé finished fourth with 2 wins but had to miss five races after a serious crash in Assen.Takuma Aoki finished fifth overall. Repsol Honda riders took all of the podium positions at four events, Japan, Spain, Germany and Indonesia.For MGP|1998
Michael Doohan ,Àlex Crivillé andTadayuki Okada continued with the team riding theHonda NSR500 andSete Gibernau joined them riding theHonda NSR500V .Michael Doohan continued to dominate the championship with 8 wins and was crowned World Champion for the fifth time in Australia, in front of his home fans and with one race left in the season.Àlex Crivillé finished third overall with 2 winsTadayuki Okada had to miss three races after breaking his wrist during practice of the Italian Grand Prix and finished eighth overall. Sete Gibernau, finished eleventh.The team line-up remained the same for MGP|1999 with
Michael Doohan ,Àlex Crivillé andTadayuki Okada continued with the team riding theHonda NSR500 andSete Gibernau riding theHonda NSR500V . During qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, five-times World ChampionMichael Doohan had a serious crash and was forced to miss the rest of the season and to finally announce his retirement as a rider.Àlex Crivillé went on to win six races and clinch the World Championship in Brazil with one race left in the season.Tadayuki Okada finished third overall with three race wins.Sete Gibernau , who was given theHonda NSR500 after Doohan's injury, finished fifth overall. The team managed an all Repsol Honda riders podium at Catalunya with Crivillé first, Okada second and Sete Gibernau third.Àlex Crivillé Tadayuki Okada andSete Gibernau remained with the team for MGP|2000 all onHonda NSR500 motorcycles. MGP|2000 was a difficult year for the Repsol Honda Team.Àlex Crivillé only got one win and finished ninth overall.Tadayuki Okada finished eleventh andSete Gibernau fifteenth.In MGP|2001
Àlex Crivillé was joined byTohru Ukawa . The season was not much better than MGP|2000.Àlex Crivillé could only manage 2 podiums and finished the season eighth.Tohru Ukawa finished tenth with a single podium finish.In MGP|2002, the debut year of the new
MotoGP class,Valentino Rossi joined the team alongsideTohru Ukawa riding the newHonda RC211V , the only two riders to use the new motorcycle until near the end of the season whenAlex Barros andDaijiro Kato were also given the RC211V.Valentino Rossi dominated the season and with eleven race wins become World Champion with four races left for the end of the season.Tohru Ukawa with one victory and eight podium finishes, finished third overall.2002 AMA Superbike Champion
Nicky Hayden joinedValentino Rossi in MGP|2003.Valentino Rossi with nine wins and finishing on the podium at all the races, became World Champion for the third time in a row with two races left in the season.Nicky Hayden finished fifth overall with two podium finishes.Following
Valentino Rossi 's departure, Grand Prix veteranAlex Barros joinedNicky Hayden in MGP|2004.Alex Barros finished the season fourth andNicky Hayden fifth. Both riders got podium finishes but no race wins.For MGP|2005
Max Biaggi joinedNicky Hayden as the team's line-up.Nicky Hayden got his firstMotoGP win in his home race, the United States Grand Prix, he finished third overall.Max Biaggi was fifth with four podiums.For MGP|2006,
Nicky Hayden was joined by 250cc World ChampionDani Pedrosa .Nicky Hayden led the championship for most of the season but at the Portuguese Grand Prix, teammateDani Pedrosa recklessly crashed into him. Both riders were out of the race andValentino Rossi took the championship lead with one race left to go. In the last race of the season, Rossi fell off his motorcycle on lap 5 trying to make up for a poor start. Hayden had a conservative race finishing a safe 3rd and thus became World Champion. He got 2 race wins and six other podium finishes.Dani Pedrosa finished fifth with two race wins and 5 other podium finishes.The same line-up remained for MGP|2007. The team used the new 800cc
Honda RC212V . The new motorcycle did not have the expected success right away but later in the season the motorycle was improved.Dani Pedrosa got 2 race wins and finished the season runner up.Nicky Hayden could only manage podium finishes and finished the season eighth overall.For MGP|2008,
Dani Pedrosa andNicky Hayden make up the rider line-up, with Mike Leitner and Pete Benson as Pedrosa and Hayden's chief mechanics, respectively, and Kazuhiko Yamano as team manager.External links
* http://www.repsolypf.com/es_es/competicion/motociclismo/portada/ Official Repsol website for motorcycle grand prix teams
* http://world.honda.com/MotoGP Official Honda website for motorcycle grand prix teams
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