2002 Yamaha YZF-R1
taking a tour ·of our European editor
Alan Cathcart's friend's stunning private motorcycle and car collection,
we headed north of Barcelona to our
hotel. The following morning, we
By BLAKE CONNER
PHOTOS By DAVID DEWHURST
he second I heard rumors that
there was going to be a new R1
for 2002, I started pestering Yamaha's
media-relations manager Brad Banister for the details. At the time Brad
was mum on the subject, denying that
there was going to be a new bike at
all. Of course, I was right - after all, it
fit into Yamaha's production cycle·
but that didn't make my impatience to
ride the bike anymore bearable.
The Rl has already taken its place
in history as one of the best of all
time, and if you don't agree, try con·
vincing a passionate R1 owner otherwise. They're rabid about their bikes.
We flew to Barcelona, Spain, to
put the bike through its paces at the
fabulous Catalunya circuit. This trip
was to consist of a day on the track
and a day on public roads in the
region. American hooligan journalists
on public roads - what are they thinking? Hide the children, chain up the
dog, shutter the windows - here we
come. I'm not kidding.
TRACK DAY
After spending a few days in
Barcelona taking in some sights and
16
MARCH 13,2002'
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headed northwest of Barcelona to the
Circuit de Catalunya to spin some hot
laps on Yamaha's latest creation.
The Circuit de Catalunya is a 2.93mile track with a front straight that
measures just shy of three-quarters of
a mile and runs downhill for the last
third into turn one. It has eight righthand turns and five lefts, with a nice
combination of fast sweepers, hard
