Okada will run Honda pneumatic valve engine in Mugello
Monday, 26 May 2008
Tadayuki Okada´s wild card ride in Mugello has been confirmed as the first full Grand Prix appearance for Honda´s pneumatic valve engine, with the veteran given the task of bringing the newest version of the RC212V motor up to speed.
Seven years, 121 races and two changes in maximum cylinder capacity after his last appearance, Tadayuki Okada will pull on the leathers and swing his leg over a Repsol Honda once more at the Gran Premio d´Italia Alice. Indeed, the Japanese rider will be the Honda factory´s first wildcard rider of the 800cc era.
The reincorporation of Okada to the Honda MotoGP ranks has the primary objective of giving the pneumatic valve RC212V engine its World Championship race debut, with the 41 year-old having performed extensive testing on the motor in Japan. The veteran will be returning to on-track action at Mugello for the first time since 2000, making his 800cc debut.
`My last grand prix race was at Phillip Island in 2000, so it´s more than seven years since I last raced in GPs!´ notes Okada, who was then competing in the final year of 500cc racing.
`I am really looking forward to Mugello; the long straight should suit my machine and the pneumatic valve engine, which is finally ready to race now.´
The engine has been subject to much speculation and changes in direction, with development slowed up by an injury to full-time Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa in January testing. Work on the motor was left to teammate Nicky Hayden and, after much deliberation and rescheduling, a first race outing now finally comes from outside the regular rider pool.
Whilst the race result in Italy will not be the primary focus of Okada´s participation, the veteran still has a respectable history at Mugello, as he recalls.
`I scored some good results with the 500cc. I finished on the podium in 1999, but in 1998 I was battling for the lead with Mick Doohan when I highsided and broke a wrist. I know that the track is a very technical one, with tricky right and left corners.´
This weekend´s race is scheduled to be an isolated Grand Prix appearance for Okada, although the pneumatic valve engine can be expected to feature more prominently depending on its performance in Mugello.
Photo courtesy of Tochu
