Rossi confirms his presence at Honda

After weeks of negotiations Valentino Rossi, reigning 500 World Champion, has renewed his contract with Honda for the next two years; Ukawa will race with him on the 211-stroke Honda RC4V while his technical staff will be the same as last year.

Rossi will take part next Monday 4 February in the official presentation of the Honda Motor Company's sporting programs which will be held in Tokyo. These are the impressions of the Italian driver:

'I am very satisfied with the result. For me this is an important contract and we wanted to make sure that every detail was well defined in form as well as in substance, where everything had been clear for some time.

In the end, the common sense of my manager and the men at Honda allowed us to find a solution that perfectly meets everyone's needs and allows us to work at our best.
I really believe in the technological potential of Honda and in my team and I can't wait to start riding the bike again.'

This is the comment of HRC manager Carlo Fiorani:

'Going from the draft contract discussed at the end of the year to the final version took longer than expected and we had to smooth out some differences of opinion between the top management of Honda Racing and Pilota.

But now, with every point clarified, we will be able to work peacefully for the next two years and I am sure that this experience will be useful to us in the future too.'