Following a second-place finish in racing's premier class in 2002 a similar result was expected from this quite revolutionary racing machine for the 2003 season. Due to its overwhelming success only minor changes were made to the Honda and these are evident in the exhaust and slight changes to the fairing. The innovative water-cooled four-stroke, five-cylinder engine now delivered over 240hp and Honda was able to increase the machine's top speed to 330 km/h. The Honda RC 211 V's acceleration was as expected - from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.2 seconds and from 0 to 200 in only 5.9 seconds. It was therefore no surprise that the Honda dominated the 2003 season. The Pramac Pons Team's impressive year-end points total was 351 in the team rankings. Italian Max Biaggi rode for the Pramac Pons Team and, thanks to his unique style, worked his way up to rank third overall at the end of the year. His team-mate Tohru Ukawa was the 2003 favourite and he battled his way into eighth place during the Moto GP season.