Katoh happier with NSR500 handling.

The Honda Gresini team attended the Barcelona test with reigning 250cc World Champion Daijiro Katoh testing the NSR500 he will race in 2002, and the team's new 250cc rider Roberto Rolfo who continued to acquaint himself with the individual characteristics of the Honda, and the workings of his new team.

Rolfo's 250cc team-mate, Emilio Alzamora, completed very few laps before parking his NSR250. Alzamora badly bruised his knee in a Super Motard event at Madrid on Sunday. The knee was still painful and gave him no feeling from the track top while cornering, and making it difficult for him to move around on the bike. He wisely called it a day after a few laps.

"This track is much faster than Jerez and I feel more at home on the bike here," said Katoh. "A much better feeling. We've been working to get the bike to handle on this track, mainly suspension, and I must say I'm happier with the results so far. We will see how things go tomorrow but I'm confident we will improve still more."

"Like the other riders at this test I'm going much better than at Jerez," said Rolfo. "Each time I ride the bike I learn something. I'm beginning to understand the bike better and I'm adjusting my style to suit the bike and the bike to suit my style. We were working n the suspension today and I'm getting to know how the set up works. Because of the cold temperatures there was not much grip today but I'm pleased with what we achieved."
Daijiro Katoh NSR500 1min 46.4secs 37 laps.Roberto Rolfo NSR250 1min 50.3secs 50 laps.